Since I did a post earlier this week that kind of dissed pimentos by replacing them in olives, I thought I’d give pimentos a chance for a rebuttal.

And rebut they did! This recipe was actually inspired by the most recent Bon Appétit which incorporated pimento cheese into a baked macaroni dish. I made that and loved it, but decided to take it one step further by adding the same flavors to a savory muffin.

The results were everything you could hope for in a savory muffin!

Pimento Cheese Muffins

5 from 1 vote
Author: Nick Evans
Servings: 12 muffins
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
A quick muffin batter stuffed full of a traditional pimento cheese mixture. The results are some amazing savory muffins!

Equipment

Ingredients 

  • 2 Cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 3 Teaspoons baking powder
  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 Cup milk
  • 4 ounces extra sharp cheddar, shredded
  • ½ Cup Peppadew Peppers, diced (about 10 peppers)
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

  • Mix together shredded cheese and diced peppadew peppers until well combined.
  • Mix dry ingredients for muffins together in a medium bowl.
  • Mix wet ingredients (egg, butter, milk) in a smaller bowl.
  • Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until combined.
  • Stir in Pimento cheese mixture.
  • Spoon batter into 12 buttered baking tins.
  • Bake at 350 °F for roughly 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
  • Let muffins cool for a few minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 175kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 182mg | Potassium: 66mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 264IU | Calcium: 157mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Breads, Breakfast & Brunch
Cuisine: American

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Pimento Cheese

Pimento cheese is a traditional southern spread that’s basically just cheddar cheese and Peppadew peppers blended together. Depending on the consistency you’re going for, you could mix in some mayo or sour cream as well.

But these are the essentials for a good pimento cheese. Extra sharp cheddar is really important actually. Don’t use a mild variety.

pimentocheese
Pimento cheese: Deconstructed

If you wanted to make this into a spreadable thing (which it is traditionally) then you’d want to process the cheese and peppers together until they are smooth. The moisture from the peppers will soften up the cheese and make it nice and spreadable.

For our purposes though, a bit more rustic mix works better. So I just grated up my cheese and diced my peppers and mixed them together like that.

grated
No need to over mix it.

Making the batter

This muffin batter is my standard muffin mix. Basically, just combine your milk, melted butter, and eggs in a small bowl. In a separate, larger bowl, mix together your dry ingredients.

Then just stir your wet ingredients into your dry mix.

batter
Basic batter really.

Once that’s all stirred together, gently stir in your pimento cheese mixture.

Easy enough right?!

batter ready
All mixed up!

Baking the muffins

The only key to remember for the baking is to make sure you butter your individual muffin cups. If you don’t butter them well, the pimento cheese might stick to the tin a bit. So just get a paper towel and some soft butter and rub a light coating in each cup.

As far as filling goes, you can fill these pretty high. They don’t rise a lot due to the weight of the pimento cheese.

tins filled
You can fill these guys pretty high.

Bake these at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. When they’re done, remove them from the tin and let them cool on a wire rack for a few minutes.

If you don’t have a wire rack you can just cool them on a plate.

cooling
Cool it down!

These are best when they’re still a little warm, but I had one the next day and it was still pretty solid.

The pimentos are a tiny bit spicy, but also surprisingly sweet. The extra sharp cheddar just gives a nice savory flavor to the muffin.

pimento
One more shot…

These were pretty killer muffins in my book and definitely something that you don’t see everyday!

If you’re sick of your standard blueberry or bran muffin, give these guys a shot for a new twist.