Chile Cheese Corn Muffins

One cold and blustery day recently, I randomly decided that I wanted to make chili. That might sound like an ordinary thought to many of you, but it struck me completely out of left field. I don't like beans, I've never made chili, and it's never really been a part of my life, so I was caught a bit off guard. Life has taught me that when I have a strong impulse, I'm usually on the right track, so I went for it.



But this post isn't about chili.

As I was thinking about how I was going to make a beanless chili (more on that soon), I happened to see Maggie's post on Blue Corn Muffins with Chile and Cheese. Not only did they sound like the perfect complement to the chili, but I happened to have all the ingredients on hand.

I get a lot of joy out of making food in unexpected colors (blue muffins? yes please), so I was bummed that I only had yellow cornmeal, but it tasted so good that in the end I didn't care. They may look a little plain, but they really are anything but. These reheat really well, too. 12 muffins may or may not have disappeared over the course of about 12 hours. Thanks for sharing, Maggie!

Chile Cheese Corn Muffins
Adapted from The Freckled Citizen, originally from The Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook
Makes 12 muffins
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
5 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk (milk may be substituted)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup blue or yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking power
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 cup grated Monterey Jack, cheddar, or Mexican blend cheese
3/4 cup roasted, peeled, diced green chile or 1 small can diced green chile

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tins well or insert paper liners.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.
3. In another bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and buttermilk. Slowly mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
5. Stir in the corn, cheese, chiles and mix well. Spoon the batter evenly into muffin tins. Bake about 25 minutes, until just firm. Serve warm with butter.