Recipe: Corn and bacon savoury muffins (Curtis Stone)

Have you tried a savoury muffin before? I saw this recipe for corn and bacon muffins on Curtis Stone's website which got me curious and Joyce also made this, and she said it was good, so I was even more tempted to try. I had some leftover corn and bacon, after making the corn, bacon and potato chowder so I thought "why not". There's always a first time for everything.

Corn and bacon muffins

I halved the ingredients, since I wasn't sure if the kids would accept a savoury muffin. I do like all the ingredients that went into the making of this muffin - crispy streaky bacon, chopped spring onions, sweet crunchy corn kernels and cheese.  I made a few substitutions to just use up what I have in my kitchen, such as streaky bacon instead of hardwood smoked bacon, corn oil instead of bacon drippings, Parmesan cheese instead of cheddar and spring onions instead of chives.

I will be honest here. The first bite was a little strange. My mind is telling me that muffins are supposed to be sweet and my mouth is telling me that this muffin is savoury. However after a few bites, my mind said "Hey, savoury muffins are actually pretty nice", and before I knew it, I had three of this for my lunch. I especially liked the soft texture of the muffins - very moist and fluffy. It was especially good with some extra butter spread on top.

These muffins would be nice for breakfast or brunch. They are best served warm from the oven, or reheat them a little before serving as they will keep well in the fridge for 2 days.

This is a nice recipe to get your kids in the kitchen too. The tasks are simple - my daughter helped me with the mixing, filling the muffin cups and sprinkling the cheese.

Corn and bacon muffins

Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from Curtis Stone

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 26-30 minutes
Makes 8

Ingredients

150g streaky bacon, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2/3 cup whole milk
2 medium eggs
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh chives or spring onion
1/4 cup corn oil plus 1 tbsp corn oil


1. Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C. In a large saute pan, heat 1 tbsp of corn oil  over medium heat and cook the bacon for about 8 minutes, or until the bacon is brown and crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to paper towels.

2. Brush a 12-standard-size muffin pan generously with some of the bacon drippings from the pan.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne pepper in a large bowl to blend.

4. In another bowl, whisk the milk, eggs and corn oil in another large bowl to blend, then stir in the bacon, 3/4 cup of the cheese, the corn kernels and the chives/spring onion. Then, stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture just until blended.

5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, dividing equally and mounding generously. I managed to make 8 muffins from the above batter. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese.

6. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until the muffins are golden and a tester inserted into the centre of the muffins comes out clean. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

7. Run a small sharp knife around the muffins to loosen them from the pan then remove the muffins. Serve warm with some butter. The muffins will keep well for 2 days in the fridge, but do reheat before eating.

*Note: This baking activity is suitable for kids (with supervision). They can help you with most of the tasks - mixing the batter, spooning into the muffin pan and sprinkling the cheese.


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