SMS: Caramelized Onion, Sage, and Cheddar (Gruyere) Muffins (Loaves)

The Sweet Melissa Sundays group made its first savory recipe this week: Carmelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar Muffins. I think caramelized onions are the one of the most delicious foods not containing any dairy or flour, so using them in bread sounded like a splendid idea - adding them to anything is generally a good idea. I had initially thought I would make the muffins for breakfast since I don’t always like sweet things in the morning, but on the SMS Problems & Questions section, a lot of people were talking about serving them with soup, so I decided to make the muffins (or as it turned out, bread) and soup for lunch today. When I got this idea I hadn’t counted on it being close to ninety degrees today, but I had a plan and went with it.



I made a half recipe of the muffins, which generously filled two mini loaf pans. The recipe was laden with quite a few rich dairy products: butter, cheese, heavy cream, and whole milk. When making quick breads, I generally find if fairly easy to cut back some of the fat without sacrificing flavor or texture, so I went ahead and subbed nonfat yogurt for three fifths of the butter and used half & half instead of heavy cream. I had actually purchased white cheddar for this recipe, but when I looked into the refrigerator I saw some gruyere that probably didn’t have too many good days left, so subbed that for the cheddar. I thought the gruyere was excellent with the caramelized onions, and that the bread was very flavorful with a nice fluffy texture. The soup I paired it with was Smoky Shrimp-and-Chorizo from the October issue of Food & Wine magazine, and it was also fantastic.



The bread gets a 7.5 for Deliciousness and a 3 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 2.5. Many thanks to Hanaa of Hanaa’s Kitchen for selecting our first savory recipe. You can find the recipe HERE on Hanaa’s site, and take the time to look around: Hanaa takes on some very impressive kitchen projects such as a making a wedding cake and entering multiple items in her state fair, she also always has a useful culinary tips with her posts. Check out the SMS blogroll to see what the other bakers thought of the muffins, too. And the recipe for the soup, which we thought deserved a rating of 8.5 and enjoyed even on a hot day, can be found HERE on the Food & Wine website.