The Ultimate Corn Muffin
After countless batches, I've dialed in the perfect recipe
Hi all! Before we get into today’s post, I wanted to remind you that this is the last week to enjoy 20% off first-time annual subscriptions to Susanality. If you’ve been enjoying this newsletter, which I lovingly put together for you each week, why not treat yourself to full access to the deep archive (hundreds of recipes!) of quality content, and a new recipe each and every week? Or treat someone else (Mom maybe?) with a gift subscription. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. You’ll also have access to cookbook giveaways and other premium posts that are for paid subscribers only. I love putting Susanality together for you, but I can only continue to do it with your support. I am grateful for all of you.
I spent my Easter Sunday baking muffins. All day long. I know what you're thinking: It’s just a corn muffin. What’s the big deal? But a corn muffin is not just cornbread baked in a muffin tin. It needs to be fluffier, moister, and more tender.
I thought these were almost perfect when I made the first batch on Saturday afternoon. We ate them with a dinner of homemade BBQ ribs and chicken, twice-baked potatoes, and fresh coleslaw made with napa cabbage, kale, and carrots. We were feeding both adults and little ones, and there was something for everyone. These muffins went really well with that menu, which just goes to show: While cornbread can’t stand in for a muffin, this muffin can stand in for cornbread.
But no, I kept tweaking the recipe until I got it right. I experimented with the leavening, trying to achieve the maximum rise. I experimented with baking temperatures and times, and even oven rack position for the same reason. There were a few other factors I played around with too.
I’m already in this mode of working as I create cookie recipe upon cookie recipe for my forthcoming book, using similar methodology. One tweak at a time. It’s not really a good idea to change too many things at once when developing a recipe that relies on chemistry, but I admit I sometimes do because of my impatience. The problem with doing that is obvious: You’re not quite sure which change affected what.
Another thing this recipe has in common with the cookie recipes I’ve been working on for my book is the use of freeze-dried corn. I went down a corn cookie rabbit hole for days on end, and I can’t wait for you to try them. Freeze-dried corn may seem like a hard-to-find ingredient, but it isn’t as rare as you might think. If your store carries freeze-dried fruit, you might well find corn in that assortment. I’ve even seen this brand at my bodega in NYC. I had originally ordered freeze-dried corn from Nuts.com (a company I’ve been doing lots of business with recently; they have the freshest products, great prices, and usually deliver the next day). I’ve also used this brand, which I got online. I imagine they might also carry it at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. In any case, the freeze dried stuff really packs a corny flavor that I love, but leaving it out will not affect the recipe.
One of the things I did with every batch was bake the muffins using tulip muffin liners so I could make larger and potentially puffier muffins. I baked only 4 or 5 of these larger muffins at a time, staggering them in the tin to allow more heat to reach each muffin so they could bake more evenly. The downside? It takes twice as long to bake all the muffins. The second batch tended to be a bit puffier, so don’t be concerned if you have to let the batter sit a little before baking (it’s a good thing). Can you bake all the muffins at once? Sure. I’m splitting hairs here—they’ll still be great. And if you’re using tulip liners, you’ll still have 3 or 4 extra unfilled holes if you’re using a 12-cup muffin tin.
I baked batch after batch of these muffins to get them as close to perfect for you as possible, so I hope you’ll consider mixing up a batch of them this weekend, or perhaps as an addition to a festive brunch come Mother’s Day.
What’s a tulip muffin liner?
I’m sure you’ve seen them, especially in bakeries. They got their start in the cupcake craze of the early 2000’s. These sort of flamboyant-looking papers became popular as bakers wanted their cupcakes and muffins to look less ordinary. Their other advantage is you can overfill them without worry of overflowing onto the top of the muffin tin. While this does eliminate the crisp-edged muffin top we all love, it certainly makes cleanup easier, and eliminates the possibility of the muffin tops sticking to the top of the pan. You can improvise them yourself easily, using a 5 ½-inch square of parchment paper and a can of tomato paste to push them down into the hole. However, these homemade versions are a little trickier to fill because they don’t really stay put the way these very inexpensive ones I ordered online do. The homemade ones tend to pop up until they have some batter in them.
These (IMHO) perfect corn muffins can be a blank canvas for other variations. Try adding:
Roasted rhubarb, cut into ½-inch pieces
Blueberries
Raspberries
Cut-up strawberries
Cut-up fresh figs
Roughly chopped pecans
Dried currants
More muffins from the Susanality archives
Cinnamon Butter Muffins
This was one of my very first newsletters on Substack, so unless you’ve searched the archives, you probably haven’t seen it. These muffins were inspired by the Cinnamon Butter Muffins that were always on the menu at The Commissary in Philadelphia where I worked as a teenage art student. They’ve got a tender, nutmeg-scented crumb and are dipped in melted butter and cinnamon sugar to finish. Heaven, especially when eaten warm.
Blueberry Peach Muffins
Here’s another one from my intern at the time, Alaina Chou. Inspired by the muffins at Hamptons institution Round Swamp Farm, they’ve got crackly cinnamon sugared tops and are laden with a seemingly impossible amount of fresh fruit.
