Bacon and Roquefort Cheese Muffins with Toasted Walnuts

These Bacon and Roquefort Cheese Muffins with Toasted Walnuts are such a savory and rich treat. They are a wonderful addition to a breakfast or brunch bread basket. Just imagine them with steak and eggs.

Roquefort is an amazing blue cheese that is made from sheep's milk in a specific region of France. It's incredible. However, while I made these with Roquefort, if you don't have it, you can use Stilton, Gorgonzola, or any quality American blue cheese. I'm not saying they are interchangeable (just ask the French, English, and Italians, because they will cite all of the European geographical indication laws for which I've been called out on several times with my breads....), but in these muffins, any blue cheese would probably do.

Of course, I saved just a sliver or two of the amazing Roquefort to mix with butter and shallots to top steaks and hamburgers.

Blue cheese, bacon, and toasted walnuts in a savory muffin? Um. Yeah.

After the recipe, check out what all of the rest of the Muffin Monday bakers created for this month's Muffin Monday.

Bacon and Roquefort Cheese Muffins with Toasted Walnuts 

Yields 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 cup roughly chopped walnut pieces
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large room temperature egg
1 1/4 cups whole or low fat milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 ounces of crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup of cooked and crumbled bacon (about 4 to 6 strips)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, with a rack positioned in the center. 
2. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners. 
3. Spread a baking sheet with the walnut pieces and bake for 4 to 5 minutes, until fragrant and just beginning to brown. Watch very closely. Cool for 5 minutes. 
4. Pulse 1/2 cup of the toasted walnut pieces in a mini food processor until finely ground. 
5. In a medium bowl, add the ground walnuts, walnut pieces, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. 
6. In a large bowl, whisk the egg, milk, and butter together. Add the cheese and bacon and mix with a rubber spatula. 
7. Add the flour and walnut mixture to to the egg mixture and stir until just combined. 
8. Evenly divide the batter among the cavities of the muffin tin, filling each cup 3/4 full. 
9. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. 
10. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool on the rack completely. 
11. Store in an airtight container for up to three days.

Recipe adapted from The Ultimate Muffin Book

Bacon and Caramelized Vidalia Onion Corn Muffins from Palatable Pastime
Bacon and Roquefort Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
Fresh Chive and Ricotta Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts
Peach Cobbler Muffins from Making Miracles
Roasted Peach and Bacon Muffins from Food Lust People Love
Spicy Zucchini Bacon Cheese Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.