FWP I Have Too Much Ham (mini Ham and Cheese Muffins)

These ham and cheese muffins are FULL of leftover ham, tasty cheese and have a sneaky piece of brie in the middle for extra flavor.

Why? Well, because that sounds tasty. But the real reason is I am suffering from a very real FWP (first-world-problem):  too much ham after an amazing ham at Christmas.

FWP’s are what real friends remind you exist when you’re complaining, passionately, about the small things in life like they matter.  Like having pimples from wearing sunscreen during an amazing stretch of good weather.

To give you an idea, here is my current my list of tragic FWP’s:

1. My cat, who I love dearly, is scratching up my couch and keeps trying to eat muffins as I photograph them (see below)
2. The new apartment that I’m about to move into, with its fabulous location and kitchen, doesn’t have a dishwasher.
3. I need to go to the shops to get more boxes to pack up ALL the wine I seem to have accumulated since moving home three months ago.
4. I have so much tasty Christmas ham and I’m not sure what to do with it (until now…)

As with a lot of savoury muffins, these are quite low in calories. Amazing what happens with you take out butter and sugar from the equation. Even if you put a nice big gob of brie in it before cooking.

I made this recipe into some mini muffins, and also six larger ones for work next week.

Frozen muffins will be handy next week because as stated in my FWP list, I’m moving house. Again. Such FWP’s. If you like the concept of FWP’s, you can always follow the #FWP on Twitter. It’s good fun.

Hopefully I’ll be back on the interwebs soon. In the meantime, happy new year! 2011 was a great fun, and I especially enjoyed all my blogging and meeting such lovely bloggers on WordPress. A special shout out to you all. xx

Ingredients
2 cups of flour
1 cup of ham, diced
1 cup of grated lite cheese
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 egg
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 ¼ cup of water (add slowly to see how much you need)
1 teaspoon of mustard
1 teaspoon of cracked pepper
40 grams of brie, cut into little cubes  (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease (or line with patty cases and spray with oil) a 12 cup muffin tin, or a 24 cup mini muffin tin. This recipe makes 24 little muffins, or 12 regular size ones. I made 15 small ones and 6 regular ones.
2. Mix all ingredients together except brie. Batter will be very solid and dough like. That’s OK.
3. Spoon into prepared muffin tins, or I just used my hands to break off sections of dough, as it will be that solid. Fill tin about a third of the way up, make a hole and place some brie in it. Then top the muffin with a little more dough, covering the brie.
4. Bake for 12 minutes for mini-muffins, or 15 for regular size ones, or until muffins are golden. Cool on rack.

Makes: 24 little muffins, or 12 regular size ones. I made 15 small ones and 6 regular ones.

Healthy: 160 calories a muffin for a regular size one, 80 for the little ones.

Gluten free: No, and I’d want to step up the oil and cheese quantities if I was to attempt it.

Storage: They freeze well, otherwise best eaten within a couple of days. Store in an airtight container.