Recipe #38: Cornmeal Muffins with Berries

Cornmeal Muffins with Berries

These muffins were quite good tasting. I got the recipe for this version of the 201 Muffins recipe, Cornmeal Muffins with Berries, from the website, Once Upon a Chef. The author of the website, Jenn Segal, is a former chef who now cooks for her family and friends and publishes her recipes on line. The site includes photos and detailed descriptions of the process for making the dish.

As her recipe for Blueberry Cornbread Muffins promises, the crispy cornbread goes well with the tart blueberries. The muffins are substantial without being heavy, are slightly sweet and nicely moist. My tasters enjoyed them very much. I would undoubtedly make these muffins again.

I rate the recipe and the muffins 5 out of 5.

Next up: Country-Time Okra Muffins

Recipe #37: Cornflake-Pecan Muffins

This recipe called for corn flakes as part of the dry ingredients, with the addition of pecans and allspice. I couldn't find a recipe that was equivalent to the one in 201 Muffins, but I found one on the Kellogg's website, Corn Flake Crumbs Muffins, that used corn flakes as a main ingredient so went with that one.

But since the recipe was so plain sounding, I decided to make them a bit more substantial with the addition of oat bran. I used walnuts instead of pecans (I didn't have pecans), added chopped up cherries, and didn't add any spices.

However, the recipe I chose called for four cups of corn flakes, though that seemed like a lot of corn flakes to me. As it turned out, it was too many (Kellogg's corn flakes are perhaps lighter than the store brand flakes I used), as the corn flake flavor was overwhelming. The addition of all those fibrous ingredients made the muffins quite chewy, if healthier. I also added more sugar than the recipe called for, but that didn't really help much in making the muffins sweeter.

All in all, I wasn't happy with these muffins. I don't know if my additions caused the problem, but I won't be using corn flakes in muffins anymore, as the flavor was reminiscent (in my mind) of pet food.

My tasters declared them "just okay," or "not bad," so I am giving them a rating of 2 out of 5.

I might have better luck with the next offering: Cornbread Muffins with Berries.

Recipe #36: Corn-and-Zucchini Muffins

Corn-and-Zucchini Muffins

I obtained this recipe from a personal website, The Baker Mama. The recipe she posted was called Zucchini Sweet Corn Muffins. I stuck to the recipe for the most part, leaving out only the zucchini slices for garnish.

These muffins were very good tasting and hearty. They were slightly sweet, had a nice texture and a pleasing color, too. They would go well with soup or chili or any other meal that would normally be paired with cornbread. My tasters enjoyed them also.

I rate these muffins 5 out of 5. I would definitely make these again and serve to guests.

Next up: Cornflake-Pecan Muffins

Recipe #35: Coffee-Ginger Muffins

Coffee-Ginger Muffins

The recipe in 201 Muffins called for coffee and ginger as well as cardamom and molasses. I couldn't find a recipe with all those ingredients, but I did find two that had coffee, molasses and ginger. I chose Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Latte Muffins, found on a website for vegans, Conoisseurus Veg. The recipe called for coffee, molasses and ginger, but, as the title suggests, also chocolate chips and other spices. It was an interesting recipe, using no animal products such as egg or milk (chocolate chips were vegan), but including ground flax seed, walnuts and whole wheat pastry flour.

For my version of this recipe, I left out the flax seed, and since I didn't have any whole wheat pastry flour, I used a combination of half whole wheat-half all purpose flours. Instead of chocolate chips I used cinnamon chips (non vegan), but otherwise followed the recipe (I didn't add coconut flakes on top).

The muffins made from this version of the recipe were quite good. They were hearty, moist, spicy, not too sweet and with a nice texture. The coffee flavor came through without being too strong and the coffee glaze added just enough sweetness.

My tasters enjoyed them as well, so I will definitely make these muffins again.

I rate this recipe and muffins 5 out of 5.

Next week: Corn-and-Zucchini Muffins