Ploughman's Muffins

Wow its been a long time in between posts! There hasn't been a great deal of cooking going on in the kitchen lately, work has been too hectic. And Hubby's laptop has had to go into 'computer hospital' which has also added to the pain of trying to get a blog updated.

Enough of the excuses and on with the baking! Today saw a return to the kitchen and I've managed to complete this month's Fresh From the Oven challenge (more on that later!) and a recipe I've stolen from Marie over at The English Kitchen . Marie posted this last month and it has taken me until now to try my hand at them, although in my defense the original idea was to bake these for next weekend's girlie trip to Haddington Food Market but the plans have altered slightly meaning there was no need to take food along with us.

I've altered the quantities of Marie's original recipe slightly (hope you don't mind Marie!) because I knew the cheese we have in the fridge at the moment isn't particularly mature tasting despite the packaging claiming otherwise! The finished product is delish, but next time I'm following Marie's advice and not using muffin cases, the cooked muffin just doesn't want to leave the wrapping behind. Check out Marie's original post for some truly mouth watering photos!

Ploughman's Muffins

55g butter, melted

1 duck egg

250ml milk

1 tbsp grainy mustard (I used Ale Grainy Mustard - mmmm)

75g chutney

170g strong cheddar cheese, grated

1 tbsp baking powder

310g plain flour

Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 190C. Butter a 12 hole muffin tin and set aside. (Don't bother with using muffin cases as a washing up shortcut!)

Combine the butter, egg, milk, mustard and chutney in a bowl.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl. Stir in 140g of the grated cheese.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry all at once. Combine only until just mixed.

Spoon into the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly over the top.

Bake for 15-20 mins until well risen, firm and golden. Leave in the pan to cool for 5 mins before placing on a wire rack to cool.

Serve warm or cold (I can highly recommend the warm option!)

Makes 12

Adapted from The English Kitchen (see above for links)