These scrumptious savoury muffins would be a fabulous Sunday morning treat. Let them fill the kitchen with an irresistible aroma then dig in when they're fresh from the oven.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
- 6 smoked streaky bacon rashers, roughly chopped
- 200g baby leaf spinach
- 250g plain flour
- ½ tsp coarse sea salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 80g strong cheddar, coarsely grated
- 2 medium free-range eggs, beaten
- 75g unsalted butter, melted and left to cool
- 250ml buttermilk
- Small bunch of fresh chives, snipped
Method
- 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan?180°C/gas 6. Grease and line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin cases (or see tip). Heat the oil in a pan and fry the bacon for 3-4 minutes until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on kitchen paper.
- 2. Meanwhile, wilt the spinach by putting it in a colander in the sink and pouring over boiling water from a kettle. Refresh under cold water, then use your hands to squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Transfer to a chopping board and chop finely.
- 3. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and most of the cheese in a large bowl. In a separate bowl or large jug, mix the beaten eggs, melted butter and buttermilk. Pour the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and stir, using a spatula, until just combined. Fold in the cooled bacon, chopped spinach and chives until everything is evenly distributed but the batter is still lumpy. Incorporating all the ingredients quickly without over-mixing will give light, fluffy muffins.
- 4. Spoon the batter equally among the cases, scatter over the remaining cheese, then bake for 18-20 minutes until golden and risen, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the tin and place on a cooling rack until ready to serve.
Nutritional info
PER MUFFIN 219kcals, 13.3g fat (6.4g saturated), 8.2g protein, 16.5g carbs (1.6g sugars), 1.1g salt, 1.4g fibre
Chef's tip
Use wild garlic instead of spinach for an aromatic and seasonal flavour. Pick your own or buy it from good greengrocers.
If you don’t have muffin cases, make your own by cutting 12 x 12cm squares of lightly greased baking paper and using them to line each hole, greased side down, as we have.