Looking for the best Welsh Rarebit Muffins recipe?
You can prepare our quick and easy Cheddar Welsh Rarebit Muffins at home in less than an hour.
Welsh Rarebit Muffins are a perfect savoury British breakfast or on the go snack. They can also double as dinner rolls for a Sunday roast.
The recipe is inspired by Welsh Rarebit, a popular dish in the United Kingdom featuring toast smothered in melted cheese sauce.
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What Is Welsh Rarebit?
Welsh Rarebit is a British dish consisting of a hot cheese-based sauce served over slices of toasted bread.
The original 18th-century name of the dish was Welsh Rabbit, which was later reinterpreted as “rarebit,” as the dish contains no rabbit.
While the dish is traditionally associated with Wales, in the United Kingdom you’ll also find Scotch Rabbit and English Rabbit.
Variations of the name include English rabbit, Scotch rabbit, Golden Buck and Blushing Bunny.
Typically Welsh Rarebit cheese sauce is made of aged cheese like cheddar, ale, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper and paprika.
The sauce may also simply blend cheese and mustard into bechamel sauce.
We’ve transformed the classic British snack into a delicious Welsh Rarebit Muffin recipe.
History of Muffins
A muffin is an individual-sized, baked product most commonly associated with morning mealtime. It’s one of the most popular on-the-go breakfasts that can easily be made ahead and stored in the freezer to enjoy later.
Muffins can refer to two distinct baked goods, a part-raised unsweetened flatbread that is baked and then cooked on a griddle, and a cupcake-like sweet or savoury quickbread that is leavened with baking powder and baked in a mold.
While the most common quickbread muffins are sweetened (such as lemon blueberry muffins, mincemeat muffins and morning glory muffins), there are also savoury varieties such as jalapeno cheddar cornbread muffins and cheddar apple muffins.
The flatbread “English Muffin” variety is of British origin, and dates from at least the early 18th century, while the quickbread originated in Canada and America during the 19th century.
One 19th century source suggests that muffins may be related to the Greek bread maphula, a cake baked on a hearth or griddle. Culinary historians also look to the Old French mou-pain, meaning soft bread, which may have been corrupted into “mouffin.”
The word is first found in print in 1703, spelled moofin; it is of uncertain origin but possibly derived from the Low German Muffen, the plural of Muffe meaning a small cake. The expression muffin-man, meaning a street seller of muffins, is attested in a 1754 poem, which includes the line: “Hark! the shrill Muffin-Man his Carol plies…”
One of Canada’s top selling cookbooks of the 1980s was Muffin Mania, which helped popularize muffin making from Newfoundland to British Columbia. Homemade muffins were originally prepared as a healthy breakfast option, high-fibre mid-afternoon snack or low calorie dessert.
In 1997, muffins were popularized once again in Seinfeld’s now famous “The Muffin Tops,” episode. Like many muffin lovers, Elaine shared her love for only eating muffin tops. She hilariously talks about the fact that muffin stumps are not worthy of consumption as they don’t have the desirable crunchy texture. She shares the idea of opening a store that sells just muffin tops with her ex-boss and is outraged when he steals her idea.
When he offers her 30% of the profits to help his struggling business, they initially give the unused stumps to a homeless shelter. But after they get complaints about the missing muffin tops by a charity worker, they have to get rid of them elsewhere. Newman eventually takes the muffin stumps off their hands, smiling with glee!
My Family Loves Welsh Rarebit Muffins
One of my fondest memories growing up as a kid was waking up in the morning at our family cottage in Muskoka and smelling freshly baked muffins.
My family’s two favourite recipes were Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and Lemon Blueberry Muffins. In the summer we’d forage for wild blueberries and incorporate them into out favourite baked goods. My sister was the family blueberry fan while I was mostly obsessed with the marriage of banana and chocolate.
My family’s ancestors are from England, Scotland and Ireland so transforming one of the regions beloved cheesy snacks into a muffin was a fun experiment.
While most morning muffin recipes are sweet, savoury muffins are an enjoyable quick breakfast served with scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and fresh fruit.
These muffins topped with melted cheddar cheese can also double as a dinner roll at a Sunday roast.
Love baking for your family? Check out our best healthy muffins for kids list!
Health Benefits
Our homemade Welsh Rarebit Muffins are packed full of healthy ingredients!
Consuming dairy products (such as milk and cheese) provides health benefits — especially improved bone health. Dairy foods provide nutrients that are vital for health and maintenance of your body. These nutrients include calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and protein.
Packed with calcium and friendly probiotic bacteria, sour cream and yogurt help keep your bones strong and your gut healthy. Yogurt may also help reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes and some types of cancer.
Eggs contain two vital nutrients that are not present in many foods: iodine and vitamin D. Eggs are also rich in tissue-building protein and vitamin B12, which helps your body manufacture blood cells.
Whole wheat flour is rich in vitamins B-1, B-3, and B-5, along with riboflavin and folate. It also has more iron, calcium, protein, and other nutrients than white flour.
Buying VS Making Homemade Muffins
Today, muffins are often sold at grocery stores, McDonald’s cafes and coffee shops like Starbucks and Tim Horton’s. Unfortunately most commercially prepared muffins are simply cupcakes without the icing.
Read the ingredients list and you’ll find store bought muffins are full of sugar, fat and “flavourings” rather than real fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs. The excessive sugar, salt, fat and additives in commercial muffin recipes allow the grocery stores and coffee shops to extend the shelf life so they don’t go stale as quickly as a homemade muffin would.
The best way to enjoy healthy muffins is by preparing them at home, allowing you to control the proportion of ingredients. We suggest eating muffins fresh the day they are prepared. If you have any leftovers muffins pack 3-4 in a ziplock bag in your fridge and simply warm them up the next day in the oven. You can use a microwave to reheat muffins but they won’t produce the desired crunchy texture.
Any remaining Welsh Rarebit Muffins should be stored in the freezer and can keep for 2-3 months. We like to double our muffin recipes when we prepare them so we have a storage of yummy muffins in the freezer that we can easily enjoy several weeks later.
Best Welsh Rarebit Muffins Recipe
There’s no better comfort food than a steaming, moist Welsh Rarebit Muffin straight out of the oven. Homemade muffins can be easily stored in the freezer to extend their shelf life and are a great on-the-go breakfast snack.
So what qualities make the best muffins? The perfect muffin must be crunchy on the outside, well leavened so the muffin cap holds its shape and doesn’t shrink when cooled and feature a moist and light interior.
Looking to prepare an easy Welsh Rarebit Muffins recipe? Baking is a science so you can’t just lower a muffins fat and sugar content or you will find yourself biting into a chewy, hard and unappetizing product.
Welsh Rarebit Muffins Recipe Tips
If you’re looking to prepare muffins on a whim and are missing a few ingredients at home don’t worry!
We alway have cheese in our kitchen. In fact we’ve designated an entire drawer to cheese we’re such big fans!
We’ve used an aged cheddar in this recipe but you could substitute for Smoked Cheddar, Gouda, Gruyere, Parmigiano Reggiano, Manchego, Beemster XO, and Mimolette.
We’ve used a mixture of all purpose flour and rye flour but you could also add whole wheat flour and adjust the proportions to add additional healthy fibre.
We’ve used grainy mustard in these muffins but you could substitute for Dijon mustard, honey mustard or spicy mustard depending on your preference.
The recipe includes Greek Yogurt but you could make these muffins a bit more decadent by substituting sour cream.
The one tip I give all muffin making beginners is to avoid over-mixing the batter. Light and fluffy muffins are made by reducing the amount of gluten in the batter. If you whip muffin batter with a beater the final product will be as hard as a hockey puck.
For best results, form a well in the dry ingredients and pour your wet ingredients inside. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The finished batter should be fully incorporated, so be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl so you don’t find unmixed flour. The most important rule to muffin making: when mixing, less is more!
Best Muffin Tools & Equipment
Before making a batch of Welsh Rarebit Muffins make sure your kitchen is outfitted with essential bakers tools.
- Mixing Bowl Set: It’s important to have a set of durable mixing bowls. We love stainless steel mixing bowls with a good grip. When making muffins you’ll typically need a large mixing bowl to sift your dry ingredients into, and a medium or small mixing bowl to beat your wet ingredients.
- Measuring Cups: Ensure you have a set of measuring cups with a flat top rather than a spout, so you can easily use a knife to level off your dry ingredients like flour and sugar.
- Measuring Spoons: We love these durable stainless steel measuring spoons that will help you accurately measure spices, baking soda and baking powder.
- Whisk: This stainless steel whisk has a great grip and is helpful when beating eggs into other wet ingredients.
- Sieve: It’s essential to have this tool in your kitchen so you can ensure all your dry ingredients are separated and don’t clump in the wet batter.
- Bakers Scale: Use this digital scale to weigh flour and other ingredients that require a weight measurement.
- Spatula: We love this rubber spatula as it also acts as a spoon so you can easily drop batter into each greased muffin cup.
- Muffin Tins: We only use silicone muffin tins as they allow you to easily remove baked muffins from the tin with minimal baking spray required.
- Baking Spray: Ensure your cupboards are stocked with baking spray so your muffins don’t get stubborn and refuse to slide out of the pan.
- Cooling Rack: A sturdy cooling rack is a must to ensure your muffins cool without falling apart or getting soggy. They need breathing space to let out the steam before storing.
- Storage Containers: We love doubling our muffin recipes so we have leftovers to store in the fridge or freezer to enjoy later.
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How To Make Welsh Rarebit Muffins
Welsh Rarebit Muffins
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Spatula or Wooden Spoon
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- muffin tin
- cheese grater
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups All Purpose Flour
- 0.5 cups Rye Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 0.5 tsp Baking Soda
- 0.5 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Grainy Mustard
- 1.5 cups Old Cheddar shredded
- 6 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 3/4 cup Greek Yogurt
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1 Egg
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- Shredded Cheddar + Worcestershire Sauce topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cheese in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.
- In medium sized bowl, beat together the remaining ingredients. Pour into dry ingredients, mixing lightly with your spoon, remembering that good muffins are made from lumpy batter.
- Pour into greased muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes, then quickly take them out of the oven and sprinkle shredded cheese and Worcestershire Sauce. Put them back in the oven for 5 minutes, then put the muffins on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Nutrition
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