Breakfast Bacon Cupcakes

My mother was horrified by the very thought of this recipe, and I was also engaged in debate as to whether these are "cupcakes" or "muffins with icing." My position is that cupcakes are basically muffins with icing. So: for bacon corn muffins, leave out the icing. For bacon cupcakes, glaze away.



The idea came from this web site. The basic corn muffin recipe came via my friend Red. These muffins are even low fat (er... until you add bacon).

BACON CORN MUFFINS

1 C whole wheat flour
1 C cornmeal
1/4 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C applesauce (one of those little 'snack cups' is fine)
1 C milk
1 egg
~1/2 C fried bacon, chopped

Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat the egg lightly into the milk. Add the applesauce and milk mixture to the dry mixture and stir to moisten evenly. Pour into muffin cups and bake at 350-375 for 20 minutes.

BACON CUPCAKES

Make as above, then add icing:

1 C icing sugar
1 small tub cream cheese
1/4-1/3 C maple syrup
1-2 T butter
Few slices fried bacon (for garnish)

Cream together everything but the bacon; adjust icing sugar to taste. I left it a bit tart.

Ice your cupcakes and add a bit of bacon to the top of each one. This not only looks nice, it also serves as a warning to unwary munchers.

Verdict: Delicious (we were surprised too).