Cheese and Bacon Muffins are the most delicious breakfast & brunch recipe, or you can even serve them at dinner. They're packed full of flavor from the crispy bacon, cheddar cheese and chives. Plus, super easy to make from scratch and ready in under 45 minutes!
These Bacon Cheddar Muffins aren't your typical muffin recipe. They're savory with this fluffy biscuit like texture, but in a muffin form. I love serving them hot with butter and a drizzle of honey or lathered in red pepper jelly.
For more brunch recipes, try this Broccoli Bacon Quiche, Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad, and Asparagus Puff Pastry.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe:
- Homemade. Skip the store bought muffins filled with preservatives and enjoy these savory muffins made from scratch.
- Easy. No fancy techniques here, just simple step by step instructions.
- Quick. Ready to eat in under 45 minutes.
- Simple Clean up. After cooking the bacon, everything goes into one bowl for mixing. I also like using the tall tulip muffin liners to avoid any mess on the muffin tin.
If you love easy muffin recipes, try these Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins, Banana Carrot Muffins, and White Chocolate Raspberry Muffins.
Ingredients:
Bacon: Original bacon works the best for this recipe. Avoid thick cut bacon because it takes forever to get crispy.
Cheddar Cheese: Grate the cheese fresh from a block, rather than buying pre-shredded cheese in a bag. Bagged cheese doesn't melt well and will change the texture of the muffins.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations:
Need a vegetarian version? Leave out the bacon.
Want to swap the cheese? Try parmesan, gruyere, Monterey Jack, or a combination of a few cheeses.
Rather cook the bacon whole? That's great, just give it a nice chop before adding into the batter.
The tulip muffin liners can be swapped with cupcake liners if needed.
Big on bacon recipes? Try these Bacon Turnovers, Bacon Wrapped Peppers, and Bacon Pinwheels.
How to Make Bacon and Cheese Muffins:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12 count muffin tin with tulip liners. In a skillet, sauté the bacon pieces over medium low heat for about 10 minutes or until crispy. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to remove excess grease. While the bacon is cooking, melt the butter in a skillet or in the microwave and allow to cool.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients of flour, salt, pepper, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Pour in milk, egg, sour cream, and warm (not hot) butter.
Step 3: Whisk the batter until combined.
Step 4: Toss in the bacon pieces, cheddar cheese and chives. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to fold mixture until incorporated.
Step 5: Fill each tulip liner with 2 tablespoons of batter. Note: If you're using regular cupcake liners, only fill ¾ full. Most likely, you will have a bit of extra batter as the tulip liners hold more. Bake for 18-22 minutes.
Step 6: Remove from the oven once insides are fully cooked. To test: Insert a toothpick and it should come out with no wet batter, just a few crumbs.
Serve and enjoy! I love serving these muffins with honey and butter. Red pepper jelly is also a great option to spread on.
Expert Tips:
- Allow the butter to cool a bit (about 10 minutes) before adding to the batter. This will help to avoid cooking the egg when mixing.
- Tulip liners are a must have when making muffins. These liners prevent misshapen muffins from overfilling and prevent extra mess on muffin tins. Plus, they look nice too. You can find the tulip liners linked in the recipe card below.
- Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate before adding into the batter to avoid a lot of extra grease in the muffins.
Love cheesy recipes? Check out these Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls, Pimento Cheese with Jalapeño, and Steak and Cheese Calzones.
Recipe FAQs:
The butter should still be in melted form, but not super hot straight from the pan. Allow it to cool for 7-10 minutes before adding into the mixture. However, don't allow it to cool so much that it becomes solid again.
Allow the muffins to cool down completely, then store in a gallon sized ziplock bag or sealed container on the counter, in the pantry, or even the fridge.
You can easily warm muffins up in the oven, air fryer or microwave. However, my favorite way is to slice them in half and add the sliced portion faced down into a skillet with 1 tablespoon of butter over medium low heat. Cook them for a few minutes. The muffins get this crisp and buttery layer that is amazing!
More Brunch Recipes You'll Love:
If you tried this Cheese and Bacon Muffin Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
PrintRecipe
Cheese and Bacon Muffins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Description
Cheese and Bacon Muffins are the most delicious breakfast, brunch or even serve them with dinner. They're packed full of flavor from the crispy bacon, cheddar cheese and chives. Plus, super easy to make from scratch and ready in under 45 minutes!
Ingredients
- 6 slices of original bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons salted butter + more for serving
- 1 and ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives, finely sliced
- 1 and ½ cup cheddar cheese, grated fresh from the block
Optional: Honey and/or red pepper jelly for serving. The muffins are savory and salty and pair really nicely with sweetness.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12 count muffin tin with tulip liners. In a skillet, sauté the bacon pieces over medium low heat for about 10 minutes or until crispy. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to remove excess grease. While the bacon is cooking, melt the butter in a skillet or in the microwave and allow to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients of flour, salt, pepper, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Pour in milk, egg, sour cream and warm (not hot) butter.
- Whisk the batter until combined.
- Toss in the bacon pieces, cheddar cheese and chives. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to fold mixture until incorporated.
- Fill each tulip liner with 2 tablespoons of batter. Note: If you're using regular cupcake liners, only fill ¾ full. Most likely, you will have a bit of extra batter as the tulip liners hold more. Bake for 18-22 minutes.
- Remove from the oven once insides are fully cooked. When inserting a toothpick it should come out with no wet batter, just a few crumbs. Serve and enjoy! I love serving these with honey and butter. Red pepper jelly is also a great option to spread on.
Notes
- Allow the butter to cool a bit (about 10 minutes) before adding to the batter. This will help to avoid cooking the egg when mixing.
- Tulip liners are a must have when making muffins. These liners prevent misshapen muffins from overfilling and prevent extra mess on muffin tins. Plus, they look nice too. You can find them linked in the recipe card below.
- Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate before adding into the batter to avoid a lot of extra grease in the muffins.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: baked goods
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
George
These are delish. We served them with dinner and ate them the next day for breakfast too!
Tara Smithson
Hi George, we ate this for meals two days in a row too.