cheesecake brownies...a perfect combination

i totally forgot i made these while i was in ireland and was browsing through my photos and found them. cheesecake brownies...don't knock 'em till you've tried them...the combination of chocolate and cheese together is so incredibly good and these were so delicious hot, straight from the oven with a big blob of vanilla ice-cream. i could have eaten them all (and probably nearly did!) because i fell blissfully in love with these two paired together, so as to create a cozy little love-triangle between us. i think, if i also remember correctly there was guinness mixed in with the chocolate batter because i was on a guinness kick, what with being back at home. and i remember now that the guinness enhanced the chocolate particularly well, making it rich and fudgy. don't ask me where the recipe is...i think scribbled on a piece of paper down the back of some table in my parents house in ireland. i know i scoured the internet for a couple of recipes and then did a bit of a merger between them. it might reappear though...at some point

go savoury with cheesy chutney muffins!

so, today was the day to test out my McQuade's Celtic Chutney that i received through Blakemakes and use it in a recipe.

i located a recipe from the Nigella Bites cookbook for cheesy welsh rarebit muffins and modified it to fit what i wanted to do. the cheese used had to be a good one and when a recipe calls for good cheese, i use great cheese - Dubliner vintage irish cheese...it rocks the planet...my favourite cheese ever. anything else just pales in comparison...

followed the recipe with a few substitutions - read how another blogger had replaced the rye flour in the recipe with crushed weetabix. i couldn't find any rye flour in the supermarket so i did the same...perfect...worked like a dream! and here was the end result...

the texture of these was lovely...light and airy - definitely due to my being diligent with not over-mixing. then the chutney that i had mixed into the batter had all softened up inside the muffin and kinda exploded into these little pockets of chutney flavour. the cheese lived up to all expectations and provided that wonderful sharp, mature cheddar taste that only comes with really great cheese. the combination together was brilliant. fantastic as an alternative to bread with a lovely salad.

would definitely make these again...i think they'd be perfect to bring over for a savoury afternoon tea party or even to have at home to pop in lunch boxes to go with salads...but what am i going to do now that i have run out of fabulous chutney??? i shall have to resort to what i can locate locally...i suppose...but this sure was a fun challenge. loved getting the jar, loved baking with it, certainly loved sampling it. i'm just having too much fun all round!

now for the recipe...

Welsh Rarebit Muffins Recipe
adapted from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson

INGREDIENTS:

* 1-1/2 cups self-rising flour

* 1/3 cup rye flour (i used 2 crushed weetabix)

* 1 teaspoon baking powder

* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

* 1 teaspoon salt

* Generous 1/2 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

* 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil

* 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt

* 1/2 cup whole milk

* 1 egg

* 4 generous Tablespoons of McQuade's Celtic Chutney

1. Mix the wet ingredients in a jug
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
3. Add the wet to the dry, mix quickly with a fork until just combined
4. Divide between 12 muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes.