Ina's Corn Muffins

I saw this recipe demonstrated a couple weeks ago on an episode of Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics and I knew that I had to make them soon. They did not seem to be too complicated to put together, and I had all the ingredients stocked in my pantry. My son loves to help me in the kitchen, so this looked to be an fairly easy recipe to tackle with a 3 year old assistant.

Ina's Corn Muffins
2009, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup medium cornmeal
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 extra-large eggs

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, melted butter, and eggs. With the mixer on the lowest speed, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until they are just blended. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each one to the top. Bake for 30 minutes, until the tops are crisp and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly and remove from the pan.

Jen's Notes:
This recipe actually made 18 muffins for me; due to the size of the muffin pans that I used.

So, I ended up having to make a few minor substitutions. I did not have unsalted butter, so I used salted butter and then cut down the amount of salt used in the recipe to a little less than 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Next, I used half and half instead of whole milk (it was either that or skim, and I thought half and half would turn out better due to the higher fat content). The batter was more dough-like and dense than normal muffin batter, so it was a little tricky to get it into the muffin cups. Just be aware that you may need to use a scoop and your fingers to get the muffin papers filled to the top. They are cooling right now, so I will let you know how they taste very soon!



The Result:
These are really good muffins. The texture is slightly crumbly, but still moist and flavorful. Despite the dense batter, the actual muffins turned out light. These are going to be perfect for a quick snack or a breakfast on the go. I will probably make this recipe again, since it meets all of my basic requirements...easy, quick, and yummy!