You may not know this, but Miss J and I are also superheroes. We’re called The Adventure Sisters of Adventure. Basically, we do adventures. For one of our recent Adventures, we had to get up and on a train to Edinburgh at 8am on a *Saturday morning* which is an Adventure in itself. This being the case, we needed a breakfast train snack, one that would be delicious but would also be easy to transport.
As it happened, I had a couple of avocados that needed to be used up, a block of halloumi that wasn’t getting any younger and some smoky bacon in the freezer. These ingredients said to me ‘savoury muffins’. Metaphorically, that is.
“Savoury muffins!”
I had a look around for a recipe and couldn’t find anything suitable. Most of the avocado baking recipes were for sweet treats, which is something I’m interested in trying at a later date but wasn’t what I wanted for this occasion. In the best traditions of Rock Salt, I took inspiration from a few recipes then made my own version. The recipes I drew inspiration from were this one at CheeseWeb, this one on Yummly and this other one on Yummly. The final recipe is this, which I claim as an original:
Makes 14 (I know, an unusual number)
- 2 cups self raising flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 5 rashers bacon, cut into small pieces
- 1 avocado
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 2 spring onions, cut into thin rounds
- 1 cup halloumi – half grated, half cubed
First, whisk the flour and cornmeal together in a large bowl. Set aside.
Next, cook the bacon until a little crispy – or a lot crispy if you like, I prefer it a bit chewy. Set aside.
Next, peel and mash the avocado with a fork. Put it in another bowl, or a big jug. Do not set aside.
Add the eggs, oil, milk, spring onion and halloumi to the bowl (or jug) with the avocado, and whisk furiously until combined. The furiousness is imperative.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then add the bacon.
Mix with a spatula until combined. Ignore how weird it looks.
Divide into 14 muffin cases, and bake at 175C for 20 minutes, turning half way through.
Eat on an early morning train to Edinburgh (optional).
These muffins are soft inside, a little golden outside and are probably kind of good for you, right? The avocado flavour isn’t very strong but it adds to the flavour profile (ooh!) and to the colour of these muffins. The halloumi and the bacon mean that you don’t have to add salt to the flour. You could add black pepper if you fancy it, but the salt is a definite no. Leaving the halloumi half grated and half cubed means you get those awesome little pockets of cheese through the batter, as well as the flavour mixed through the batter. What’s better than double cheese? Double cheese and bacon, that’s what.
July 2nd, 2012 at 12:07 PM
Speaking as one of the superheroes concerned, also as one of the lucky recipients of these muffins, I can heartily recommend both Adventures and this recipe. Of all the outstanding muffins Rock Salt has come up with to date, these are far and away my favourite. Far. And. Away. Ooh, that’s almost a superhero catchphrase…
July 3rd, 2012 at 6:44 PM
Far and Away and Beyond! With Muffins!
July 2nd, 2012 at 12:41 PM
I have never eaten an avocado, halloumi AND bacon in my entire life but by the end of the post I’m drooling ! Its early evening here and I’m thinking this would also make for a delicious in-between meals snack. Thats a great muffin recipe !
July 3rd, 2012 at 6:43 PM
Truthfully, they’d be great at any time of day
July 2nd, 2012 at 3:59 PM
This looks like a great twist on the recipe I posted! Love it!
July 3rd, 2012 at 6:42 PM
Thanks for the inspiration
July 2nd, 2012 at 10:09 PM
Genius idea! Not the train ride especially but the muffins – I like the idea of savoury muffins, consider this bookmarked for a weekend breakfast treat
July 3rd, 2012 at 6:41 PM
Ooh thanks! I’d love to hear how they turned out if you make them.
July 3rd, 2012 at 1:14 AM
I have grilled Halloumi cheese but have never used it is baking. Brilliant idea.
July 3rd, 2012 at 6:39 PM
It’s just what I had in the fridge, but it worked out really well
July 11th, 2012 at 12:16 PM
I think if I made these for my husband he’d fall in love with me all over again! All his favourite things wrapped up together in one tasty muffin- they sound amazing
July 11th, 2012 at 1:12 PM
You can keep the recipe up your sleeve in case you ever have a falling out
July 22nd, 2012 at 3:19 PM
Double cheese and bacon … sign me right up … train trip included please
July 23rd, 2012 at 1:49 PM
Perhaps we can negotiate some kind of rate