Savoury Breakfast Muffins

Dietary Requirements

Difficulty Level

6-8

Serving size

30 mins

Prep time

approx 25 mins

Duration

These are a great bake for getting ahead and having breakfast on the go, or serve them warm with salad for lunch or light tea. I love adding the little quails eggs to the inside, they look really pretty when you cut them open to reveal the whole egg hidden within the delicious savoury muffin.

Ingredients

quails eggs (optional)

150g

cooked veggie bacon or mushroom (or use bacon if you're a meat eater)

small spring onions, finely sliced

120g

very strong cheddar (I love to even mix cheddar and Parmesan as I like a strong cheese flavour)

200g

plain flour

2 tsp

baking powder

120g

buttermilk

80g

butter, melted (70g for the muffin mix and 10g to brush over the top of the muffins)

eggs

0.5 tsp

salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees °C fan.

First off, soft boil the quails eggs for 2 minutes, as soon as 2 minutes are up run under cold running water to cool down quickly.

Then carefully peel the shells and leave them in the water ready to plunge into the muffin mix. If you don’t want to use the quail’s eggs, these muffins are delicious as they are without the addition of the quail’s eggs.

Fry the bacon or pancetta until crispy and golden, once cooled break into little pieces.

Grease your cupcake tray with a little butter in each cavity.

Step 2

Place the flour, salt, pepper, cayenne and baking powder in the stand mixer bowl and give a quick mix on slow with the paddle beater.

In a separate bowl, mix the egg, 70g of the melted butter and buttermilk by beating lightly with a fork to combine.

Add about a quarter of the wet mix to the flour mix and gently beat on slow until just combined.

Repeat until the muffin mix is completely combined. Don’t over mix.

Lift the paddle and add the bacon and spring onion pieces to the bowl, then place the beater back in and mix on slow for 5 seconds or so to distribute.

Step 3

Now spoon the batter into each hole in the tin, just about a third of the way full.

Plunge a quail’s egg into each one and push down very gently to sink in.

With a spoon carefully fill the muffin tins around and on top of the quails egg. Fill them almost to the top as they do not rise too much and they look nice if they puff up over the top.

Step 4

Brush each one with the remaining butter and bake in the oven for around 20-25 minutes until completely cooked through and a golden colour.

Allow to cool in their tins for around 5 minutes and take out while still warm using a blunt palette or butter knife to release a little if you need to.

Allow to cool completely then refrigerate until eating.

These make a perfect snack for breakfast on the go or a light lunch with a side salad.