Baked Sunday Mornings: Honey Corn Muffins

Sometimes I'm tempted to alter a recipe the first time I make it. When I made these Honey Corn Muffins from Baked Explorations, I first considered adding fresh kernels of corn. I thought about adding some spice to the muffins, a bit of cayenne or tabasco. I thought about baking the muffins into a loaf of bread.

But after sinking my teeth into the first warm muffin, topped with melting butter, I was glad I hadn't altered anything. Matt and Renato were right. These muffins had just the right amount of sweetness, contributed by a bit of honey. They didn't need anything else.

These were far better than the Jiffy corn muffin mixes I used to buy as a kid, and they weren't much more difficult. I whipped up a quick batch of buttermilk using 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. I had the rest of the ingredients on hand, and they came together quickly.

I enjoyed some fresh, and I also froze a few to have on hand for dinners. I'm glad I have a few left because I came across a delicious suggestion to top the reheated muffins with honey butter--yum!

Be sure to check out the Baked Sunday Mornings Facebook page to see posts by all the bloggers who made muffins this week. If you want to join us, pick up a copy of Baked Explorations and check out the recipe schedule here. The next recipe is an oatmeal chocolate chip breakfast CAKE.

Honey Corn Muffins

from Baked Explorations

Ingredients

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees  Lightly butter or spray each cup of a standard 12 cup muffin pan – and wipe out any excess with a paper towel.  You can also line with paper.

In a medium bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, add the buttermilk, honey and butter, and whisk again.  Set aside. 

In a larger bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, brown sugar, sugar and salt. 

Make a little well in the dry ingredients and then pour the wet into the well, and fold together until just combined.  Try not to over-mix.

Fill each muffin about 3/4’s full.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out just clean.

Place on a rack and let cool for 10 minutes.  Then pop muffins out while still warm and serve with butter (and honey or fruit).