Hello dear friends, it has been awhile since I was last here …… for many reasons. Life has been so hard for everyone for so long now, and I did not feel it fitting, plus to be honest I haven’t had the energy or mindset, to be adding recipes, when the world was in such turmoil, and global poverty is at an all time high. I have however had so many requests for recipes that you haven’t been able to access recently, so I have decided to resurrect this tiny little spot in the universe that I call Shades of Cinnamon.
This recipe is submitted by my multi talented and beautiful daughter in law Helen.
Not only are these muffins a family favourite and a great weekend breakfast, but they hold a wonderful memory of my dad for I.
Growing up my family almost every school holiday used to travel down the south coast of South Africa, to a little holiday spot just on the outskirts of a small resort town. It was a beautiful spot to visit, it sat nestled between large dunes with a winding river that opened into a lagoon between them, before it flowed into the sea. You could camp around the lagoon, a stone’s throw from the beach, and walking distance to the main street of the little town.
In the early hours of the morning my dad would walk along the beach to a small family owned bakery situated just off the main street and bring back the most delicious bacon and cheese muffins, still warm from the oven. My dad in particular used to love them.
I have always tried to find a recipe that came close to recreating the amazing taste I remember, but never really found one . Over the years, and many muffins later, I finally created a recipe that I felt was the closest I could get to that original delicious taste . The key I have found to getting that wonderful rosemary fragrance throughout the muffin is to use homegrown rosemary, which I dry. You can use store bought, but I have found that homegrown gives the best flavour.
I hope that you will like them as much as my family does. These are best served warm with a smear of butter.
Helen
Photography @KelvinThomas
- 200 g diced brown onion
- 15 ml butter
- 200 g streaky bacon
- 200 g grated cheese. This is a blend of 3 cheeses, mozzarella, mild cheddar and parmesan
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 360 g self raising flour
- 2 eggs
- 250 ml milk
- 125 ml olive oil
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Preheat your oven to 180 C/ 365 F
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Place muffin wrappers in muffin tins
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Saute diced onion, bacon and rosemary in butter until onion is soft and starting to brown. Remove from the heat and set aside.
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In a large bowl add the three cheeses and flour. Mix so that the cheese is coated in flour and spread out. Now add the onion, bacon and rosemary. Scrape the pan juices in to add to the flavour. Mix this all in with the flour and cheese.
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In a separate bowl add the eggs, milk and oil and whisk gently. Add to the dry ingredients.
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Mix the batter lightly until combined.
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Dicide batter into muffin wrappers ( Makes 12-15)
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Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
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Serve with with butter.
2 Comments
I was wondering where you had gone. This is fantastic. I love the backstory and the use of homegrown Rosemary. Dad sure created memories. I feel your pain. We are all so tired of the pandemic, massive inflation, wars. My home country Sri Lanka the home of Ceylon Cinnamon is bankrupt. What is the World coming to right? But we need people like you to uplift us with recipes and stories.
Thank you for your kind words. I was unaware of Sri Lanka’s bankruptcy, how terrible. I hope you are still managing to source your cinnamon from there? Take care