Celebrate Bacon Day with Peach + Bacon Muffins

Did you know Saturday is International Bacon Day? Everything's better with bacon, so why not? It made me think of this delicious recipe I created a few years back on Father's Day.

I woke that morning to the unanimous request for muffins for breakfast.  Since it was Father's Day, I decided to depart from my usual muffins and try something special. While my husband was getting a much-deserved sleep-in, I was scanning the kitchen for inspiration. I soon smelled the lusciously ripe peaches I bought earlier in the week.

"What about peach muffins, kids?" Voices from the living room enthusiastically agreed. 

As I was mixing up my grandma's basic muffin batter, I happened to remember the left-over bacon I had from the yummy Wedge Salad I had made the night before. 

I didn't have quite enough left-over bacon to serve as a side for my meat-loving crew. But . . . then I had a momentary flash of pure genius to put the bacon in the muffins.

"Ooooo....what about peach-BACON muffins?"  I was met with silence and a few raised eyebrows. 

"What if I bake half peach muffins and half peach-bacon muffins? The living room voices agreed, although not nearly as enthusiastically. 

Everyone {especially Daddy-O} loved the end result. I definitely had many more plain peach than peach-bacon left to freeze. 

Here's the game plan: 

Peach + Bacon Mmmuffins 

Makes 2 dozen muffins to serve or freeze for later.

~ 2 eggs, beaten

~ 1 cup canola oil

~ 1 1/2 cups milk

~ 4 cups self-rising flour 

~ 1 cup sugar {I used 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar.}

~ 3 teaspoons cinnamon

~ 3 ripe peaches, diced

~ 4 to 6 slices of crispy bacon, crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. 

2. Combine eggs, oil and milk. 

3. Stir in flour and sugar until moistened. {Batter will be lumpy.}

4. Fold in peaches and bacon bits. 

5. Fill muffin tins coated with cooking spray. 

6. Bake for about 20 minutes. 

P.S.  The first five ingredients are Grandma's basic muffin recipe. Other yummy variations we like are the classic 2 cups of frozen blueberries; fresh strawberries; dried cranberries; pears with pecans; or 1 teaspoon of apricot jam with sesame seed sprinkles. You can try any fruit and nut with or a teaspoon of your favourite jam in the center to make your own mmmuffin creation. 

I'd love to hear your best way to use bacon or your favourite variation of a basic muffin recipe in the comments below!