These Cheese Muffins will disappear in seconds! Quick and easy, sinfully more-ish, these savoury muffins are buttery and garlicky with golden crusty tops and fluffy moist insides.
Keep a stash for snacking, pop them in lunch boxes or serve a basket of these with dinner!
Cheese Muffins – a great savoury muffin recipe!
So basically, these muffins are every cheese-lovin’-Carb-Monsters’ dream come true.
Inhale deeply, and you’ll get a waft of buttery garlicky goodness mingling with that unmistakable smell of melting cheese.
Look closely, and you’ll feel the warmth radiating from these muffins, fresh out of the oven.
That top one’s got your name written all over it. Go on. I saved it for you!
OK, technology hasn’t advanced quite far enough yet that I can deliver you fresh-out-of-the-oven Cheese Muffins through a screen.
But luckily, just 10 minutes of effort is all that stands between you and and a fresh batch of these!
Add-in options for these savoury muffins
These Cheese Muffins are absolutely terrific as is, and it’s how I make them most of the time.
Having said that though, it’s a sensational base for all sorts of add ins. Imagine the possibilities! I’ve used sun dried tomatoes, olives and feta in the photo below. Try mushrooms, spinach, zucchini (grated and excess liquid squeezed out), BACON, ham, chorizo, even cooked chicken. You could really turn these savoury muffins into a mini meal!
I’ve added some more suggestions in the recipe notes – basically, just add 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups of whatever add ins you want.
Give me any combination of cheese, garlic, butter and bread, and it’s all over. It’s almost worrying that I have not one, but FIVE versions of garlic bread in various forms on this blog:
-
Garlic Bread. (Skip the artisan bread. Gotta use cheap French stick!)
-
Cheese and Garlic Crack bread (there are no words…)
-
Cheese, Herb and Garlic Quick Bread (loaf form, no yeast)
-
These Cheese Muffins.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to grab one of these Cheese Muffins while they’re still warm. One of the most torturous photo shoots I’ve done in a while! – Nagi x
MORE SAVOURY MUFFIN RECIPES
-
Bacon and Egg Breakfast Muffins – with a whole egg inside!
-
Cornbread Muffins – personal favourite!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Savoury Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
Butter and Cheese:
- 3 tbsp / 50g salted butter (unsalted + salt)
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 2 cups / 200g grated cheddar cheese (Note 1)
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups / 300g plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda / bi-carb soda (Note 2)
- 1/2 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 egg (large, about 60g / 2 oz) , lightly whisked
- 1 cup milk (full or low fat)
- 1/4 cup / 60 g sour cream (or plain yoghurt)
- 1/3 cup / 85 ml vegetable oil (or any plain oils, not olive oil)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (Note 3)
- 1 garlic clove , crushed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan).
- Place butter and garlic in a microwave proof bowl and melt in 30 second bursts. Mix.
- Brush a 12 hole standard muffin tin generously with butter, being sure to slather with some garlic. Reserve some butter to brush tops.
- Whisk Dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Whisk Wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Pour Wet into the Dry ingredients bowl. Mix 8 times. Add cheese, mix as few times as possible just to incorporate remaining bits of flour - no more than 7 big stirs (secret to soft muffs).
- Divide between 11 holes in muffin in (I use an ice cream scooper). Batter should be thick and fill muffin tin to top (if in ball shape due to scooper, leave as is). See video.
- Bake for 22 - 25 minutes or until the muffins are golden and crusty and spring back when touched in the centre.
- Remove onto cooling rack, brush with remaining butter (microwave again if needed) and cool slightly before getting stuck into them!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
He’s home! The first thing I thought when I saw his shaved leg was “Yessss!!!! 25% less fur droppage all over the house!” 😂
In all seriousness though, he is doing just fine. Zonked out for most of the day.
I am loving that harness he got sent home with. And so is Dozer – just that little bit of help to get him on his feet and hobble outside to the toilet. That’s the most action he’s going to get for a while!!
SaveSave
This has become my go-to recipe, even for a non-baker like me. This recipe is so forgiving, it just can’t go wrong. I do use a good olive oil though, & beat it into the wets. Also have subbed dip for when I don’t have yoghurt. Nagi, you’re the Best.
Lovely recipe yet again. Only discovered your website during lockdown, and have never had such consistent results from recipes. These were a little moist, with a lovely flavour and very delicate inside, lots of little air pockets. Beautiful!
Awesome to hear Tim! I’m glad you’re enjoying my website and recipes 🙂 – Nx
Used medium cheddar in recipe but that increased salt content significantly. Baked well. Just a shame muffins were salty. Probably will use mild cheddar next time.
I used extra mature. Nobody thought they were salty at all. Sounds like something went wrong, or your palate is quite different.
These muffins are delicious! The instructions on mixing the batter result in a beautifully tender and fluffy muffin. The only changes I made were to add a pinch of Parmesan cheese to the cheddar and a handful of bacon bits. Super yummy!
A super recipe thanks so much. ❤️
I have a question please. Why not Olive Oil or even melted butter? I had to borrow sunflower from a neighbour and we battled with the flavour and slight oily smell and feel.
Hi Nagi, I love your recipes and I get great results everytime, You are my go to when I search for recipes online.
Thank you SO much Barry, that’s so great to hear!! N x
This recipe looks amazing, which I expect because I’ve made some of your other recipes before, to great success.
I just wanted to clarify the instruction for crushed garlic. Do you mean to, for example, wack it with the back of a cleaver? If so, that sounds fine for making the garlic-infused butter, but then I imagine whole chunks of garlic in one muffin and none in the rest. Or did you mean to mince it or use something like a garlic press? I ask because I know that mincing it will cause it to release stronger flavors, and I just don’t know if that’s the intention. I like garlic, but not too much garlic!
Can you substitute wholemeal spelt flour to make it more wholesome? Thinking about a kids lunch box.
Hi Natasha, you could but I haven’t tested it, the liquid rails may be out and the muffin will turn out drier. N x
I’m not one to leave comments but hot damn these muffins change my view of savoury Muffins being dull and dense. These are more like savoury cupcakes they are that moist. The trick is to mix it exactly 8 times like you said. Thanks for the tip. I made giant ones for the cafe (makes 8) adding extra cheese on top to form a cheese crust and they sold out!
Hi, just sharing my adaptions for a guilt free version! Everything can be made without eggs! I used 3T of aquafaba (the liquid from a tin of chickpeas) to replace the egg, soy milk (any plant milk will do) neutral coconut yoghurt, and I skipped the garlic butter as I use non stick muffin pans, though plant based butter would do the trick too! Here I use violife cheddar cheese, but any plant based alternative available in your country would substitute perfectly. Bio cheese is a good one in Australia for example. These came out perfectly and I would make them again. Guilt free as no chickens, cows or calves were harmed ❤
So a completely different recipe Jaimee, so glad you enjoyed it though! N x
No, the exact same recipe, just with dairy free alternatives and egg replacer. They all work the exact same way. Just sharing that it can be made guilt free, no need for eggs etc. To anyone reading wanting to learn why this adaption is gullible free, watch the dominion documentary.
I didn’t know this was a vegan recipe site 🙄
Amazing taste and easy to make too…
Just wanted to clear….along with two cups of grated cheese, upto one and half cup of additional ingredients can be added?
Thank you so much for this lovely recipe…
Another winner from your recipes! Thank you for this and all of your amazing recipes that make the weekly meal planning for a family of 4 to be so much easier! Never run out of ideas! ❤️
Taste amazing! However all mine sunk after cooling and appeared raw inside, i baked for 40 mins in total:( please could you tell me where I could have gone wrong, as I followed the ingredients and recipe exactly, except from adding red onions as an extra ! If they had baked they would have been perfect 🙂
Hi Aleks – I’m sorry to hear you had trouble with this. If these were not cooked and if they sunk after 40 minutes of baking, that to me is a very clear sign that your oven run weals. No way should muffins take that long to cook! Have you had trouble with baking recipes before where they were still raw when cooked per the recipe time? If so, I would suggest getting an oven thermometer to check your oven temp so you know how much to increase it by to get the right temp. In my last house, I had to increase by 30C to get the right temperature ie when my dial said 210C, it was actually 180C inside! N x
Wow! I didn’t have sour cream or parsley but I think it’s the garlic that makes such a difference!
Delicious! Best savoury muffin recipe I’ve come across.