These Cheese Muffins taste like cheesy garlic bread, in muffin form!! I’ll take these savoury muffins over sweet ones any day. Quick to make and sinfully more-ish with golden crusty tops and incredibly fluffy soft 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
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Savoury Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
Butter and Cheese:
- 3 tbsp / 50g unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed using a garlic press or grated finely
- 2 cups (200g) shredded cheddar cheese (Note 1)
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups 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)
- 1 cup milk (full or low fat)
- 1/4 cup sour cream (or plain yoghurt)
- 1/3 cup vegetable or olive oil (or any plain flavoured oils)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley , optional (Note 3)
- 1 garlic clove , crusted using garlic press or finely grated using microplane
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE:
- Melt butter with garlic, brush 11 holes generously (reserve bit for tops). Whisk Dry and Wet ingredients in separate bowls. Pour Dry into Wet, mix just 8 times. Add cheese, mix as little as you can. Fill 11 holes of muffin tin. Bake 25 minutes at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan), brush tops with remaining butter.
FULL RECIPE:
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced)
- Garlic butter – Place butter and garlic in a microwave proof bowl and melt in 2 x 30 second bursts. Mix.
- Great muffin tin – Brush a 11 holes of a standard muffin tin generously with the butter, being sure to slather with some garlic. Use most – just reserve a bit for brushing the tops later)
- Make batter – Whisk Dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk Wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour Wet into the Dry ingredients bowl. Mix 8 times – some flour will remain not mixed in, that's ok.
- Add cheese, then mix as few times as possible just to incorporate remaining bits of flour – no more than 7 big stirs (secret to soft muffs). The batter can be lumpy, that's fine.
- Fill muffin tine – 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 25 – 27 minutes or until the muffins are domed, golden and crusty. A toothpick inserted should come out clean.
- Butter brush and cool – Brush remaining butter on the surface (re-melt again if needed). Let muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes then remove onto cooling rack. Cool for at least 5 minutes 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!!
Hi Nagi! Thank you so much for this recipe. My family loved the salty, cheesy fluffyness…. LOVED. P.S. I want to be superstitious for life about the “do not stir more than” rule you talk about for the muffins, because I have an over-whisking problem, and this rule gave the most beautiful muffins I’ve ever made! #gamechanger 😋
Hi Nagi, thanks millions for a super recipe. Works every time, didn’t have milk this round, but had some whey left from cheese making the other day. Used that with a bit of extra butter for lost fat content from milk and sour cream and it was still amazing. Defenitely one for the family recipe book.
Yes! Zero food waste…good idea! N x
Can I bake it as a loaf instead of muffin. N can I use paper cups for muffins in this recipe as the cheese will melt n the muffins might stick to the pan
I don’t know about the loaf but you can use paper liners if you prefer. N x
I made these for our extended family on the morning of my mother in law’s funeral, knowing everyone would need something tasty to ‘fill the gap’ before heading to the 1pm service. They were a huge hit – thank you Nagi for providing such excellent recipes and methods. The number of times to stir the wet / dry mix even! And the muffins were perfect – definitely a keeper, thanks again.
Oh, I am sorry for your loss. Thank you for the compliment. N x
Well
I promised my mother I would make these for her birthday tomorrow. And now I just found larvae in all my flour…
The only flour that survived was my whole grain einkorn flour xD
Do you think it would be possible to use this flour? Or will that completely ruin the texture?
Nagi, thank you for this recipe! And all your other recipes- they’re always a hit with friends and family, and many are recurring weekly meals. You should sell a cookbook!
Around 10yrs ago I followed a recipe for savoury muffins, and they were terrible- my dog then, who ate everything- refused to eat them, and this is the only time in his 15yrs he ever rejected food. This is the first time I’ve attempted savoury muffins again- and these are awesome!
Nagi, I’ve tried several of your recipes thus far and yesterday was my first try on the savoury muffins. They were amazing delicious! Thank you for the simple, delicious recipes with easy steps and the most amazing insider tips!
I made these this morning for a ladies mimosas/coffee morning. Very easy to make and tasted delish, a hit with everyone.
We just made these and added cooked onion, bacon bits and capsicum. Wnt down a treat! Easy to make and easy to eat!
Nagi, you are the best!
Any time I need a recipe I check your site.
These are the best savoury muffins I’ve ever made. You make it so easy for us to cook delicious things.
I especially like that I could add whatever little extras I wanted and they still turned out fluffy and moist.
Wahoo, that’s great to hear Brigette, think of all the combos – what are you making next?? N x
Thank you Nagi, this is now my go-to when we need to take something on a picnic, or when we have people coming over for morning or afternoon tea!
Dear Nagi, I’ve made these muffins for my kids to take to school twice in the span of two weeks, and they keep asking for more. Thank you fir another fantastic and versatile recipe!
The best muffin. I could eat them all myself!! So cheesy, light and fluffy.
Deliciously fluffy, melt in the mouth muffins. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to trying more of your recipes from now on 🙂
Hey nagi, wanting to make these into a zucchini muff version. Quick Q, can I sub the milk for Buttermilk? Noticed that buttermilk is your base for blueberry, choc chip etc muffins. Cheers! Phoebe
I simply shared an adaption on how to make this without unnecessary animal products, sharing adaptions is a very normal thing to do on a recipe, but of course a harmer feels the need to be bothered by my tips. Animal health is only a priority for you Rachel, to stop the animals from dying before you have them killed. What a joke. I’ve seen first hand how unhealthy and miserable these animals are.
Loved these muffins.I didn’t have any vegetable oil, so I used sesame oil, delicious. I also accidental brushed the butter on before cooking,again delicious.
Bland muffins are the worst. Well these are not that! A perfect mix of toastiness and sponginess, these are totally yum.
Made with Donna Hay Gluten Free SR flour and used nuttelex to sub butter and coconut cream to sub sour cream, coconut milk to sub milk and dairy free bio cheese to sub cheese and these made perfect and delicious Gluten Free and Dairy Free Muffins for the school tuckshop! Thankyou for an AMAZING recipe all the kids will love 🥰
I just made these with salami spinach and eshalottes and instead of parsley (not a fan) I used a teaspoon of chilli flakes. Instant hit and I have the housemates asking me to make more for work lunches.