Corn Muffins & A Hurricane

So...what exactly does one do when a hurricane is about to roll through?

Me?

Well, I was up early thanks to my stupid internal alarm clock to take some pictures...

95.1 SHINE-FM radio towers

The Baltimore cityscape

Then I went on a 2.5 mile walk/run to clear the brain even though there isn't much to clear.

Annnnd then we cleaned the pantry. After the cleaning out process, it's pretty obvious that I thought the world was about to run out of white beans, roasted red peppers, olives, and tuna fish. I can't imagine why else I would have stocked up copious amounts of those items.

We also bought donuts. My father said he wouldn't make it through the storm without them. Lucky for him, my mom had a coupon. There are now donuts in the house. And they are gently whispering my name.

We charged every chargable thing possible (laptop, cell phone, etc.).

And now I'm baking, because that's what I do.

My brother grew corn this summer that produced four mini ears. Aren't they so CUTE?? But they're almost too tiny to eat, so I hunted around on the Internet and found a recipe for cornbread muffins that uses additional corn kernels. Cornmeal isn't an item that has been a staple in our pantry before, but now it is. I'm actually becoming slightly obsessive with it. I've been coating chicken pieces with cornmeal (a chicken breast cut into nuggets, rolled in cornmeal, cooked in a skillet coated with non-stick spray), and most recently I made some peach rosemary cornmeal muffins. I'll post the recipe for them soon.

These corn muffins were pretty awesome. Even my father liked them. He said he could taste the corn, and they were "really good." He usually thinks the food I make is "weird," so that's a huge compliment from a man who won't make it through the hurricane without donuts.

BTW - these were super simple to make. So simple that they would be one of those great "jar" mixes. Just mix all the dry ingredients up, dump inside of a large mason jar, and include the rest of the instructions for the wet ingredients and baking time on a tag. Maybe put the jar in a basket along with a 12 cup muffin tin, some paper muffin cups, and can of corn. That would be a cute gift!

If you're riding out Hurricane Irene, what's baking at your house?

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Dorie Greenspan’s Corniest Corn Muffins
via Smitten Kitchen


1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
6 tablespoons granulated 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 (I used olive oil since it was handy)
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 to 18 minutes (12 minutes for minis), 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.








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Makes: 12 muffins | Serving Size: 1 muffin
Calories: 182 | Fat: 8 | Carbs: 25 | Fiber: 1 | Protein: 3.7

{5 Points+}