When it comes to making the perfect cornbread muffins, there is a little secret that takes them from good to great. Folding in a generous amount of corn that has been sautéed with bacon, scallions, and heavy whipping cream. To balance the sweet creamy corn, bacon, and scallion mixture, these muffins also have both chipotle powder and chipotles in adobo sauce for a nice added kick. The result is a delicious, savory cornbread muffin that is sure to please even the pickiest of eaters.
Recently, I entered my “Surprise Corn” Bread Muffins into Food52’s “Your Best Recipe with Corn” contest, which of course made me want to whip up another batch of these corn and bacon-filled lovelies. Thankfully, I have a lot of frozen corn from last year’s many trips to Frying Pan Farm Stand in my freezer, just begging to be used. This time around I decided to add a bit of extra heat with some finely diced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, and I also added some extra love to the original recipe, by increasing the amount of crumbled bacon and adding cheddar cheese. There isn’t much that can’t be improved by adding bacon and cheese. The downside to this recipe is that it makes a huge amount of muffins, which means either sharing them with neighbors or freezing them. In my case, I chose to do both. My attempt at utilizing food from the freezer ended with me putting something even larger back in the freezer. Not what I was going for, but it will be nice to grab a few muffins from the freezer on nights when we decide to barbecue. A thirty-second zap in the microwave is usually all it takes to thaw them out.
Ingredients:
Sautéed Corn:
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 3 Cups Corn Kernels
- 8 Slices of Bacon, Cooked and Crumbled
- 1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon Chipotle Chile Powder
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 Bunch of Scallions, Chopped
Cornbread:
- 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
- 1 1/3 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2/3 Cups Canola Oil
- 1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter, Melted
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
- 4 Eggs, Lightly Beaten
- 2 Cups Milk
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 2 Chipotle Chiles in Adobo Sauce, Finely Minced
- 2 Cups Finely Shredded Cheddar
Directions:
Sauetéed Corn:
- Melt the butter over medium-high heat.
- Add the corn; sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add the crumbled bacon, salt, pepper, and chipotle chile; sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add the cream and scallions; sauté for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat; set aside.
Cornbread:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line cupcake tins with paper or foil liners; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Pour the oil, butter, honey, eggs, milk, and cream into the dry ingredients; stir just until moistened.
- With a spatula, fold in the corn, minced chipotle chiles, and cheddar cheese, making sure not to over-mix.
- Pour the batter into the paper or foil-lined cupcake tins and bake for 20 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and starting to show cracks.
Suggestions:
- Frozen corn will work just as well in this recipe as fresh; it will require a few more minutes of sautéing.
- Use an ice cream scoop to drop the batter into the lined muffin tins. Leave 1/4-inch at the top of each liner.
- This recipe will yield approximately 3 to 4 dozen muffins.
Improvements:
- Add additional minced chipotle chiles or jalapeños for a spicier muffin.
- Serve with whipped honey butter.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 3 Cups Corn Kernels
- 8 Slices of Bacon, Cooked and Crumbled
- 1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon Chipotle Chile Powder
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 Bunch of Scallions, Chopped
- 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
- 1 1/3 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2/3 Cups Canola Oil
- 1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter, Melted
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
- 4 Eggs, Lightly Beaten
- 2 Cups Milk
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 2 Chipotle Chiles in Adobo Sauce, Finely Minced
- 2 Cups Finely Shredded Cheddar
Directions:
- Melt the butter over medium-high heat.
- Add the corn; sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add the crumbled bacon, salt, pepper, and chipotle chile; sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add the cream and scallions; sauté for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat; set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line cupcake tins with paper or foil liners; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Pour the oil, butter, honey, eggs, milk, and cream into the dry ingredients; stir just until moistened.
- With a spatula, fold in the corn, minced chipotle chiles, and cheddar cheese, making sure not to over-mix.
- Pour the batter into the paper or foil-lined cupcake tins and bake for 20 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and starting to show cracks.
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