corny cornbread muffins with pepperoni bottoms
These buttery muffins are tender and crumby, salty and corny, tangy and a little sweet with a touch of heat - you could say they have it all. Here, pepperoni slices act as muffin liners so you could also say they’re zero waste. Using whole milk buttermilk will make your muffins richer, but low-fat will work too if you can’t find it. Are they a side dish? Breakfast? That seems like “your business” to me. Serve these little corny guys warm from the oven with softened butter and, if you’re open to it, a drizzle of some good maple syrup.
yields 12 muffins
riffing
sour cream would work wonderfully as a substitute for Greek yogurt
whole milk kefir would be great in place of buttermilk
swap salami, a thin wrapping of prosciutto for the pepperoni
use thawed frozen corn or even (drained) canned corn when fresh isn't available in season
1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick), melted and cooled, plus more for tin-greasing
12 large pepperoni slices
1 cup coarse cornmeal
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda
1 ts diamond crystal kosher salt (1/2 ts morton’s)
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 cup full fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup whole milk buttermilk
1 small jalapeno, stem removed and finely chopped (optional)
1 cup fresh corn kernels
cracked black pepper
recipe prep
Preheat oven to 400F. Butter the inner sides and tops (in case of overflow) of a muffin tin. Don’t worry about the bottoms sticking - the pepperoni will solve that. Place one pepperoni slice in each cup of the muffin tin, pressing it down and allowing it to creep up the sides as needed.
In a medium bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate large bowl, whisk the egg until blended. Add the melted butter, yogurt and buttermilk and whisk together. Stir in jalapeno and corn. Season with black pepper as desired.
Gently fold the dry ingredients into the corn mixture until evenly incorporated. If you have the time here, you could let the batter sit for 20-30 minutes to help hydrate the cornmeal, but it’s not absolutely necessary.
Divide batter evenly between the muffin tin cups (its okay if they are quire full!).
Bake 18-20 minutes, until the edges are golden. Cool for 5-10 minutes in the tin. Remove the muffins, using an offset spatula or butter knife around the edges as needed to loosen (they should pop right out!).
Serve with butter and maybe some good maple syrup.
These will keep wrapped tightly (or in a bag with all the air pressed out) in the fridge for a week or a month in the freezer.
To reheat: half and crisp in a pan until warmed through OR wrap in a damp paper towel and microwave 30ish seconds. Or use a toaster oven, your call.
