Hello lovelies,
muffins do not always have to be sweet. These cheesy cornbread muffins are golden yellow, slightly crisp outside and wonderfully moist inside, with sharp cheese in the batter and a few corn kernels on top. They bake in 40 minutes, taste just as good warm with a little butter as they do cold in a lunchbox, and are as perfect for brunch as they are next to a hot bowl of soup.
In our house muffins are usually the sweet kind, and my apple streusel muffins with cinnamon are a real fall favorite. But ever since I baked this savory version, the kids keep asking for the cheese muffins more and more often.
Cornmeal, cheese and an egg
The base is half cornmeal, half wheat flour. The cornmeal brings the lovely yellow color, a slightly sweet corn flavor and a fine, somewhat grainy crumb, very much like American cornbread. Use fine cornmeal or fine polenta for this, but not cornstarch, which would only bind the batter. Any sharp cheese that grates well works, and mine is usually Swiss mountain cheese or Gruyère.
As with all muffins: mix the dry and wet ingredients separately and then stir them together only briefly. If you stir too long, the muffins turn tough instead of fluffy. For the milk I usually use oat or soy milk, which works just as well as cow's milk. If you have no cornmeal at home, my guide to flour substitutes like corn flour has ideas for what to use instead.
I love eating the muffins while still warm, broken open with a piece of butter slowly melting into them. In the fall I like to serve them with a velvety vegan pumpkin soup, which turns a bowl of soup into a proper dinner.
Give these cheesy cornbread muffins a try and tell me in the comments which cheese you used.
