The Hunger Struck - Confessions of a Food Fanatic.

I was rushing home after work yesterday, late as usual and was thinking to myself that there is no way I was going to get the dinner I had planned on the table before midnight. You see, sometimes in my over zealous weekend meal planning mentality I think that I’m capable of doing more than I actually have the energy to do during the week. I make an effort to meal plan on the weekend because otherwise I end up at the grocery store every evening, hungry and without a plan which always results in too much money spent and too little time to actually prepare dinner.

Yesterday evening was progressing in this way but when I finally started to make dinner which was chili and jalapeno corn bread muffins, I realized my tendency to overreact was again getting the better of me. This was seriously going to be a breeze, because corn bread is not that fussy and chili… i mean come on! Easy, right?

I have been making this recipe for as long as I’ve been baking and I’m not sure anymore where it actually came from. Sometimes I will make it in a loaf pan and other times as muffins. Every time I make this recipe it turns out exactly as I remember it. Beautifully moist in texture, not even one bit dry as some corn breads can get, sweet, buttery and not a single bit low fat. Sacrifices have to be made when there is corn bread at steak and skimping on the fat content is not something I like to practice when baking.

Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread Muffins – Makes 9 muffins

1 cup sifted all purpose flour

1 cup corn meal

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup buttermilk, can be substituted with whole milk

1 cup  sharp cheddar, grated

1 cup fresh or frozen corn

1 cup canned jalapeno’s, diced

Preheat oven to 400 f.  Grease a standard sized muffin tin and dust with flour. These have a tendency to stick so I will sometimes use vegitable spray if I have some on hand.

In a small sauce pan over medium heat melt the butter. Once completely melted remove from the heat and let cool.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Beat the eggs in a medium sized bowl and add the buttermilk and cooled melted butter and stir to combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry along with the grated cheese, corn and diced jalapenos and mix gently until the mixture just comes together.

Divide equally in the muffin tin.

Bake for 30  minutes or until muffins have risen a bit and are golden on top. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin.