Fiesta Corn Muffins

There were leftover ingredients sitting in my fridge from the muffin-a-thon the other day: fresh cilantro, red bell pepper, and buttermilk. As I sat thinking about what I could do with it all so's not to waste it, it dawned on me... just make more corn muffins!

I combined two recipes for the best of both worlds: lots of corn and lots of flavor. Used my vintage muffin pans (8 muffins cups in each) since I still haven't washed out the 12-cup muffin pan from the other day. Yep, I really hate washing out muffin pans. Seriously do not like. Of course, now I've got three pans to wash. Ugh. Anyway, these are super tasty corn muffins and would go great with all sorts of barbecued dishes (or a bowl of chili of course).

FIESTA CORN MUFFINS
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Corniest Corn Muffins and Savory Corn And Pepper Muffins.

1 cup flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
3 Tbs sugar
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1-1/2 tsp chili powder

1 cup buttermilk
3 Tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 Tbs canola oil
1 egg, large
1 egg yolk, large

1-1/3 c canned corn, drained and dried
1/3 of a red bell pepper, seeded and chopped finely
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare muffin tin, either greasing the muffin cups or using paper liners.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, cooled melted butter, canola oil and eggs. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon just until combined. Stir in the corn, bell pepper and cilantro. Divide evenly into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes total, rotating pan half-way through. Tops should be a nice golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Let the pan cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then remove muffins and serve. Makes 12 regular-sized muffins.



Try it... you might like it!
-Steph