Bacon, when you hear the simmering sound of deliciousness how can your heart not beat so quickly? And when bacon is in baked goods things get even better.
My quest for bacon in baked goods was sparked in September when my friends and I baked some birthday bacon cupcakes.
Maple bacon muffins made by the CUI's own Claudia Rebora. (CU Independent/Robert R. Denton)
Now in Boulder there may be a lack of enthusiasm for meat due to the amount of vegetarians and vegans who are just not that into it. This leaves bacon under appreciated and lacking some love in the baked goods department, unlike New York, home of the bakery Baconery (yes, a bakery dedicated to bacon). Due to the lack of bacon love in Boulder I thought it was time to share some recipes. Since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, the first recipe of bacon deliciousness is a maple bacon muffin. I found this simple recipe on food.com and due to minimal ingredients wasn’t afraid to just go for it.
Here’s what you’ll need:
2 cups all-purpose flour
8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled (It’s better to bake the bacon in the oven so it’s evenly crispy, and remember the more the merrier.)
3 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
½ cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2?3 cup maple syrup
Once you have all your ingredients it’s time to get baking.
1. Pre-heat the oven at 400F
2. Put the flour, bacon, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
3. Mix the egg, milk, and syrup in a separate bowl. Since the recipe is simple you could spice it up with a dash of cinnamon to add a little spice to it.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients slowly and until the dough is moistened. Not too wet though because it’ll ruin the consistency, I learned this the hard way my first time around.
5. Fill paper lined muffin cups (I used a cupcake pan with cupcake paper liners); if you don’t have cups you can grease the inside, 2/3 full and bake for 20-25 minutes. You can tell they are ready when you put a toothpick or fork in the middle and it comes out clean.
6. Cool for 5 minutes and enjoy.
The first time I made these I was a little nervous since I am more comfortable in the extremely sweet side of baked goods (cookies). The only problem I had was my need to mix way beyond what was needed. This made the muffins darker and a little harder on top, which did not match the photo of the muffins on the recipe. They were still delicious and my roommates enjoyed them. However, my itching sweet tooth wanted a little something more, so for my second batch I added a bit of cinnamon.
These muffins were awesome in the morning on my way to catch the bus to class. I had another when I came back for my afternoon snack with some honey on top to sweeten it up even more. The honey combo was delicious and for those with an extra sweet tooth a dash of maple syrup does the trick.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Claudia Rebora at claudia.rebora@colorado.edu
