Savoury Muffins with Ham, Asparagus & Gruyère

These whole-wheat pastries give you the savoury satisfaction of a biscuit in muffin form. To get enough asparagus for this recipe, you’ll need about ¼ lb (125 g) raw. Snap off the woody ends, boil in salted water until tender, refresh in ice water, drain and dry. Lotus baking cups are made from pleated parchment paper, they’re easier to remove and will give the muffins a hip bakery look. They can be found at select supermarkets under the PaperChef brand.

12 baking cups, preferably lotus

1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour

1 cup (250 mL) whole wheat flour

2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder

½ tsp (2 mL) baking soda

¼ tsp (1 mL) salt

2 large eggs

1 tbsp (15 mL) sugar

6 tbsp (90 mL) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup (250 mL) shaken buttermilk, preferably organic

1 cup (250 mL) coarsely grated Gruyère cheese ½ cup (125 mL) chopped ham

½ cup (125 mL) chopped cooked asparagus 2 tbsp (30 mL) finely sliced chives

Unsalted butter and coarse sea salt for serving

1 Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with baking cups.

2 In a large mixing bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, butter and buttermilk. Stir wet ingredients into dry just until combined—be careful not to overmix. Fold in cheese, ham, asparagus and chives. The mixture will be more of a sticky dough than a batter.

3 Spoon evenly into prepared tin. Bake on middle rack until a toothpick inserted into centres comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes.

4 Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes. Transfer muffins to a wire cooling rack. Serve warm with butter and sea salt.

Makes 12 muffins