Sweet Cornbread Muffins

Let's talk about names.  These little cornbread muffins have sparked some thinking about the subject.  

When I was a wee child and people would ask me my name, I would timidly reply, "Courtney."  Only, because of being soft-spoken, I would often get called, "Corny?"

No.

Corny.  Courtney.  Cornbread.  Do you see my train of thought here?

Since my youth, I have learned to enunciate (sort of) and most people now correctly call me Courtney.

Occasionally, I'm called "Court."  I once hated the diminutive, thinking people's usage of it simply showed their laziness in failing to pronounce my entire name.  I've come to find it endearing.  It's a name I respond to only from the mouths of the dearest friends and family members.  If you take the risk of calling me Court and I don't protest, chances are I like you.

At the very least, Court cannot be misconstrued as Corn.

And so, muffins.  Cornbread becomes even more addictive when morphed into cute muffins studded with bits of corn bursting with sweet corn juice.  

Mmm, corny. 

Sweet Cornbread Muffins

Adapted from Albers' Sweet Corn Muffins

Yield: About 15 muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup granulated white sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups milk

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup fresh sweet corn, cut from the cob

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.  With cooking spray, grease about 18 muffin pans (extra just in case).

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a smaller bowl, beat together milk, eggs, vegetable oil, and melted butter.  Be careful to add the melted butter last and slowly to avoid scrambling the eggs. 

Make a well in the flour mixture, and pour egg mixture into the center.  Gently stir the mixture until partially wet.  Add in corn, stirring just until all the dry ingredients are completely wet.  Do not over-mix.

Pour batter into muffin pans about 2/3 full.

Bake in an oven heated to 350 deg. F. for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.  

Cool muffins in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes.  Then, remove the muffins from the pan and allow them to cool on the wire rack completely, or serve warm.