Savory Breakfast Muffins

I woke up this morning with the urge to bake...of course. Since I had made a sweet dessert the night before I decided to try and bake something savory instead. Due to the fact that I am constantly perusing through food blogs I constantly have a bunch of pages open on my computer with recipes that I would like to try. Luckily, I happened to have one open which matched the description I was looking for...something small, light, and savory.

The original recipe called for making regular sized muffins but I made mine mini sized because I love to use my mini muffin pan. I think it's quite convenient because it produces the perfect bite, allows you to produce a bigger quantity (good for a large family like mine), and takes less time to bake. The recipe is quite versatile and provides a batter base which can then be supplemented with a variety of savory mix-ins. I split the batter in half and made one batch using caramelized onions, mushrooms, and feta cheese while the other batch had sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and goat cheese. You can also add fresh herbs but I chose to skip that this time.

Funny enough, once I made the muffins my family didn't quite take to them as I had hoped. My mom said she imagined more of a bread rather than a muffin and the savory ingredients in muffin form threw her off. She said she didn't quite know how to react to the soft muffin texture but strong savory taste. Personally I enjoyed the muffins and when I brought some over to my aunt and cousin they seemed to like them too. I guess each person has their own preference and I should accept that not all of my recipes will always be a hit with everyone.

Savory Breakfast Muffins
Note: The recipe makes about 12 regular muffins or 24 mini muffins, but it depends on how much of the savory mix-ins are added. Try to add no more than 1 1/2 cups. For example: 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms, 1/2 cup caramelized onions, 1/2 cup feta cheese.

• 2 cups flour (the original recipe called for 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat but I used 2 cups all-purpose)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 scant black pepper (I just sprinkled enough that looked right)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tbsp canola oil (I used olive oil which worked fine)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 1/2 cup savory ingredients

1. Prepare all of the savory mix-ins and set aside. This means cut them all into small, uniform pieces and cook anything such as mushrooms or onions and set aside to cool before adding to the batter.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper and set aside.
3. Whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and sugar. 
4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet just until all of the flour is incorporated.
5. Gently fold in the savory mix-ins.
6. Lightly grease a muffin pan and fill each well almost full. I recommend using paper liners if you have them because the muffins were a little difficult to remove from the pan, despite pre-greasing. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If baking regular size muffins bake for 20-22 minutes; mini sized muffins for 15-18 minutes. The muffins are ready when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
7. Cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan.