Apple Bacon Muffins with Maple Syrup Glaze

It's MUFFIN TIME.

These muffins have pieces of apple and bacon in them and are NOT sweet, which is why I added a maple syrup glaze to balance the saltiness of the bacon. It makes for a delicious breakfast item. Next week, I shall attempt to turn these into donuts!! The recipe is from the Williams-Sonoma baking book, but I made a few minor changes here and there. Posted is my version of the recipe.

My first attempt at baking with bacon.

Apple Bacon Muffins with Maple Syrup Glaze (makes 12)

• 5 slices bacon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 apple, peeled and chopped into tiny pieces
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• Powdered sugar (optional)

1. Cook bacon until crispy. Crumble into bits. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line your muffin pan.
3. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Stir together buttermilk, vegetable oil, and egg.
5. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture. Stir until combined.
6. Add apple pieces and bacon. Add the amount of bacon that looks right to you; it's fine if you have some left over.
7. Spoon batter into muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes. They're ready when you stick a toothpick in them and it comes out clean. These babies rise so nicely!
8. Making the glaze: Pour some maple syrup in a small bowl (you can estimate how much you need; I'm only guessing that I used 4 tablespoons). If you want your glaze sweeter, add powdered sugar to taste. Once the muffins are out of the oven, drizzle the glaze on them while they're still warm; this way, the muffins absorb the syrup more. I even took a fork and stabbed a couple holes into my muffins to make sure the syrup seeped in.

From this...

... to this!

I didn't try this, but perhaps the muffins would be even better if you added syrup into the batter itself before baking? Just a thought. 

A note on maple syrup: that stuff is expensive. Good thing mine was a gift from a family friend who was traveling through Canada. Regular supermarket pancake syrup works fine too, though it might not taste as mapley as real maple syrup.