These cheese and bacon muffins are hands down the best flavor combination for a savory muffin.
I’ve made(and enjoyed) a lot of savory muffin recipes over the years, but nothing quite beats the simplicity and salty goodness of diced bacon and shredded cheese with a few scallions for depth.
Today I’m going to walk you through how to make my recipe for easy cheese and bacon muffins, so you too can have a batch warming your kitchen counter half an hour from now. They won’t last long, so I’d recommend doubling the recipe to avoid the disappointment of them disappearing too fast!
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Savoury bacon and cheese muffins: variations
Although I love these bacon cheese muffins just as they are, there are a bunch of different inclusions which will take them in different directions. Here are a few ideas:
- Instead of using a blend of mozzarella and cheddar cheese, as I have in the recipe below, go for straight up bacon cheddar muffins by using all cheddar.
- Corn! Add a half cup of frozen or fresh corn kernels to the recipe for cheesy corn muffins. Leave the bacon in or omit it for a vegetarian muffin.
- Jalapeno cheese muffins. Finely chop a fresh jalapeno and mix in with the other inclusions. Or take it further and use sliced pickled jalapenos if you want something chunkier.
- Make a gorgeous savory vegetable muffin by omitting the bacon and shredded cheese, and using diced bell peppers, crumbled feta cheese, sliced olives and a couple of big handfuls of baby spinach.
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How to make the best cheese and bacon muffins
These muffins can be baked in a regular oven or a steam oven. If you have a steam oven, though, definitely use it here. The muffins will rise further and have a softer crumb if they’re baked with steam, plus their keeping qualities are a little better. Thank you, extra humidity!
The full ingredients and method for these savory muffins are below in the printable recipe card. Read on for the visual steps; it’s a very simple affair so the hardest bit is gathering up your ingredients!
Chop the bacon and scallions, and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Put the wet ingredients into another bowl or a jug and whisk together.
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Mix the bacon, cheese and scallions into the flour mix so they’re coated with flour. This helps all those chunky bits stay suspended in the batter when the muffins bake.
Wet ingredients into dry, and gently fold everything together. Simple as that! Just make sure you don’t overmix, which will make the muffins tough and chewy instead of soft and tender.
Scoop spoonfuls of the muffin batter into a lined 12-cup muffin pan (this is my absolute favorite brand for cake pans and tins; they’re heavy duty, non-stick and just really nice to use).
Bake the muffins until they are puffed and golden brown, then let them sit in the pan for a few minutes before turning them out.
You’re going to want to eat these as soon as you pull them from the oven, and the good news is that they’re best served warm. So as soon as they’re cool enough to handle, go for it.
Let me know if you bake these muffins, and what variations you make to the flavors if any! There are endless possibilities for savory muffin flavors so I’d love to hear about yours.
Happy steam oven cooking, see you here again soon.
Have you made and enjoyed this recipe? I’d love if you’d be kind enough to rate and review it via the stars in the recipe card, and leave a comment below! Ratings and reviews help other readers to find and understand my recipes from a reader’s perspective.
Cheese and Bacon Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plain flour
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda bicarbonate soda
- 3/4 cup buttermilk regular or low fat
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup bacon diced
- 1 cup shredded cheese I use a mix of mozzarella and cheddar, but any melting cheese is fine
- 3 scallions finely sliced
Instructions
Regular Oven
- Set oven to 400ºF/200ºC. Line or lightly grease a 12-cup standard sized muffin pan and set aside.
- Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine.1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, ½ tsp kosher salt, ½ tsp ground black pepper, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Put the buttermilk, oil and egg into another bowl and whisk to break up the egg. Pour this wet mix into the dry ingredients and stir gently until it’s about halfway mixed, with clumps of flour still visible.3/4 cup buttermilk, 1 egg, 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- Add the bacon, cheese and scallions and stir until everything is just mixed together. A little lumpy is ok – if you overmix the finished muffins will be too tough.2/3 cup bacon, 1 cup shredded cheese, 3 scallions
- Divide the mixture between the muffin cups and bake until the muffins are puffed, just cooked through and golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the muffin pan from the oven. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Combi Steam Oven
- Set oven to Combi Steam, 350ºF/180ºC. If your oven has variable steam settings, select 30% humidity. If not, don't worry! Just set to combi steam at the correct temperature and the oven will work out the humidity for you. Line or lightly grease a 12-cup standard sized muffin pan and set aside.
- Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine.1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, ½ tsp kosher salt, ½ tsp ground black pepper, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Put the buttermilk, oil and egg into another bowl and whisk to break up the egg. Pour this wet mix into the dry ingredients and stir gently until it’s about halfway mixed, with clumps of flour still visible.3/4 cup buttermilk, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 egg
- Add the bacon, cheese and scallions and stir until everything is just mixed together. A little lumpy is ok – if you overmix the finished muffins will be too tough.2/3 cup bacon, 1 cup shredded cheese, 3 scallions
- Divide the mixture between the muffin cups and bake until the muffins are puffed, just cooked through and golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.
- Remove the muffin pan from the oven. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Muffins are best eaten on the day of baking, but any leftovers can be frozen and reheated or toasted and served with butter.
- Variations to try:
- Instead of using a blend of mozzarella and cheddar cheese, as I have in the recipe below, go for straight up bacon cheddar muffins by using all cheddar.
- Corn! Add a half cup of frozen or fresh corn kernels to the recipe for cheesy corn muffins. Leave the bacon in or omit it for a vegetarian muffin.
- Jalapeno cheese muffins. Finely chop a fresh jalapeno and mix in with the other inclusions. Or take it further and use sliced pickled jalapenos if you want something chunkier.
- Make a gorgeous savory vegetable muffin by omitting the bacon and shredded cheese, and using diced bell peppers, crumbled feta cheese, sliced olives and a couple of big handfuls of baby spinach.
Nutrition
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One Response
Your savory muffins are so delicious! Thank you for a great muffin recipe!