These Cheddar Muffins could really be delicious cheesy bread masquerading as muffins... or maybe cheddar biscuits disguised as muffins. 

These cheddar muffins are loaded with cheese and flavored with shallots, just a bit of cornmeal, Dijon mustard, freshly ground black pepper, and Tabasco sauce. They have just the right amount of kick.

These are tasty for breakfast or brunch. They are also wonderful for lunch paired with a green salad. These would also be a great muffin to make to welcome a new neighbor or take to a potluck at work.

Mixing the batter for these cheddar muffins is fairly effortless. That's the beauty of muffins! They are so quick and simple but still make everyone happy. They are really easy to rewarm too. You can either give them a 15 second turn in the microwave, or rewarm them for about 5 minutes in a warm but turned off oven.

These cheddar muffins do not need any butter or other spreads. They are totally delicious on their own, although I do think it would be fun to experiment with add ins, such as bacon or veggies.

I used a sharp white cheddar cheese for these muffins, which I shredded with this very coarse grater in the hope that all of the cheese would not completely melt into the batter. After the muffins cooled, this was a little hard to discern, but when the muffins were warm, I could definitely see (and taste) the ooey gooey-ness of the cheese.

Every month I participate in Muffin Mondays, created by my friend Stacy of Food Lust People Love. After my recipe, be sure to check out more creative muffin recipes from my pals.

Cheddar Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large (about 4 ounces before peeling and trimming) shallot, finely chopped
• 2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup corn meal (harina de maíz)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon double acting baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups (eight ounces by weight) coarsely shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 large room temperature eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 4 generous dashes of Tabasco sauce

Instructions

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 400 degrees F.
2. Spray a 12 cavity muffin tin with spray oil, or line it with paper liners. Lightly spray the paper liners with spray oil.
3. Melt the butter in a small sauté pan, add the shallots, and cook over medium low heat, stirring often, for about 2 to 3 minutes, until softened but not browned. Pour the shallots and butter into a large bowl. Set aside to cool for about 5 minutes.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and black pepper. Add the grated cheddar and toss with your hands until all of the cheese is coated with the flour mixture.
5. Add the eggs to the shallot and butter mixture and whisk. Whisk in the milk, sour cream, mustard, and Tabasco sauce.
6. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix with a rubber spatula just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
7. Spoon (I used an ice cream scoop) the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cavities. The batter should almost completely fill each one.
8. Bake the muffins for 25 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs.
9. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack and then remove the muffins from the pan to cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes.
10. Keep for up to 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container, or individually wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature.

Yield: 12 muffins
Recipe inspired by The Ultimate Muffin Book

More muffin recipes!! 

• Bacon Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Blueberry Corn Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Cheddar Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cornbread Maque Choux Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Fruitcake Muffins from Passion Kneaded

#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.