Gluten-free savoury muffins with cold smoked reindeer

The swiftly approaching summer means a couple of things. Such as the beginning of the barbecue season. And numerous parties: weddings, graduations and so forth. And that, of course, means recipe contests galore! Recently we've been matching wines with food for that perfect summer party and barbecuing porky delicacies. And yes, now there's another one!

This time Philadelphia cream cheese invited bloggers to come up with innovative ways to use their cream cheeses for little savoury treats for the party season. And I can tell you my head was spinning with ideas - salty snacks have always been my preferred choice over anything sweet and cute.

I'm not totally immune to the cute though: tempted by the minimuffin tins I couldn't resist at my latest pilgrimage to the cook ware shop I came up with these gluten-free savoury minimuffins. Which, on top of being über cute are also über easy. The batter is ready by the time the oven has warmed and it's so incredibly versatile. Shavings of cold smoked salmon would compliment cream cheese with chives. Reindeer can be substituted with crunchy bits of fried bacon. And chorizo and roasted red peppers... how can it be anything but delicious! And there's a Mediterranean veggie version coming up, too!

Depending on the size of your muffin tin this makes  12-22 

150 g butter

2 tbsp sugar

2 eggs

200 g Philadelphia chives- cream cheese

1 dl milk

1 dl rice flour

1,25 dl potato starch

1,5 dl finely ground polenta/ yellow corn meal

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarb

1 dl cold smoked reindeer crumbs (about 50 gr) 

1 dl finely chopped red onions (about 1/4 onion)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp nutmeg

To decorate: 200 g Philadelphia chives- cream cheese, fresh herbs

Cream softened butter with sugar. Then add eggs, one at a time, continuing to beat. In another bowl mix cream cheese with milk until smooth and pour into the mixture. Combine the dry ingredients and add those into rest of the ingredients. Fold in reindeer and red onions. Season. There's no need for salt as cold smoked reindeer is that salty.

Spoon into the muffin tins. Those silicone ones totally rock - no need for greasing or lining with paper - nothing sticks to them! Bake at 200° for 15-25 minutes (depending on the size of your muffins). Check the doneness with a skewer - a little moist is perfect. Cool and decorate with cream cheese. 

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ANYONE FOR SECONDS?