Melissa Clark's Corn Muffins @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Happy Thursday 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 Wednesday 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. Or a friend who's in need of a treat. Or visiting relatives...

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 

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. Serve with soup or chili or whatever you like.

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including USA Today bestselling A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. You can order that wherever books are sold. 

If you’re all caught up, try Lucy’s first women’s fiction title, THE INGREDIENTS OF HAPPINESS.

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