Savory muffins filled with cheese and bacon!

We've made quite a lot of sweet muffins in the past, but we thought it would be nice to bake up a batch of savory ones as a side for dinner. Instead of making plain ol' cornbread muffins, we decided to spice things up with these Bacon-Cheddar Corn Muffins.

Because cornmeal can sometimes weigh muffins down, the recipe calls for a higher ratio of flour in the batter which allows them to have a lighter texture. We did replace a half cup of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour, but you could go ahead and use entirely AP flour if you wish. For the best flavor to these well-crowned muffins, you will want to use a good-quality extrasharp cheddar - if you used a cheese that is fairly mild, I could easily see how the flavor would get lost here. The original recipe did call for only 4 strips of bacon, but we decided to add 6 to really pack in that salty/smoky flavor into the muffins. With only 2 tablespoons of melted butter in the batter, they were not too moist, but I wouldn't say that they were extra dry either. I think they would be great muffins to dip into a tomato soup or split and toasted with a smear of creamy butter.


If you wanted to be a little naughty and add more flavor and moisture to the muffins, I would certainly think about adding a tablespoon or so of the bacon drippings when you add the melted butter. I am so writing this down on my notes so I can try that when I make these guys again!

Recipes
Bacon-Cheddar Corn Muffins