Savory Cheddar Muffins

I serve these quite often with soups or stews. I imagine these would be quite good with an egg and bacon breakfast too but I am usually in too big a hurry at breakfast for muffins.

Savory Cheddar Muffins
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup yellow or white cornmeal
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups coarsely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Generously grease 12 muffin cups. In a large bowl, with a fork, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and cayenne pepper.

In a 1-quart saucepan, melt the butter. Cool it slightly. Stir in the milk, then beat in the egg. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients just until moistened; the batter will be lumpy. Stir in 1 cup of the cheese into the batter. Divide the batter among the greased cups. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of the remaining cheese over each muffin.

Bake the muffins 15-20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the cups and serve warm.

Note: If making these in a miniature muffin tin, bake for 10-15 minutes and sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of the cheese on top of each muffin.