Now first, don’t you say a word about my cornbread muffins being flat. This was by design. These are made with muffin top pans, which are sooooooo rad. Why had I not thought of buying these sooner? We all know the muffin top is the best part of the muffin! Now I get to eat just the tops all day long!
I found this recipe in my Cooks Illustrated Best Light Recipe cookbook. I just read a newspaper article about how younger generation cooks don’t use cookbooks anymore because we search for the recipes we want on-line. For the most part, I’d have to agree. (And obviously you do too to an extent – that’s why you’re reading this recipe!) However, once in a while I want to just flip through real pages of a real book and feel the real binding and dog ear the recipes that look good to me. When those times come, I tend to fall back on my Cook’s Illustrated cookbooks because I know their recipes are tried and true.
I made these muffins to go with some vegetarian chili (recipe to be posted later!) and my, oh, my they were delicious. I typically use Marie Calendar’s cornbread mix but I was ready for something with a little more “down home” feeling (and with fewer processed ingredients). These muffins have a unique crunch to them that makes them extra delicious. Be prepared for amazing flavor whether you choose to eat them plain or with your favorite cornbread topping.
This recipe is for 12-15 standard sized muffins. To cook with a muffin top pan, reduce the heat by 25 degrees and use a toothpick to start checking for doneness at 10 minutes.
corn bread muffins
Best Light Recipe
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal (Cook’s Illustrated recommends Quaker yellow cornmeal)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar, divided
3/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray.
Whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1/4 cup of the sugar together in a medium bowl; set aside. In a separate bowl, stir the yogurt, milk and vanilla together; set aside.
Beat the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and butter together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. (Set a timer for this!) Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Reduce the mixer speed to low. Beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just incorporated, followed by 1/3 of the yogurt mixture, scraping down the bowl as needed. Repeat this process twice more, alternating between the remaining flour and yogurt mixtures until the ingredients are just incorporated. Do not over mix.
Using a large ice-cream scoop or measuring cup, divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 18-20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes and then flip them out onto a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Top with your favorite toppings.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Peggy E // Jun 21, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Oooh, I’m going to have to get myself some muffin top pans!
2 Prostate Gland Problems // Jun 26, 2010 at 5:27 am
What a great resource!