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Cook the Book: Jalapeño-Cheddar-Corn Muffins

Posted by Caroline Russock, August 13, 2009 at 1:00 PM

Since I am a sucker for anything thing cornmeal-related, I naturally had to try the Jalapeño-Cheddar-Corn Muffins in Elizabeth Barone's Easy Gluten-Free Baking. I already had all of the gluten-free baking ingredients on hand and I always have some cornmeal lying around, so why not?

I made a few minor, improvisational changes: I used heavy cream in place of milk (I figured this gluten-free recipe could use some added richness), swapped the cheddar for some English Cotswold that I had bought earlier that day, and used Thai bird chiles instead of jalapeños.

The results? This cornbread was pretty delicious. It's not the sweet, cakey kind of cornbread, but more of a crumbly, corny cornbread. It was pretty much identical to a traditional cornbread recipe that uses a more cornmeal than flour. The chiles and cheese definitely played a big part in the recipe. The crunch of the cornmeal along with the slight tang of the cheese and the considerable heat that the chiles lent made these corn muffins into something that I would be happy to serve anyone.

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Jalapeño-Cheddar-Corn Muffins

- makes 1 dozen muffins -

Adapted from Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients
2/3 cup white rice flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 sweet rice flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1 large egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup grated cheddar
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, vegetable oil, milk. Pour egg mixture over the dry ingredients. Blend for 1 minute. (Use high speed with a handheld mixer or medium-high with a stand mixer.) Using a wooden spoon, stir in the cheddar cheese and jalapeño peppers.

4. Spoon the batter into muffin cups so that they are two-thirds full.

5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

6. Place pan on a wire rack to cool, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and place directly on a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

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Tags: baking, cheddar, Cook the Book, corn, cornbread, Easy Gluten-Free Baking, Elizabeth Barbone, gluten-free, jalapeños