Bacon and Cheese Muffins

Good morning everyone!  This morning I got up early specifically to try out a new breakfast recipe - Bacon and Cheese Muffins!  I found this recipe on bigoven.com.  If you've never check it out, its an AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME site.  (Did I mentions that its awesome?)  I have the BigOven app on my ipod touch & I LOVE IT!!!!  So many great recipes with tons of ratings and reviews.  ONe really cool feature of the ipod/iphone app is the "What's Cooking Around You" feature.  The app actually uses your location (if you give it permission to) and it shows you what people that live near you who are using BigOven are making for dinner.  How cool is that!



I'm REALLY excited about this recipe for many reasons and here they are:
1.) This recipe is SUPER EASY and quick.  I got up around 6:45am and the muffins were ready at 7:30am - that's less than an hour total for prepping, mixing, AND baking.
2.) This recipe is totally customizable - use ham or sausage instead of bacon; use pepper jack cheese instead of cheddar; add in some diced onions or jalapenos - so many choices!!!  (The only thing I changed was: I added about half of a small onion, chopped.  I thought it gave it a good flavor.)
3.) These muffins are a great "on the go" breakfast food.  (The hubby didn't have time to eat here this am, so he took a couple of muffins to work to eat.  In fact, he just texted me to say he really enjoyed him!)
4.)  Just like any other muffins, these could be made in large batches and frozen to keep for that "breakfast emergency" - great for Sunday mornings on the go, school days, etc.

Now, just one warning.  These babies are baked in a muffin pan, but they do taste more like biscuits.  When I first bit into one I expected it to be light and fluffy like a muffin, instead it was a little more dense - like a biscuit.  In fact, these could easily just be "dropped" onto a baking sheet to make "drop biscuits."  Another thought would be to mix a little melted butter with some garlic and brush the tops before baking - sort of like the Red Lobster Cheese biscuits.  I bet that would be YUMMY!!!!

Anyway, on to the recipe:

Bacon and Cheese Muffins
1 3/4 cups Self Rising Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
2 Tbs Sugar
10 slices Bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 large Egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup Milk
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.) Combine flour, salt, cheese, sugar, and bacon in a large bowl; make a well in the center of the mixture.
3.) In a small bowl, combine egg, milk and oil; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.
4.) Spoon batter into well greased muffin tin (I used cupcake liners instead), filling 2/3 full.
5.) Bake in 400 degree oven for 20-22 minutes or until golden.  Remove from pans immediately.

YUM!  :)