I am a huge fan of corn muffins, and have been ever since college, where they were a staple at the cafeteria breakfast buffet. So when I spotted this extremely simple sounding recipe of Ina Garten’s, I decided to cook up a double batch. It helped that we still had 1.5 large jars of Sister’s raspberry preserves in the fridge/pantry AND some organic stone ground cornmeal in the deep freeze (yipes, it was over a year old, but thankfully it seemed to work well anyway). I haven’t found the usual grocery packaged corn meal for muffins in Manila groceries for the past 6-9 months, so you’ll have to really hunt for cornmeal if you want to try this recipe. The next time I get a chance in Cebu, I might try this with local ground corn and see if that works…
This recipe is fully credited to Ms. Garten. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Into a mixing bowl add 3 cups all purpose flour, 1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons baking powder, 1.5 teaspoons salt and mix this until well-blended. In another bowl, add 1.5 cups of whole milk, 2 extra-large eggs and 1 cup (227 g or two sticks) of butter, melted then cooled. Mix the wet ingredients, add them to the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Don’t over mix. Put batter in paper lined muffin tins and bake for roughly 30 minutes. You should get roughly 12 muffins.
For the version up top, I made a double batch of batter (told you I like corn muffins) and put them in paper muffin cups from RM Boxes (one of my favorite suppliers of food boxes, food-grade paper, cupcake doodads, etc.), and heeded Ms. Garten’s suggestion that I load the containers up high. Hmmm, most of the muffins rose and overflowed the edges of the paper cups. I didn’t take into account that in muffin tins, the overflow helps to create that nice dome in the muffin photos of Ms. Garten in the background of the top photo. At any rate, they still tasted great. Putting the raspberry preserves into each muffin was a bit more challenging, so they look messier than intended, but they tasted absolutely wonderful. The somewhat coarse sandy texture of the butter rich muffin together with the extremely fruity raspberry preserves made for a great snack, midnight snack and breakfast the next day. Don’t ask me how many calories they contain, I am sure it’s an evil count.
22 Responses
The muffins have a really rustic, homemade look to them, hehe. ;) I bet they’re wonderful, though, because of the ingredients.
I confess the only “corn muffins” I’ve had the chance to try are those from Kenny Rogers Roasters here in the Phil. What’s your take on them? Are they really corn muffins?
Maybe some of the cornmeal come under the label “polenta”.
Yes MM it’s really hard to find cornmeal here. I’ve gone around well known grocery stores haaay naku! I just love those corn muffins. Just to satisfy my craving I go to Kenny Rogers. Hope you can tell us where to buy them if you find them in Manila.
Are those crumbly corn muffins MM?
I tried buying the locally ground corn at the market (farmers) but they said not to use it for cooking since it was dirty and meant to be for chicken feed.. If you find a cornmeal source, please let us know! :p
Nikita, in Cebu, they sell ground corn for human consumption, it is even labelled by the coarseness of the grind. See old post here. But I have never used that corn for baking… though it is worth a try the next time I get my hands on some. Cris J, yes, moist crumbly if that makes any sense at all. Khew is right, perhaps polenta would work for these muffins, again, with the right size of grain… pixienixie, yes, kenny rogers has corn muffins but I find they are a bit (understandably) commercial, and look possibly colored, highly sugared, etc. to me…
those muffin tops look wicked!
Hi MM: If you love corn muffins, may I suggest Hush Puppies? I don’t know if you’ve had these during your travels in the U.S., but a friend’s grandmother made these for me when I visited them in Louisiana years ago. I’ve also had them in Tennessee & Kentucky. They are a staple in the South, and its name supposedly came about when cooks threw bits of these to barking dogs to silence them. These are savory and fried instead of baked, and go well with fried chicken or fish, or with gumbo (as Don’s grandmother served it). Anyway, I hope you’ll have a chance to make them next time you get some cornmeal. The buttermilk adds a nice tang (I’ve also used sour cream diluted with milk to thin it). Some folks in the South drizzle them with honey or sorghum syrup for a sweet-savory treat! It might be good drizzled with matamis na bao (coco jam) for a Filipino touch. Buon appetito!
Buttermilk Hush Puppies
Heat 1 quart vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 365 degrees F. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Whisk 1 cup buttermilk, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and 2 eggs in a bowl. Combine 1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, ¼ cup sugar (optional), 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt in a separate bowl. Fold buttermilk mixture, 1/2 cup minced onion, and 4 minced green onions into cornmeal mixture until just mixed. Drop 6 to 8 tablespoon-sized balls of batter into the hot oil; fry until each hush puppy is golden brown, turning the hush puppies to cook evenly, 6 to 10 minutes. Remove hush puppies with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain. Repeat with any remaining batter. Transfer hush puppies to a baking sheet and keep warm in the preheated oven until ready to serve.
I love corn muffins! I’ve tried several recipes already. Will try this one soon.
I buy my cornmeal (alber’s) in Clark. Can’t find it anywhere else.
Voltaire, thank you for the recipe for Hush Puppies!
I first had them in a crab shack some years ago in Baltimore, MD and were unimpressed. Didn’t think they were all that special because they were very dry and small. But when we went to Knoxville, TN last year and ordered them in a real diner, wow, happy belly moment!
There are ready-made mixes to be found at Wegman’s but for some reason, they don’t turn out the same.
I will try your recipe!
You’re welcome, Malou. I can’t claim credit for this recipe, as I adapted it from allrecipes.com. But you’re right about most hush puppies being dry in most restaurants. The best ones are, of course, homemade, especially if you’re in the South. This recipe is incredibly versatile. You can add bacon bits, cheddar cheese, Parmesan or Asiago, corn, chopped red pepper, etc. Just add a little sugar or omit it entirely if you want them more savory. Let me know how it turns out.
Voltaire, thanks for the recipe, will have to try it sometime soon… I do like cornbread as well, and many dishes in the Southern menu, so it’s likely I would like the hush puppies… Thanks.
They have cornmeal at healthy options, bob’s red mill brand .
Use 50% flour to 50% cormeal, it will give you better texture. I’ll send you Cayuga’s heirloom cornmeal from Union Square, it makes terrific corn bread. (2 c. cornmeal plus 2 c. flour).
You can also fold in 1 c. coarsely chopped ham or chicharon or 2 tbsp. minced parsley or chives or jalopeno.
Place a small peeled boiled egg in the muffin cup and pour batter over it. Breakfast to go.
Sister, that muffin with egg sounds great, will have to try that. Yes, make them savory with ham…
Bob’s Red Mill brand is excellent! They have an entire line of flours made from various grains (quinoa, spelt, barley, buckwheat, etc.). Also try cornbread made with blue cornmeal for something different (a New Mexico touch).
corn muffins! this reminds me of our hometown specialty ‘binaki’ made from freshly ground/grated young mais,added with milk,butter,sugar and baking powder.this is then folded back into a piece of ‘leaf’ of the cornhusk, and then some have them steamed or some will boil them to cook.
this look yummy. thank you MM for sharing.
When we finally open some time this 2014, we will be serving corn bread as a staple at OZARKBAGUIOCITY. Being Southerners from the US, hush puppies and several savory and sweet versions of corn meal are fairly common. We’re hoping that you’ll try our versions.
Hello Marketman! Thank you for this post! I’ve been wanting to try making corn muffins, and this seems to be of the sweet variety that I prefer.
I cross-checked it with Ina Garten’s recipe on the Food Network, and she made use of 1 1/2 cups of milk, whereas in your post, you used 3 cups of milk. Was that a revision on your part, to make the muffins a bit more moist?
This will probably be fantastic when baked in your cast-iron pans, but I am pretty sure you’ve tried that as well!
Keep up with the inspiring posts, MarketMan!
(No need to publish this – just wanted to clarify. Many thanks!)
Ron, thanks for catching that mistake. I don’t know how that happened but I must have doubled part of the recipe. You are right, the recipe should read 1.5 cups of milk. I hope you haven’t made a batch with my incorrect ingredients list. Happy baking.
Thank you for the update, MarketMan! Much appreciated!