Yeasted Corn Muffins

I love the addition of yeast to corn muffins!  It adds a great smell and airiness not found in the typical corn muffin (dense and sweet). These muffins are lightly sweetened with brown sugar, which goes nicely with hearty dishes such as chili.  I veered from the original recipe in that I used stone-ground cornmeal which adds a bit of crunchiness due to the large grain size. If that doesn't appeal to you, use a fine ground cornmeal. Enjoy!


INGREDIENTS

• 1cup whole or low-fat milk, heated to 110 degrees
• 4tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 1/2teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1large egg
• 1 3/4cups all-purpose flour
• 1cup cornmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill Stone-ground Cornmeal)
• 1/4cup packed light brown sugar
• 1teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1. WARM OVEN Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Grease 12-cup muffin tin.
• 2. MIX BATTER Whisk milk, butter, and yeast in large liquid measuring cup until yeast dissolves, then whisk in egg. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix ½ cup flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, and salt until combined. With mixer on low, add milk mixture in steady stream and mix until dough comes together, about 1 minute. Gradually add remaining flour until incorporated. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until batter is thick and elastic, about 3 minutes.
• 3. LET RISE Using greased ¼-cup measure, transfer batter to muffin cups. Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and place in turned-off oven until batter reaches rims of muffin cups, about 1 hour.
• 4. BAKE MUFFINS Remove muffin tin from oven and heat oven to 375 degrees. Discard plastic and bake muffins until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack. Serve. (Muffins can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.)

Recipe obtained from Cook's Country magazine.