Caramelized Onion Smoked Cheese and Bacon Muffins #MuffinMonday

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it but I belong to an online community called Chowhounds.  Perhaps you’ve heard of it.  Or even belong yourself.  Chowhounds live all over the world and get together in forums categorized by either location or interest.  You can sign up to get emails about trending discussions with articles from Chowhound writers about a myriad of food related topics or you can go directly to the forums to interact. And it's all free!  I’ve received (and given) advice about ingredients and restaurants and cooking methods over the last couple of years, but my favorite part of Chowhound is finding out about new ingredients.

Last spring, just before I was headed to Providence to spend Spring Break with my daughters, I read about bacon salt in a Chowhound email.  It wasn't so new, just new to me!  All natural, smoky bacon flavored salt that is vegetarian.  I was so excited!  Because, as you have read here, both daughters (and many of their friends) are vegetarian.  When I cook for them, I miss the addition of bacon for depth and flavor.  Especially in dishes with beans.  Here, finally, was my answer!

Caramelized Onion Smoked Cheese and Bacon Muffins

This week’s Muffin Monday recipe was for a cheese onion muffin and I really wanted to add in bacon, but I have been sending these off to the office with my husband (apparently Sundays are their favorite day now) and several of his colleagues don’t eat pork.  Bacon salt to the rescue!  I made the batter with the bacon salt and then added the optional bacon into the batter once some of the muffin cups had been filled.  So, everyone could have a muffin!

Ingredients
5-6 slices or rashers smoked bacon (optional)
2 medium onions
Olive oil
2/3 cup or 150ml canola or other light oil
1 1/8 cup or 265ml buttermilk
1 large egg
3 cups or 375g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon bacon salt or substitute Maldon Smoked Sea Salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
150g mature cheddar
280g smoked cheese

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin tin by lightly rubbing it with oil or use non-stick spray to coat.  (My batter actually made 16 muffins, which makes me begin to wonder if my muffin tin is not a tiny bit smaller than normal size.  It’s been happening a lot lately.)

Grate your sharp cheddar cheese and cut the smoked cheese into cubes.

Fry your bacon in a skillet and drain on some paper towels.  Chop it into little pieces and set aside.

Slice the onions thinly and pop them in the bacon pan with a small drizzle of olive oil.  (You can leave some of the bacon grease if dietary restrictions allow but I washed the pan out and used just olive oil.)  Cook over a slow to medium fire, stirring frequently, until the onions are lovely and golden and caramelized.  Do be careful not to burn them.  Once they are done, take the pan off the heat and allow the onions to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, smoked paprika, baking powder and baking soda.  Add in the grated cheddar and give the whole thing a good stir.

Whisk the oil, egg and buttermilk in a smaller bowl and add in about two-thirds of the cooled onions.  Stir well.

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ones and stir a couple of times.  Add in the smoked cheese cubes and fold to combine.

If all of your muffins will have bacon, fold the chopped bits in as well, reserving 12-16 small pieces to add to the tops before baking.  If you are making some vegetarian (and halal) muffins, spoon some of the batter into the prepared muffin cups before adding the bacon.

Divide the rest of the batter between the muffin cups and top with some caramelized onions and then the reserved bacon bits (only on the muffins that have bacon inside, obviously – because then the muffin eaters can choose wisely.)

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Thanks to the flavored salt, smoked cheese and smoked paprika, these are cheesy and smoky and delicious, with or without the bacon!

Enjoy!

The deliciousness of the crunchy outside is only rivaled by the cheesiness of the wonderful inside. 

Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes with Lemon Curd for #BundtaMonth

Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes are topped with homemade lemon curd for a gorgeous and deliciously sweet and tart dessert that will delight fancy guests and family alike.

I’m just wondering if anyone out there still has lemon curd left over.  You did all make some, right?  Because I have one more recipe that calls for lemon curd.

Last year when I was still living in Cairo, I left a comment on someone’s blog about the cute paper cupcake liners she had used.  The author responded that they were Wilton and so, she was sure I could find them in a shop nearby.  It seems she lived in some remote area of Canada and, if THEY had them, my shop surely would.  When I wrote to back to say I was in Cairo, Egypt and there were no Wilton things, much as I wished there were, she was sorry for me.  And I was sorry for me.  And, then, and then!  We moved to Dubai and take a gander at just ONE SIDE of the baking aisle in my neighborhood shop.

Not even a specialty shop, lovely people, this is the grocery store just minutes from my house.  Which is dangerous.  They’ve got Wilton paper liners and gel colors and baking pans and decorating tips and, what’s more, they even have Nordic pans!  Woo hoo!  Which brings me to my recent purchase and the recipe at hand.  This month’s BundtaMonth theme is citrus so I decided to let what was available make the decision for me.  I came home with grapefruit, lemons, limes and large clementines.  And a mini Bundt pan.   And so, I give you Citrus Lust Mini-Bundt Cakes with Lemon Curd.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups or 220g flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup or 85g butter, room temperature
3/4 cup or 170g sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons citrus zest (I used a 1/2 tablespoon each of clementine, grapefruit, lemon and lime.)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed citrus juice
(I used:
1/8 cup freshly squeezed clementine juice
1/8 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/8 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice)

For topping:
About 1/2 cup or 115ml lemon curd
Powdered or icing sugar for sprinkling, optional

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Grease and flour a 12-cup mini-Bundt pan.  (I just used Pam spray because the Nordic pans release quite easily.  If your mini-Bundt pan sticks a lot, do use flour as well.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Zest your fruit.

Juice your fruit and transfer the needed amounts into measuring jug.

Juicing - the aftermath

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Next add in the citrus zests.

Continue beating, adding in about one-third of the flour mixture and then one-third of the juice.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Continue beating and alternating until all the flour and juice is in the batter.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan.  I find it less messy and easier (aside from having one more thing to wash) to transfer my batter from the wide-mouth mixing bowl to a narrow measure vessel for pouring.  Or you could choose to ladle it in.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the mini cakes comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool for about five minutes, then turn out to cool completely.  There is an ad for the pan at the bottom of this post.  I am new to this (my first Google Affliates ad!) but I think if you buy one, I make some small change.

If yours have risen up over the top of the pan, as mine did, cut the bottoms off with a serrated knife so that the mini Bundts can stand upright.  Whatever you cut off is yours to eat immediately.  No questions asked.

Use a pastry decorating bag to pipe the lemon curd into the hole on the top of the little cakes.

Sprinkle with a little powdered or icing sugar, if desired.

Enjoy!

Have a look at all of the wonderful Tangy January Bundts we’ve baked this month. You may notice that one of our wonderful hosts is missing this month. Sending love out to Lora from Cake Duchess whose family suffered a huge loss earlier this month. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Lora. XOXO

• Almond Clementine Bundt Cake by Carrie from Poet In The Pantry
• Citrus Bundt Cake with Sparkling Wine and Fiori di Sicilia by Laura from The Spiced Life
• Citrus Cocktail Mini Bundt Cakes by Renee from Magnolia Days
• Dried Tomato Cherry & Yuzu Cake by Ann from Anncoo Journal
• Glazed Lemon Bundt Cake by Alice from Hip Foodie Mom
• Grapefruit Poppyseed Bundt Cake by Deb from Knitstamatic
• Grapefruit Yogurt Bundt Cake by Kate from Food Babbles
• Lemon Bundt with Lemon Curd by Holly from A Baker’s House
• Mini Orange Bundts with a Grand Marnier Glaze by Tara from Noshing With The Nolands
• Orange Chocolate Marble Bundt by Paula from Vintage Kitchen
• Orange Olive Oil Cake by Katerina from Diet Hood
• Orange Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Bundt Cake by Anuradha from Baker Street
• Soaked and Glazed Lemon Cake by Dorothy from Shockingly Delicious
• Zesty Lemon Bundt Cake by Anita from Hungry Couple NYC

Pin these Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes with Lemon Curd! 

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Apple Raisin Almond Muffins #MuffinMonday

Amaretto-soaked golden raisins are nestled along with chopped tart apples and almond slivers in a delicious muffin batter and baked to golden perfection.

Here’s the thing.  I’m not a big fan of pears (can’t bear the grittiness between my teeth - is it just me?) OR dates (except for in sticky toffee pudding where you don’t even KNOW that there are dates) and that’s what today’s Muffin Monday original recipe was all about.

So then I start to substitute.  What DO I like that is similar to pears.  Apples, of course.  And for the dates?  How about some raisins?  Yeah, golden raisins would be nice.  But that seemed so bland.  What about if I soaked the raisins in something?  Now we were talking!  So I soaked the raisins in Amaretto, which led me to add almonds to the batter as well.  As I told Muffin Monday organizer, Anuradha, when I sent her my link, these muffins evolved on their own!  And all I can say is, Good job, guys!  Now I am just gonna sit back and see what my dinner ingredients do.  Further bulletins as events warrant.

Apple Raisin Almond Muffins

Ingredients
3 1/2 oz or 100g golden raisins
1/4 cup or 60ml Amaretto
1 1/8 cup (tightly packed) or 235g light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups or 185g flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup or 60g butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup or 60ml milk
2 eggs
3/4 cup or 50g slivered almonds, divided
2 small green (or other tart) apples

Method
Soak the raisins in the Amaretto for an hour or two or overnight if you are organized.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper cases or grease liberally.  (You may actually get more than 12 muffins out of this batter, depending on your cup size and your apple size.  My batter ending up being enough for 16 muffins.)

In a large bowl, mix together your flour, light brown sugar, salt and baking powder.

In a smaller bowl, whisk your eggs, butter and milk.

Drain the Amaretto that hasn’t soaked into the raisins into this bowl too and whisk again.

Peel, core and dice your apples.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just moistened.

Add in the raisins and two-thirds or about 1/2 cup of the almonds, reserving the rest for topping, and mix gently.

Fold in the apple pieces.  This is going to look like way too much apple and way too little batter, but it works.  Trust.

Divide the batter into the muffin cups.

Sprinkle the tops with the reserved slivered almonds.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin and then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!