Savory Muffins

My day goes a whole lot better if I start it with a hot, protein-heavy breakfast.  These fit the bill nicely.  They're easy and filling.  Plus they're portable, which makes a great breakfast on a busy morning.

Adapted from: Thriving Home
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Breakfast
Recipe Column: AJ



Yield: 12

0.5 lbs breakfast sausage
1 bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1.5 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1 cup cornmeal
2 cups all purpose flour
2.75 tsp baking powder
0.25 tsp garlic powder
0.5 tsp salt
1 stick butter, melted
3 eggs
1.5 cups buttermilk or 1.5 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to make 1,5 cups
0.75 cups shredded cheddar

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray.  Don't use muffin cups.  I tired it once and the muffins did not come out of the cups well.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.  Add the sausage (if you haven't cooked it already) and the peppers and onions.  Cook, stirring regularly, until the sausage is cooked and the vegetables are tender.  Take off the heat and set aside to cool.
3. Mix the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.  In another bowl, mix the butter, eggs and butter milk.  Add the cheese, sausage and vegetables to the wet ingredients.
4. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full with the muffin mixture.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.  Turn the muffins onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.  Freeze the muffins on a tray lined with parchment paper.  Once they are frozen solid, transfer to a container for storage.

To serve:  Thaw the muffins overnight.  Microwave for one minute or until heated.  I have heated these from frozen as well.  Microwave 3-5 minutes at 30% power until mostly thawed then 30-60 seconds at full power until hot.

Verdict: These are delicious, reheat well and are a great on the go breakfast.

Next Time: I think a little more sausage would be good in these.  I'll probably increase the sausage by 50%.  Also they could use a little more salt, like 1/8 teaspoon for a batch.  If you are trying to get more veggies in, I think that shredded carrots could be cooked along with the peppers and onions and added to the muffins and be very tasty.  I will experiment with it at some point.