The Best Corn Muffins Ever!

I completely forgot to post last week and I apologize. In my defense I've been pretty busy.  I have a big announcement in the works, but I'm not ready to post about it yet.  First we have to celebrate birthday weekend!! Tinker Bell turns 13 on Sunday and I cannot believe my baby will be a full-fledged teenager.  My baby! And to prove to me that she is practically a grown woman she does not want a shaped cake this year. She wants a Chocolate-Raspberry Layer Cake with Chocolate Ganache from Bon Appetit magazine.  But...I'm thinking that a stormtrooper made out of fondant would make a great topper! :)  

  To make up for my lapse in posting last week I am going to share with you the recipe for the best corn muffins ever.  No, seriously, EVER.  With real corn in them!  They are perfectly sweet with amazing texture and true corn flavor.  Put down the box of Jiffy and make these muffins!

You will need:

1 stick butter
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup honey (any kind)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup frozen corn (thawed)

Preheat your oven to 380 degrees (You'll increase it to 400 after we put the muffins in the oven. The increase in temperature gives the muffins a nice, puffy top.)  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with papers.

Cream together the butter, sugar, and honey in a large bowl.  I used my KitchenAid with paddle attachment.

Then add the eggs and mix together.

Now add the flour and mix until barely combined.

And now the cornmeal.  Don't overmix.

Now fold in the buttermilk and corn.  I switch to a spatula to make sure I don't overmix.  (About the corn...you can use canned, just make sure it is low-sodium and completely drained and dry.  If you use frozen, let it sit in a bowl of hot water for about 2 minutes and it will thaw completely.  Then make sure you get it really dry.)

You'll get 12 muffins if you don't overfill the cups.  I use a 1/4 measuring cup to scoop up the batter.  The muffin cups will end up about 2/3 full.

Place the muffins in the oven and increase the temp to 400.  Bake for 18-25 minutes.  I took them out at 18 and they were perfect.  Moist, but baked completely. Stick a toothpick in the middle muffin to check for doneness. There is nothing worse than a dry corn muffin! Better to underbake just a bit than overbake.  Let them sit in the pan for 5 minutes.  (Remember that they will continue to cook up a little after you take them out.)

Aren't they beautiful?!!

Perfect little, happy muffins!  And the taste...wow.  They will knock your socks off!!!!

Look at that corn!  It really adds another dimension of texture and flavor to the muffins.

They really do not need butter, but...

butter makes everything better.  You definitely don't need to put honey on these corn muffins.  The honey flavor shines.  So, am I forgiven for not posting?  :)

Enjoy!!!!

The Best Corn Muffins Ever

1 stick butter

2/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup honey (any kind)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup frozen corn (thawed)

1. Preheat your oven to 380 degrees 

(You'll increase it to 400 after we put the muffins in the oven. 

The increase in temperature gives the muffins a nice, puffy top.)  

Line a 12-cup muffin pan with papers.

2. Cream together the butter, sugar, and honey in a large bowl.  

I used my KitchenAid with paddle attachment.

3. Then add the eggs and mix together.

4. Now add the flour and mix until barely combined.

5. And now the cornmeal.  Don't overmix.

6.Now fold in the buttermilk and corn.  

I switch to a spatula to make sure I don't overmix.

7. Fill your muffins cups with the batter.

8. Place the muffins in the oven and increase the temp to 400. 

Bake for 18-25 minutes.

Raisin Bran Muffins

Two cereals we have always had in the house are Cheerios and Raisin Bran. (Occasionally some Lucky Charms or Fruit Loops will sneak into the mix for a weekend treat.) Since we are never without them, I like to think of creative ways to use them. I toss Cheerios into my granola bars or GORP all the time. And I make muffins with the Raisin Bran. They are healthy (tons of fiber and very little fat), filling, and super tasty. My non-bread-eater, Tink, had 6 one morning for breakfast. 6! A true testament to how yummy these Raisin Bran Muffins are.

You will need:

1 1/4 cups flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups Raisin Bran
1 cup milk (skim is great)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2T oil



Preheat your oven to 380 degrees. You'll be increasing to 400 after putting the muffins in the oven. An Alton Brown trick that I love! He says that the burst of increased temperature gives the makes the muffins puff up and gives you a better muffin top. No more flat muffins! Line a 12-cup muffin tin with papers liners or grease heavily.


Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cereal. Toss.



Add the milk and let sit for 3 minutes.



Stir in the egg, applesauce, sugar, and oil. Stir until just moistened.



I use a 1/3 measuring cup and it seems to fill each muffin perfectly. I get exactly 12 with no leftover batter.



I always, always, always, put a cookie sheet under my muffin tin. It keeps the muffins from burning on the bottom and provides a more even heat. Place the muffins into the oven and crank the heat to 400 degrees. Bake for 18-20 minutes.



These muffins come out moist, not too heavy, and absolutely delicious. The cinnamon adds a nice subtle flavor that balances nicely with the bran and raisins.



You don't even need butter on these muffins, but ooooo they're good with it! :)



Wrap them in foil and put them in a freezer bag and they'll keep in the freezer for a month. Thaw them overnight and in the morning give them a quick zap in the microwave (20 seconds on 50% power) and you have breakfast to go.

Enjoy!!

Anything Muffins

I call this recipe "anything muffins" because you can add pretty much any flavor, fruit, or confection to them and they taste amazing. From this one recipe I can make blueberry, orange, lemon poppy seed, cheddar, cranberry, chocolate chip (the kids favorite), and many more. The possibilities are endless. No matter what you add to this base recipe your muffins will be perfect and impressive. You'll never go back to those disappointing mixes.

You will need:
2 cups all-purpose flour (if you haven't switched to King Arthur...hurry up!)
3 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk (more on what kind later)
1/4 cup oil



Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. I know it seems high. I would never bake a cake at 400 and cookies never bake at higher than 325, but the higher temperature is necessary for muffins. It's what gives them their dome tops!



Add your flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar to a large mixing bowl. If you use King Arthur you don't need to sift. :) Mix well.



Add your milk to a 2-cup measuring cup. Now, what kind of milk. It really doesn't matter, but remember that the higher the fat content, the fluffier the muffin. So use whole if you have it or mix 1/2 skim and a 1/2 whole or 2%. I used a mixture of skim and half and half. It makes a difference and let's face it, you aren't making muffins because they are healthy. Add the egg to the milk cup. (Thank you Smores for donating the egg.) Mix the egg and milk with a fork.



Now add your oil to the milk cup.



Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients.



Add your milk, egg, oil mixture all at once.



Stir just until combined. Overstirring will make tough muffins. The batter will be lumpy.

The fun part! This time around I made chocolate chip muffins for my girls. I added 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips. Okay...I dumped a good portion of the bag into the mix and it was probably more like 1/2 cup.



Orange muffins: add 1 tsp of orange extract and 1/2 tsp of orange zest, drizzle with an orange powdered sugar glaze
Lemon Poppy seed: 2 tsp lemon extract and 1 tsp poppy seeds
Bacon and Cheddar: 1/4 cup bacon and 1/4 cup cheddar cheese
Blueberry: 1 cup blueberries
Cranberry: 3/4 cup dried cranberries that have been soaked in apple juice (or use craisins)
Snickerdoodle: 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (decrease baking powder by 1/4 tsp) and sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar
Peanut Butter Cup: 3/4 cup chopped peanut butter cups

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and evenly divide batter between each cup. I added a bit too much to each of my muffin cups this time around and only ended up with 11 muffins. You'll get 12 muffins out of this recipe just like I always do...except this time because I was taking pictures. If you do end up with an empty spot or two keep the liner in the cup so that the pan doesn't scorch while the muffins bake. And please excuse the sad state of my muffin tin. It has been baking muffins for me for 15 years and can't help how old and abused it looks.



Bake for 18-20 minutes. Check them at 16 minutes. If they have started to brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean, they are done. Nothing worse than a dry, overbaked muffin.



(My new green frying pan wanted to be in the picture. I never put it away because I like looking at it.)



So fluffy, so tender, soooo delicious. The perfect weekend morning treat!



I don't make these for the kids during the school week because of all the white flour, but they are the perfect muffin for the weekend. Just keep them in a bowl under a towel and your family can snack on them all weekend. They also freeze really well. Wrap in tin foil, place in a freezer bag, and pull one out whenever you want a quick treat. Let it thaw and then warm one muffin in the microwave on half power for 8 seconds.



Enjoy!!

Apple Muffins

I found this recipe online when I was looking for a decent homemade apple fritter recipe. Then I realized that I did not have enough oil to fry the fritters and started looking for a baked apple doughnut. These are absolutely amazing, but definitely more muffin than doughnut. I am dedicating this post to my father-in-law, who for 16 years has been trying to get me to eat apple pie. There is something about the apple/cinnamon combo that just doesn't do it for me, but I'm trying. If I love these muffins, I know he will, too!



I changed just a couple of minor things, so here's my version:

1 1/2 cup flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup half and half (or any milk)
1 1/2 cup finely diced apples (I used Fuji)
************
1/3 cup butter
cinnamon sugar

Mix first three ingredients and cut in shortening. Add egg and milk, mix, then add apples.



Stir just until combined and fill 12 paper-lined muffin cups about 3/4 full.




Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. While baking, melt the butter and get out your cinnamon sugar. I keep mine in a cute little shaker. Makes cinnamon toast easy peasy.



When the muffins are done they will be lightly brown.



Brush with melted butter...



then top with cinnamon sugar.



These are best eaten warm. They are so moist that they do not need any butter.

Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made these muffins this morning for the girls before school. I did not take step-by-step pictures because a.) my camera was under the impression that its batteries were low and b.) it was 5am. I did not feel like fooling with a camera that would take one picture and then shut off. We're out of batteries and it was too early for me to think of stealing the batteries from a remote. I did that this afternoon. I can't tell you how much my husband loves to pick up a remote and find that it has no batteries in it. :)

Banana Oat Muffins

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar (or 1/3 cup honey)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
3/4 cup milk (I used skim)
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Did I mention that these are healthy muffins? As healthy as a muffin can be, anyway. The whole wheat flour and applesauce instead of oil makes me feel less guilty about adding the chocolate chips.

Combine the flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl (or mixer) lightly beat the egg and then stir in the milk, applesauce, and vanilla. Add the bananas and mix thoroughly. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture and stir until just combined. Pour batter into a 12-cup paper lined muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.








These muffins were so tender and moist. Really the only way you could tell that they had whole wheat instead of all white flour was by the way they stuck with you until lunch. Big hit with the munchkins and hubby.




I also liked that they were quick and easy enough to have ready by breakfast time, without having to get up earlier than usual.