MMMmmarvelous Muffins

Is there anything bacon can’t do? I’ll tell you one thing it can and that’s make a mean muffin! Elena of Experiments is the creator of Muffin Monday and for the second round she proposed ‘Unique and Unusual Muffins that make you go Ooooh,’ as the theme. It wasn’t until yesterday that I finally thought of what kind of muffin to make and it wasn’t until today that I actually made them. Then I looked up the due date for entries. Apparently Muffin Monday II was over a week ago, the round up’s already been posted and I’m considerably late to the party. But the Bacon and Cheddar muffins demanded to be posted and they fit the category so well that I had to put them up.

I’ve completely given up on store bought bacon, homemade is the way to go. There’s no comparison between the flavour and it’s not hard to make either. The only downside is that I’ve become obsessed with adding bacon to everything and trying to create new dishes that revolve around bacon, (is that even a downside? I guess it adds to my crazy factor). I’m beginning to question whether or not there’s anything that can’t be improved by the addition of bacon. After the bacon brittle and these bacon muffins, I’m getting closer and closer to making bacon ice cream. It definitely has potential. I think it could be especially good as a scoop on top of cheddar waffles…

Bacon and Cheddar Muffins (Adapted from Magnificent Muffins Cookbook)

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

½ cup cornmeal

1 T baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp sweet smoked paprika

1 ¼ cups extra old cheddar, coarsely grated + extra for the tops of the muffins

3 thick slices of bacon, (preferably homemade… go buy Charcuterie)

1 cup milk

1/3 cup pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 425F and line 12 muffin cups with papers.

Cut bacon into small pieces and fry until crisp. Drain and cool.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda, salt, paprika, cheddar and bacon.

In a separate bowl lightly beat the egg and then add milk and pumpkin puree and mix together.

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until uniformly combined.

Fill muffin cups, then sprinkle each muffin top with a pinch of sugar and a pinch of cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

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Muffins + Bacon + Cheese> + Muffin Monday