Super Bowl XLVIII: Denver Stud Muffins

When you are hosting your own Super Bowl party, having a bunch of bite-sized snacks is a must.
I came up with the idea of Stud Muffins many years ago, little studs of savory dough, and you will be seeing MUCH more of them, but today, in honor of the Denver Broncos, I'm making Denver Stud Muffins. These little two bite wonders take inspiration from Denver's most famous (only famous?) food, the Denver Omelet.

Chock full of eggs, diced ham, green onions, and orange bell peppers (their colors are orange and blue), these little savory muffins are pretty easy and quick, once you've prepped your veggies.

So here's what you'll need:

2 cups of baking mix

3/4 cup milk

2 large eggs

Half an orange bell pepper, minced

2 green onions, minced

1/2- 1 cup of diced ham

salt and pepper to taste

You'll also need:

24 cup mini muffin tin

Small ice cream scoop (or a spoon to fill the muffin tin)

For the optional dipping sauce:

 2 tablespoons of orange pepper

1 tablespoon prepared ranch dressing

2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise

I started by mincing my veggies. 

I put 1/2 cup of ham in my muffins, I could have happily added another half cup for my taste.

Next, get your oven preheating to 350 F. Measure out your 2 cups of baking mix. I once wrote a recipe for muffins on a well known recipe site, which called for baking mix, and I got a comment saying, "I don't know what baking mix is, so I just used all purpose flour." If you don't know what baking mix is... it's Bisquick, or Jiffy, or whatever brand of mix for baking that has the leavening and fat in it already. Important to have those things!

Then I sweet talked my husband into taking a picture of me cracking an egg. My hands look so weird while I'm cooking. Anyway, I did that twice.

Add your milk next, I apparently was pretty foggy today, because no picture of that, LOL. I trust you to figure it out without pictures. 3/4 cup milk, whisked in, until it is pretty well combined. You will still have a few lumps, worry not, as long as it isn't ALL lumps. You can also help the lumps along by whisking your baking mix before you add the liquids, which works just like sifting it.

This would be the time to give it a pinch of salt and pepper.

In goes the ham... add some more, why not!?

Forget to take a picture of putting in the green onion... but remember to take photographic proof that it is totally in it!

I'm going to confess now, I hate bell peppers. I always have, but Denver Omelets have bell peppers in them, so here they are... though I might have just put them into a small amount of the batter so you could see them, but so I could eat some muffins that were pepper-free.

Totally faking it here. I know, I'll never be trusted again! =P

Here is an artistic picture of my new muffin tin, interacting with the utter mess on my counter at that time.

Let's fill these guys up. I have this little ice cream scoop and a full scoop works pretty well for each muffin cup (Also, see what I mean about my wacky claw cooking hands? Seriously, what is up with that!?). This will make about 36 muffins.

This is what filled cup holes look like. They can be filled pretty much to the top and it will come out just fine. They go into the 350 F oven for 10-13 minutes.

My muffin tin was brand new, and non-stick so I didn't bother with greasing the cup. If you know your muffin tin won't give up their muffins after they cook, by all means, butter it up... or spray with Baker's Joy.

Here they are, straight out of the oven (with their ham, onion, and cheddar cousins on the right).

To make the optional dipping sauce, blend or process two tablespoons of minced orange bell pepper with one tablespoon of ranch and two- three tablespoons of mayo. I have to admit, though I honestly don't like bell peppers, I was totally digging on this sauce. Maybe they'll make a grown up of me yet!

And now, the pretty pictures for you to share!

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some muffins to nom!

Don't forget to check back. Seattle Stud Muffins are coming!