Thursday, February 3, 2022

Melissa Clark's Cornmeal Muffins @LucyBurdette

 


LUCY BURDETTEHappy February everyone! I love, love, love cornmeal muffins but I've found the ones I made in the past turned out dry, a poor shadow of the muffins from my favorite Connecticut bakery, Four and Twenty Blackbirds. When I spotted this recipe in the food section of the Times, I had to try it. I take no credit for designing this recipe--all of that goes to Melissa Clark in the New York Times food section. I do get credit for noticing how fabulous these muffins sounded, making them myself, and now encouraging you! This is not a dietetic recipe, it's for a special occasion.

Here's what you'll need:

2 sticks butter (yup, that's right, 2)
1 and 1/2 cups flour
2 cups cornmeal 
2/3 cups sugar
1 and 1/2 tablespoons baking powder (I always choose the low-sodium brand)
1/2 tsp salt (I cut this in half from 1 tsp)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup sour cream or whole milk yogurt
1/2 cup milk (you might as well use whole)
2 eggs at room temp

Preheat the oven to 400. Put cupcake liners in a cupcake pan.

Melt the butter. When it's cool, whisk in the sour cream, milk, and eggs.

In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. 




Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Drop the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle a bit of coarse sugar on the tops if you like. 



Bake until golden and beginning to brown around the edges, 18-20 minutes. Remove from the pan and serve perhaps with more butter? A little honey? 




(This was Melissa Clark's recipe from the New York Times and I can't recommend it highly enough!)




This is a perfect winter muffin--good with soup or omelets or really anything. Do you have a favorite baked treat for this season? 



In addition to Lucy's Key West food critic mysteries, she's written a thriller called Unsafe Haven! 


About Unsafe Haven
A chance meeting on the New York subway leads to the destinies of two very different women becoming intertwined with terrifying consequences in this nerve-jangling thriller.


Sixteen-year-old Addison is on the run. She's leaving her life on New York's streets behind for a new one with Rafe, armed with just his phone number on a scrap of paper. She's taking the subway to meet him in New Jersey. He'll take care of her. Or so she thinks . . .


Elizabeth Brown's world has fallen apart and she's thinking about her newly ex-fiancé. Until she locks eyes with a teenage girl while waiting for the train doors to open, and a bundle is thrust into her arms as she leaves the subway. A baby, wrapped in a dirty coat.


Elizabeth phones the number she finds in the coat pocket. Then wishes she hadn't. Someone wants Addison and the baby. And they'll do whatever it takes to get them . . .


In a major departure from her lighthearted Key West mysteries, Burdette invites readers into the world of a chilling thriller. (Unsafe Haven is) a page-turner highlighting the problem of exploited runaways.

—Kirkus Reviews

If you'd like a nibble before you buy, read the first chapter here. And if you'd like to read more about the genesis of the book, read this post from Jungle Red Writers.


Ways to buy your copy of UNSAFE HAVEN:


Book depository 


Indiebound 


Barnes and Noble 


Amazon 


Severn House 


And if this is not in your budget (which I totally get,) you can invite your local library to order a copy!


11 comments:

  1. Oh, those sound heavenly and I will be giving them a try. Thanks for the recipe.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was just looking for a cornbread muffin recipe since I have the same issues you faced. Thanks for saving me the search!

    ReplyDelete
  3. These do sound like winners!
    Somehow blueberries are calling to me. Add them in?...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Our favorite wintry baked item is apple pie still warm from the oven. I like mine with whipped cream. My husband likes his with ice cream. lnchudej@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yum! Love cornbread muffins. This looks so good! We enjoy cinnamon apple pie a lot in the winter.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm not a real fan of corn muffins but this receipe sounds very good. Will try it. conney.parkhurst@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete