We spent a great long weekend in north-central Pennsylvania at our friends’ Lou and Lisa R’s lodge. We were advised to bring all the food and beverages we’d need for our visit as we were pretty much in the middle of (blissful) nowhere.
I decided to make some savory muffins for breakfast. These muffins have a little bit of everything thing in them – sausage, spinach and cheese. I used a pork apple breakfast sausage from our local butcher Worrell’s in Malvern, PA. Oh, it smelled so good while I was cooking it that it almost didn’t make it into the muffins. I easily could have served up the sausage-spinach mixture with some eggs for breakfast.
This is a good base for a muffin so feel free to mix up the ingredients – instead of sausage you could use bacon or prosciutto, sautéed kale or chard for spinach and shredded Gruyère or gouda for cheese.
These are a good hearty muffin and perfect to fortify you for a day of vacation fun. Check out the view from Lou and Lisa’s deck is in the photo.
Gluten-Free/Wheat-Free Note: I made these using Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour, but you can use the same amount of regular (with gluten) all-purpose flour.
| Sausage, Spinach and Cheddar Muffins (Gluten-Free) | Print |
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces uncooked breakfast sausage, casings removed
- 3 cups baby spinach (about 3 ounces), roughly chopped
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- Cooking spray
- 2 cups gluten-free flour (see Notes)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1-1/4 cups buttermilk (see Notes)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
- Over medium-high heat, in a large frying pan heat oil until hot.
- Add sausage and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Transfer to a plate covered with paper towels and transfer sausage/spinach mixture to plate. Set aside to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
- Place butter in a medium bowl and cook on medium-high in microwave until melted, about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Heat oven to 375°F.
- Coat the wells of a 12 muffin pan generously with cooking spray and set aside.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper in a large bowl and set aside.
- Add buttermilk and eggs to melted butter and whisk until combined.
- Pour buttermilk mixture into flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until just combined; some lumps are fine.
- Add sausage/spinach mixture and cheese to the large bowl – fold until just combined.
- Divide batter among the muffin cups – they will be very full.
- Sprinkle with chives.
- Place in oven and bake until tops begin to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Place the pan on a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Run a thin knife (such as a paring knife) around each muffin to loosen, then transfer to rack.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
* You could easily substitute all purpose flour for the gluten-free flour (same amount).
* I recommend using SACO Cultured Buttermilk Blend in place of fresh buttermilk. You’ll find it in the baking section of your grocery store. Follow directions on the container for use. It keeps for a few years refrigerated so you always have buttermilk on hand.
* Recipe can easily be doubled.
* Storage: Muffins can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Warm up thawed muffins at 300°F oven for about 10 minutes before serving.
Source: Variation of a recipe from The Kitchn
The most exciting thing about this recipe, other than that it contains the word ‘sausage,’ is the tip on SACO buttermilk. I can’t tell you how many times I decide not to make a recipe because it calls for a small amount of buttermilk, and I never know what to do with the rest of the quart.
Susie – I’m so glad you learned something new! I learned about it years ago and try to share this tip as often as I can for the very reason you just suggested!