Iozza's Corn and Bacon Muffins

These muffins are so delicious! If you love savoury muffins, then you would definitely like these. According to Curtis Stone, his mom often make these special muffins whenever he goes home to his mom's place. And I can see why he would want these muffins whenever he visits his mom!

The recipe uses hardwood-smoked bacon, and what I have is just the regular bacon, so I used that instead. The bacon are coarsely chopped and fry over medium heat until crisp and half cup of bacon drippings are supposed to be mixed into the batter. I have however fried the bacon until half-crisp as I do not want them too dry, and there's no bacon drippings at all! Not even a drop! Anyway I have intended to use canola oil in the first place, so I have substitute with canola oil to be mixed into the batter.

Some of the other ingredients used are eggs, fresh corn kernels, chopped chives and grated cheddar cheese. These are mixed with the flour and the batter is then scooped into muffin pans, mounding it generously into each cup. More cheese are sprinkled over and they are baked for about 18-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked.

Smells incredibly cheesy good while these are baking in the oven. 

These muffins are so delicious! I've eaten this at room temperature and the texture is just so soft, moist and yummy. The bacon, corns, chives and cheese are all just so perfect together. Love it! I can see this yummy muffins again in my future baking. Perfect for an afternoon lunch, and for a breakfast treat. You could easily pack this for lunch to work since it stays so soft even several hours after baking. According to Curtis Stone, these are great when served warm with salted butter, but they are just as good when eaten at room temperature without the addition of any butter.

This post is linked to Cook Like A Star, where this month's featured chef is Curtis Stone, an event organized by my baking buddy, Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids together with co-hosts, Baby Sumo from Eat Your Heart Out and Grace from Life Can Be Simple.

and I'm sharing this post with :

Cook-Your-Books #2, hosted by Kitchen Flavours

The recipe below is given in full. For half a recipe, refer to my measurements in blue.
Iozza's Corn and Bacon Muffins
(adapted from "Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone")
Makes 12
12 ounces hardwood-smoked bacon, coarsely chopped (150gm regular bacon)
1 ear yellow corn, husked (1/2 cup)
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (1-1/4 cups)
4 teaspoons baking powder (2 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon salt (1/4 tsp)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (1/8 tsp paprika powder)
1-1/4 cups whole milk (2/3 cup)
1/2 cup bacon drippings (1/4 cup canola oil)
3 large eggs (2 small)
2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese (1 cup)
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh chives (1/4 cup)
salted butter, for serving

Preheat the oven to 400F. Cook the bacon in a large heavy saute pan over medium heat for about 8 minutes, or until it is browned and crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to paper towels. Brush 12 standard-sized muffin cups generously with some of the bacon drippings from the pan, and set aside 1/2 cup of the remaining bacon drippings to cool slightly. Discard any remaining bacon fat.

Use a sharp knife to slice the corn kernels off the cob. You should have about 1 cup.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl to blend. Whisk the milk, eggs, and reserved bacon drippings in another large bowl to blend; then stir in the bacon, 1-1/2 cups of the cheese, the corn kernels, and the chives. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture just until blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, dividing it equally and mounding it generously. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until the muffins are golden and a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let the muffins cool slightly in the cups. Then run a small sharp knife around the muffins to loosen from the cups, remove them, and serve them warm with salted butter.

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