Easy Savoury Muffins

These easy savoury muffins are cheesy, garlicky with fluffy insides and crusty tops. They are incredibly simple to throw together and great for picnics, lunch boxes or just plain warm from the oven. In fact that is when they are at their most deadly.

This recipe is so easy and accommodating, it is my blue print for whatever I have left in the fridge and there is always, always cheese.

My children's favourite version are these Ham and Cheese Muffins but mine are Cheese and Chive......so moreish I cannot stop. The story of my life

Savoury Muffins Recipe

Muffins are the workhorse of baking. They can take any flavour combo that works for you and yours. A cursory mix and a spooning into numerous paper cases and the oven does the rest time and time again.

I don't care if you're talking sweet or savoury, muffins can bring joy to the darkest corners of your kitchen especially if they are full of cheese or chocolate.

Choose your fillings well and then simply add to the batter. I always use cheese and my children are ham fans so that is what I mostly throw in.

I like to use the best ham I can so that is the least processed I can find. I do try to avoid the reformed ham. Leftovers from my Slow Cooker Gammon Joint are perfect as are real slices of ham.

Ham is traditionally from the hind leg but reformed ham has been processed and usually brought together with chemicals and processing. There is much to debate about the processing of ham and gammon including the use of nitrates.

I go along these lines.......to eat it in moderation and look for ham that has not been reformed into round gelatinous sheets. It is more expensive but I just use it sparingly.

I also like to use a tbsp of garlic oil. I just love the stuff and find it actually nicer and easier to use than garlic itself. It has a delicious mellowness that you usually only get from roasting garlic. I find it genius in salads usually requiring raw garlic. Such as my Easy Chicken Caesar Salad.

There is a full recipe card with exact ingredients and instructions below.

Recipe Steps

• Mix the wet and dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl very briefly. Don't worry that you can still see flour.
• Tip in the cheese and ham and briefly mix again.
• Mix as little as you can as muffins can become dense if over mixed. Less is more bakers.

• I then line a muffin tray with paper cases. For ease, this is by far the best way to bake muffins, however if you want to omit the paper cases and bake directly in the muffin tray then spray the muffin holes well with non stick oil spray.

• Bake for 15/20 minutes at 180 C/350F/Gas Mark 4 until golden and your kitchen smells of baked cheese and garlic.....

Muffin Variations

This recipe is adaptable to suit you sir. My children prefer the cheese and ham version but I absolutely adore cheese and chive.

• I omit the ham and add 7 grams of snipped chives. However there is always cheese. I use a mature cheddar because that is always what I have in my fridge.
• I have used an extra mature cheddar and found it a little too cheesy so remember to adapt the amount according to the strength of your cheese.
• 
• I also make cheese and vegetable ones using frozen finely diced vegetables (carrot, celery and onion). I think they really need to be finely diced especially for my vegetable phobic children.
• I use 150 grams/5.3 ounces of frozen vegetables.

• I  love this rather grown up version with Feta and Roasted Peppers.
• I use 50 grams/1.75 ozs of mature grated cheddar and 100 grams/3.5 ozs of crumbled feta. I throw in 70 grams/2.5 ozs of roasted peppers from a jar but you could also use 30 grams/1oz sun dried tomatoes for a real mediterranean savoury muffin.
• Then bake as normal.

Equipment Required

• Large mixing bowl
• Wooden Spoon or Spatula
• Paper Cases or Non Stick Spray
• Large Spoon or Ice Cream Scoop
• Wire rack
• Oven Thermometer (optional)
• 12 hole Muffin Tray

 Muffin Tips

• Adjust the amount of cheese to suit it's strength. This recipe is for a mature cheddar.
• Use non stick oil spray in the muffin tray if not using paper cases.
• Gently run a knife around the muffin until you feel it become loose before pulling it from the tray if you are not using paper cases.
• Interchange fillings to suit your tastes, family and what you have in the fridge.
• Mix only just enough to avoid the muffins becoming dense.
• I use a large serving spoon to dollop the mixture into the paper cases or holes. You can use an ice cream scoop.
• Reheat any left overs in a medium oven for roughly 5 minutes or 10 seconds in a microwave.
• Store any uneaten in an airtight container in the fridge.
• To make these muffins gluten free simply use gluten free flour. But add a splash of extra milk as gluten free flour usually absorbs more liquid.
• You can freeze these muffins by double wrapping them in clingfilm and silver foil. I usually then place them in a labelled carrier bag or tupperware container. To defrost I leave them out at room temperature for an hour before reheating them in a medium oven for 10/15 minutes.

I like to sometimes serve these muffins with soup for Lunch. Particularly my Celeriac Soup and Baked Onion and Garlic Cream Soup.

Check out some more fabulous baked cheesy love with these

Tuna Melt

Cheese and Onion Scones

Easy Cheese Scones

Cheese and Onion Quiche

Quiche Lorraine

Do let me know how you got on in the comments below. I do love a good old hairy chin wag.