Prepare yourself to fall in love!! These buttermilk cornbread muffins with cheese are the absolute best cheddar cornbread muffins on the planet!
You probably think that is a pretty outrageous statement to make, and you are right, it is, but I stand by it. These are the nicest cornbread muffins.
They are moist and delicious. Never dry like some cornbread muffins can be. I think this is because of the buttermilk which is used in the batter, which also gives them a nice tang.
It is also because of the cheese. There is a generous amount of cheddar in these muffins which gives them a ton of flavor!
Normally I would use a white cheddar for these muffins, rather than an orange one, but all I had on the day was orange. I hope you will forgive me for the bright colour!
Or course it all depends on what you are used to. I usually only use undyed cheddar and so these seemed to be pretty bright to me! I guess I just got used to the cheddar in the UK (best in the world by the way). Unless you asked, or looked for it specifically, the cheddar was white.
Corn muffins or corn bread were not something I actually grew up with. Mom never ever had cornmeal in the house as a rule, unless she was frying fish that my father had caught.
My first experience with it was at my In-Laws back in 1978. We had flown home from Alberta to visit my then husband’s family on the island, as well as my family, with our oldest son and daughter. I had not actually met my in-laws before that point.
I remember being very nervous about meeting them. We had visited my parents first in Nova Scotia, and then my mother drove us to the ferry to go over to the Island. (That was very brave of mom. She was not a really seasoned driver, at that point.)
We had not long been on the Island, maybe a day, when my sister in law from the valley arrived with her children. On this one day my mother in law was working and asked would my sister in law mix up the corn muffins and bake them for supper, to have with the baked beans
After she had gone to work, my sister-in-law decided to go off with my husband and their father to play cards and delegated me to do it. And she said it had to be done right then! And so I did what she told me to do.
I used
my mother in laws recipe and it was a recipe then, and now, that really is best if you bake them right before you serve then. You can also bake it as a corn bread. Anyways, I did what my sister in law told me to do, with the end result that they were not as good as they would have been otherwise.
To this day I think she did it on purpose so that I would mess up. I know, not very charitable thought on my part, but there you go. She never was ever very nice to me. I was really a green cook in those days and eager to please.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CHEDDAR CORNBREAD MUFFINS
Simple store-cupboard ingredients. Pretty basic stuff.
- butter (I always use salted butter most of the time)
- all purpose plain flour
- yellow cornmeal (not self rising, or white. I use a medium grind)
- granulated sugar (only a tiny bit)
- baking powder
- salt
- cayenne pepper (you can leave this out but it really enhances the cheesiness of these muffins)
- whole milk (at room temperature)
- one large free range egg (at room temperature)
- sharp (strong) cheddar cheese
HOW TO MAKE CHEDDAR CORNBREAD MUFFINS
These are pretty fail-proof and will turn out excellent so long as you follow the instructions with precision. As with most quick breads (meaning non-yeast breads) they key to success is not to overmix them.
This is one case where it is preferable to have a few lumps in the batter. By that I don’t mean huge swathes of unmixed batter. The batter should be mixed, but you don’t need to mix it smooth. Doing so will toughen your muffins and you won’t get as much of a rise.
For things like quick breads and muffins you basically mix together all the dry ingredients and then all the wet ingredients and then combine the two together, mixing them briefly just to combine and so that all the dry ingredients are dampened. That’s it.
Because the buttermilk will start to react with the baking soda and baking powder pretty much right away, it is preferable that you get the batter into the pan and into the oven very quickly after mixing them together.
The cheese gets stirred in last and some gets sprinkled on top of the batter in the pan.
These really are excellent muffins. I may have gotten a slow introduction to corn muffins and corn bread but I have carried on a love affair with them ever since my first experience with them! They are excellent with soups and stews, chili, for breakfast, with salads, etc.
On the day that I made these I enjoyed them with a nice hot bowl of soup. They are also very good with stews and baked beans, chili con carne, salads, etc. Can you tell I love cornbread?
I especially love these moist and delicious muffins. I think you will love them too! Simple and delicious!
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