The first time I made these rice-based bacon muffins, I had my doubts about them. The batter was thin, and the ingredients were a tad unusual for a muffin. But I was intrigued by the savory and sweet combination of bacon and chocolate in a healthy muffin designed to feed elite cyclists while training.
The recipe is simple enough: cooked rice, eggs, rice flour, salt, honey, milk and chopped cooked bacon are mixed in a blender. Chocolate chips are optional (but highly recommended). The gloopy batter is poured into greased and lined muffin tins, taking care to give each an even amount of rice, bacon and chocolate, and popped in the oven. I was so doubtful that these muffins would be edible that while they were baking I got to work looking for another recipe for today’s Beyond Power Bar column. Surely these muffins would end up in the trash like so many failed power bar recipes I have tried.
I should have had more faith in the physician/chef team of Biju Thomas and Allen Lim and their Feedzone Cookbook, where I found this recipe amongst others designed to feed cyclists on the Pro Cycling Tour. Dr Lim, an avid cyclist with a doctorate in exercise physiology, has worked with professional cycling teams for the last ten years. He teamed up with chef Biju Thomas, another avid cyclist, to create food to help their athletes perform better. They took a critical look at the carbohydrate and simple sugar-laden goos, bars and drinks their athletes were consuming and came up with alternatives made with whole foods that taste really good.
As a physician, the Thomas/Lim philosophy of sports nutrition makes sense to me. Although they don’t demonize any ingredients, Thomas and Lim favor rice over wheat, chicken and iron-rich beef over pork and fish, and whole-fat olive oil and butter over low-fat alternatives. They use a lot of eggs in their recipes, and love adding small amounts of bacon for flavor. After all, if their bars and muffins don’t taste good, athletes won’t eat them and will be deprived of needed calories.
Anyone who burns a lot of calories while exercising should take a look at the Feed Zone Cookbook and its sequel, Feed Zone Portables. Many of the recipes are provided for free on their website, along with training tips. I especially love the Allen’s Rice Cake, which I reinvented as rice balls. A few years ago I made hundreds of these to feed the athletes at the Moose Chase, that huge nordic race held each year in Jackson Hole. I called them Moose Balls; you can read about my version here.
How did my bacon and chocolate muffins turn out? I knew I would love how the salty bacon contrasted with the sweet tiny bits of chocolate, and I did. But the texture of the muffin is what really took me by surprise. It set up less like a muffin and more like a firm rice pudding — a salty, not-too-sweet rice pudding laden with bits of bacon. I found the muffins to be easily portable, easily quaffable and oddly satisfying. I ate one on my way to spin class and another right after and felt full for hours. My teenagers wolfed down a few muffins each after soccer practice and gave the recipe two thumbs up.
I highly recommend using cupcake liners here; when I made them again by just greasing the pan, some of them were hard to remove. Also, the liners make them easily portable, no wrapping required.
Each muffin contains 126 calories, 3 grams fat, 22 grams carbohydrate, and 5 grams protein.
Recipe: Bacon and Chocolate Muffins
Summary: Adapted slightly from The Feedzone Cookbook
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon rice flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- ¼ cup chopped cooked bacon
- ¾ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
- Vegetable oil or Pam
- Note: if using leftover white rice, add an additional ¼ cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F.
- Spray or rub muffin pan with vegetable oil to coat or line with paper or foil cupcake liners.
- Place rice, eggs, honey, flour, and salt in a blender. Process briefly just to combine ingredients. Add milk slowly to make a thick batter, pulsing between additions. Fold in bacon and chocolate chips (if using).
- Fill muffin tins ¾ full with batter. Bake 15-20 minutes for mini muffins, 20-25 for full size muffins. The muffins will be done when the edges are slightly brown and the center no longer jiggles.
Number of servings (yield): 12
