Welsh Rarebit Muffins

 

 

What? What is that?!  Grape rabbit muffins?  No, Welsh Rarebit Muffins.  Well what is a Welsh Rarebit?  Something that is right up your alley.  If you love cheese and savory and delicious, these muffins are perfect. 

Welsh Rarebit is a dish that originated in taverns and pubs in England.  It is served mush like a fondue only with Cheddar cheese instead of Emmenthal.  It is a bowl of cheese served with toasted bread.  It is also served sandwich style.  The cheese is mixed with Cheddar, English Mustard and Worcestershire sauce.  Researching this snack was quite hilarious.  No one really knows why Rarebit is used other than someone a long time ago accidentally spelled it rarebit instead of rabbit.  Even though there is no rabbit in the dish.  I have come across a few recipes and have always been intrigued by them.  Melted gooey cheese on toast how delicious is that!

Welsh Rarebit Muffins are Nigella Lawson’s clever twist on the dish.  Easy too!  There is no need to make a cheese sauce.  Everything is baked right into the muffin. I found this recipe in “Nigella Bites”, by Nigella Lawson.  This I love her writing.  She tells fantastic stories about all of her dishes and her words just flow off the page.  Nigella recommends eating these muffins with “burnt and sticky-skinned sausages”.  Really, how cool is that.

These muffins are quick to put together and can be made with practically everything that you have in your cupboard right now.  The only thing I had to purchase was English mustard.  The batter isn’t the prettiest and it is quite thick, but all will be ok.  Please give these a try.  It is a muffin covered in cheese for goodness sake.

 

Welsh Rarebit Muffins

 

For the Muffins:

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1/3 cup rye flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon English mustard powder

Generous 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt ( I used fat free greek)

1/2 cup whole milk

1 egg

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

12-cup muffin pan lined with 12 paper baking cups

 

For the Topping

2 tablespoons sharp Cheddar, grated

More Worcestershire sauce for sprinkling

 

1.  Preheat oven to 400

2.  Mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt , mustard powder and cheese in a large bowl with a fork.

3.  In a measuring cup, beat together the remaining ingredients.

4.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with your fork.

Nigella says, don’t worry a good muffin batter will be lumpy.

5.  Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes.

6.  At the 20 minute mark, take the muffins out and quickly top them with remaining shredded Cheddar and sprinkle each muffin with a dash of Worcestershire sauce.  Put the pan back in the oven and continue to bake for another 5 minutes.

7.  Put them on a rack to cool, and eat warm.