Pork and Blue Cheese Muffins With Pineapple Butter Rum Sauce

Sometimes you just don't know what you want in the morning for breakfast. Sweet, savory, tart, caky, juicy? Well, you can satisfy every craving with these Pork and Blue Cheese Muffins with Pineapple Butter Rum Sauce. 

A sweetened pancake-like batter has seasoned pork and blue cheese crumbles mixed in. The muffins are then topped with a pineapple butter rum sauce that soaks into the muffins for a combination that delights all your taste buds!

For the Pork and Blue Cheese Muffins:

• 1/3 pound ground pork
• 1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (for pork)
• 1/4 ground black pepper
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (for batter)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/4 cup water
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 3-1/2 ounces blue cheese crumbles*

* If you're not a fan of blue cheese you can substitute with feta or goat cheese, but use a little less as they are saltier.

For the Pineapple Butter Rum Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 20 ounce can of pineapple (chunks or smaller) in pineapple juice
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon LorAnn Super Strength Butter Rum flavor
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Tools and materials:

• Nonstick skillet
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Silicone scraper
• Fork
• Cupcake baking pan with 12 cups
• Paper baking cups (optional) or nonstick cooking spray
• Spoon
• Medium sauce pan

It's important to cook the meat first because the time it spends in the oven while baking is not enough to cook it, especially surrounded by the other wet ingredients.

In a small bowl, mix Italian herb seasoning, cumin, salt, and pepper into ground pork. Cook pork in a nonstick skillet on low-medium heat, cutting it up to create crumbles, until meat is browned and no pink remains (see photos above). Drain the fat. Because it's such a small amount, it may be easier to pat the pork between layers of paper towels on a plate to remove excess fat. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375˚ Fahrenheit. Spray nonstick cooking spray in the cups of the cupcake baking pan or put baking papers in. 

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, half and half, and water together with a fork until smooth (first photo above). Then stir in sour cream until it's creamy and blended well (second photo above).

Use your silicone scraper to pour all the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Blend with fork or electric mixer until smooth.

Stir in the pork and blue cheese crumbles until incorporated well.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry. You may need to check a few because your toothpick may come out wet if it hits a pocket of cheese. 

Let the muffins cool in the pan on top of a wire cooling rack for about 5 minutes. Then invert them onto the wire rack.

While the muffins are baking, we can make the pineapple butter rum sauce to pour on top.

Melt butter in your sauce pan. Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Crush any sugar clumps you find and stir them in. You'll know it's ready when it doesn't feel like you're pushing sand around. 

Add the can of pineapples, juice and all. Start by pouring a little bit of juice from the can in while stirring. Then pour in the rest. 

Stir in the water and butter rum flavor. Keep stirring for a few minutes to warm the liquid. 

Put the cornstarch in a small bowl. Spoon in little bits of warmed liquid from the pan to dissolve the cornstarch (third photo above). We don't want it to clump when we introduce it to the rest of the sauce, so pre-dissolving it with warm juice from the pan will prevent that. After it's dissolved, add a little more warm liquid to it from the pan, stir, and then pour it into the sauce pan while stirring. 

Keep stirring slowly until it begins to thicken. When you get a slightly thicker-than-syrup-like thickness, it is ready. Turn off the burner and place the pan somewhere it won't continue to be heated (on another unused burner will suffice).

Take one or two muffins (take them out of the paper if you used paper cups) and place them on a plate. 

Spoon the warm pineapple butter rum sauce on top of and around the muffins, letting them soak in the sauce as well as leaving some for dipping into later.

Serve with fresh fruit — something sweet like blueberries or apples to balance the tartness of the pineapple — and your breakfast drink of choice. Enjoy!