Bacon Cheddar Crumble Muffins

This week I joined a gym and am impressed with how often I have gone.  I really love the group fitness classes and even woke up at 6:00 this morning to go to a spin class! As a reward and to balance out all those calories burned, I made Bacon Cheddar Crumble Muffins.

These are definitely the tastiest muffins I have made in a long time.  I love making muffins because they are such an easy breakfast or snack to grab when I have a busy day.  I was super excited when my friend sent me a cookbook in the mail called Muffins Galore.  It’s filled with really great ideas, but I’m afraid I may have already made the best recipe from it.

Savory muffins are a nice change from the usual, sweet, cake-like ones, and these particular muffins are nice and hearty from the bacon and whole wheat flour.  My favorite part of these muffins, however, is not the bacon.  It is the savory crumble on top.  You blend finely grated cheddar cheese, butter and flour into a crumbly mixture and sprinkle it on top before they are baked.  I can think of so many different uses for it.  It would add great flavor and texture to any other savory baked good, and I can’t wait to try it as a topping for macaroni and cheese.

adapted from Muffins Galore

4 oz bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp freshly grated black pepper
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
6 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled

Crumble Topping:
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup finely grated cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.  Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or use paper liners.
2. For the crumble topping, rub butter into the flour in a small bowl until it is mealy but still has some large crumbs.  Blend in cheddar cheese.  Set aside.
3. Mix flours, sugar, baking powder, mustard and salt together in a large bowl.  Stir in cheddar cheese, parsley, and bacon.  Add black pepper.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk and melted butter.  Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a rubber spatula, just until mixed.
5. Spoon batter (I like to use an ice-cream scoop) into muffin cups and sprinkle the crumble mixture over tops.  Bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until lightly brown and well risen.  Cool in pan for a couple minutes and then turn onto wire rack.  Eat warm, or reheated in microwave for 10 seconds.

Cake Week!

Thirty-five days!  That’s how long it has been since my last post.  And this isn’t even a real post with a recipe.  I am ashamed.

Oh well, let’s move on to cake.

I ended up bringing home two triple layer vanilla buttercream cakes last week from class.  They were blank canvases calling out to me so I made more buttercream and searched my pantry and fridge for things to decorate them with. I found raspberry jam, sliced almonds and a chocolate bar.  Berries were on sale at the market (which is practically as convenient as my pantry) so I grabbed some raspberries and strawberries.

I think they came out really pretty and the toppings added some dimension to the otherwise, very plain cakes.

This is a chocolate mousse cake that was delicious.  I loved how thin the cake layers were and the ganache we poured over the top was shiny and delicious.

There was also a whole orange chiffon cake that I never got a picture of.  So that means I brought home a total of 3 1/2 cakes.

What do you do with 3 1/2 cakes when you don’t know many people in a new town and work at a CAKE store?

You give them to your new upstairs neighbors who feel too guilty to say no because their washing machine just drained through the ceiling onto your bed.

You tell your employees that they aren’t allowed to eat any cupcakes today because they have to eat the whole box of cake you brought in.

That’s what you do.