Beer and Cheese Muffins - #MuffinMonday

How are you coping?  Are you going crazy because you're "trapped" inside? Are you baking all the things to pass the time? I'm doing well. I've left the house once since March 12 and I am perfectly okay with that. I'm a homebody so staying home is fine. What I am not okay with are the people are still taking this too lightly. 

I hoped to spend this time catching up on baking but I completely forgot to check my list of what I needed to bake and shop for those specific items. Now I'm worried about using up too much of my ingredients on passion projects and then needing those ingredients later on for sustenance. Last week I practised empanadas for an upcoming blog event. They tasted great but leaked a lot so I needed to do them over. However, I'm out of shortening. Do I change to a recipe that uses butter and use up my limited butter? Or just not participate? I'm opting to not participate. I hate you Covid-19!

Going to the supermarket is too much of a hassle. The supermarket in my neighbourhood rarely has anything that I need and their already exorbitant prices have increased. The major supermarkets have the ingredients but too many people are standing in a line to get in. They're letting in a ten at a time to allow for social distancing yet people are standing butt to belly outside. 

The idea for these muffins came from looking around to see what I had on hand to whip up muffins. I enjoyed these with a huge bowl of soup and then several times on their own.

Be sure to scroll down to see what other muffins are being showcased today.

Stay safe!

Beer and Cheese Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves
1 cup cheese (I used a mix of mozzarella and cheddar)
1 cup beer
1 egg
1/4 cup oil

Directions 

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line a muffin tin with wrappers.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and white pepper. Add the parsley and most of the cheese. Reserve just a bit of the cheese to sprinkle on top of the muffins.

Whisk the beer, egg, and oil then pour into the flour mixture. Gently mix together until just combined. It will be lumpy.

Divide evenly among to the 12 muffin wells. Sprinkle with reserved cheese.

Bake 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Be careful that you don't mistake melted cheese for raw batter.

• Banana Oatmeal Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Beer and Cheese Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Flourless Banana Peanut Butter Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Matcha Coconut MOffins from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Pancake and Sausage Muffins from Making Miracles
• Small Batch Corn Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Sourdough Cranberry Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Waffle 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 of our 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.

Rosemary Crackers - #BreadBakers

Sunday morning my brother walked into the kitchen, opened the pot of ackee and saltfish and then reached into the cupboard for the bread. It's what he does every Sunday morning, except this morning, there was no bread. He grabbed a bag of crackers instead and commented that crackers were nicer anyway. I agreed.

Crackers are a huge part of Jamaican cuisine. And I don't mean that we have a variety of crackers. In fact, there used to be only one type - water crackers from the Excelsior brand - but we use that one type for EVERYTHING. They dunk it in porridge. They drink it with their tea. They give it to teething babies. I love crackers and butter (childhood guilty pleasure was crackers and butter sprinkled with sugar - warmed in the toaster oven). When my brother wants to cook steamed fish, he can't proceed until he has a bag of crackers. Jamaicans add the crackers to the pot near the end so they are just barely softened. Best part of the dish. Not feeling well? You may need some crackers. We are obsessed.

They don't look like much but I assure you, once you eat one, you won't be able to stop

Coincidentally, I was preparing that Sunday morning to bake some crackers. Alas, I wasn't making the delicious water crackers - I have NO idea how they make it. But these rosemary crackers were a good enough substitute. I tested several with ackee and saltfish and they passed the more-ish test.

I love how easy these were to make and look forward to making them often.

This month the Bread Bakers are baking all types of crackers. Be sure to scroll down to see the list. Thanks for hosting, Sneha!

Rosemary Crackers 

Ingredients 

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (plus extra for sprinkling)
1 tablespoon finely minced rosemary
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon oil

Directions 

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and rosemary.  Add the water and oil and gently knead into a smooth ball. If the dough feels dry, add a little water a teaspoon at a time. If it's wet, sprinkle in some flour.

Roll out the dough on a sheet of parchment paper. Sprinkle with extra salt. Cut the dough into desired shapes.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool before eating.

• Baked Nacho Chips from Anybody Can Bake
• Cheesy Crunchy Mini Crackers from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Homemade Senbei Rice Crackers from Food Lust People Love
• Lavash from Sneha's Recipe
• Olive Oil Crackers from A Messy Kitchen
• Rosemary Crackers from Passion Kneaded
• Sourdough Cheddar Cheese and Rosemary Crackers from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Sprouted Wheat Crackers with Sea Salt from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Wholegrain Sesame and Flaxseed Crackers from Ambrosia
• Wholemeal and Oats Carrot Crackers from Cook with Renu

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.