Bacon & Cheese Muffins

I don't know why it didn't occur to me to bake savoury muffins earlier!  It just never crossed my mind till I was flipping through a magazine.  I had the magazine for the longest time, but I guess it just never sunk in.  There was a lot of bacon leftover from my attempt at pasta carbonara during the weekend (will post that later in the week, it was quite a success!) and I was cracking my head on how I could make use of the remaining rashes.  And voila, saw the page on pizza muffins, suddenly it seemed like a veil was lifted from my eyes, and yes.. bacon and cheese muffins it is!

I find muffins rather therapeutic as they are so easy to make and relatively fuss-free.  Just 30 minutes of work, and you'll get a satisfying, piping-hot treat.   For this batch, I overbaked the muffins by a little.  You can tell from the relatively dry crust.  So, follow the timing as stated in the recipe below.  I made the mistake of leaving them in the oven for 5 minutes longer!  Somehow, I don't have the natural talent of figuring whether my baked goods are cooked!  But I've learnt that the key to good muffins is to not over-mix the batter.  Therefore, though the top was slightly dry, the centre still had a soft texture due to the large air pockets in the muffins!

               

Bacon & Cheese Muffins
makes 12

4-6 bacon rashes, chopped
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (you can add more if you like cheese)

Basic Muffin Mix:
2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

80g butter, melted

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 200*C. Grease 12-hole muffin pan

- Cook bacon in heated medium frying pan until browned slightly.  Drain on kitchen towel, set aside and cool.

- Make basic muffin mix : Sift flour, baking powder, salt into a bowl.  Combine sugar, melted butter, egg and buttermilk.  Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently

- Add the bacon and cheese into the muffin mix. Mix gently to combine. Do not over-mix, the batter should be lumpy.

-Divide mixture among the holes.  (I usually fill the mixture all the way to the brim)

- Bake in oven for 20 minutes.  Stick a skewer in the centre of the muffin, if it comes out clean, muffin is ready. Stand muffins 5 minutes before turning top-side up onto wire rack.  Serve muffins warm.