Corniest Corn Muffins

GRITS (Girls Raised In The South) love good cornbread. They especially like cornbread paired with a big "mess" of greens! When my mom cooked a big pot of winter kale this weekend and shared it with me, there was nothing left to do but bake cornbread. Cornbread is good just about any way you make it. It's good baked in muffin tins, in a heavy iron skillet, and in my favorite...this cast iron pan that makes them look like little ears of corn. (I always have been partial to cute food.) This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking From My Home to Yours. The only change I made was to cut the sugar back by half. Y'all Northerners can put it back in if you are so inclined.

Dorie Greenspan's Corniest Corn Muffins

from Baking From My Home to Yours

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground

6 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

1 cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 tablespoons corn oil

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 cup corn kernels (add up to 1/3 cup more if you'd like) - fresh, frozen or canned (in which case, they should be drained and patted dry)

     Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

     In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg, if you're using it. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, oil, egg and yolk together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough- the batter will be lumpy, and that's just the way it should be. Stir in the corn kernels. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

     Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Dorie's printable recipe can be found here.