Whole Wheat Cornbread Muffins

I don't know about any of you, but I could survive off of bread. Luckily we do not keep much bread in our house, nor do I make it often, but when I do, it is a good day. I have had my eye on these muffins from 101 Cookbooks for some time now. I am a huge fan of Jiffy cornbread, but these are fortunately nothing like it. These muffins are hearty, dense, and wheat-y. They made me feel like I should be wrapped in a blanket, sitting on the porch of a cabin, eating potato soup. Thats how good they were. 

Needless to say, they do need honey and butter to give it that traditional cornbread feel, but they do not have the same dessert, cake-like taste of the Jiffy mix; and that is exactly what I loved about them. I will admit that yes, doing absolutely no sweets until September 26 (woo its coming up!!) is very difficult, but I am very pleased with how it has opened up my horizon to make new things. If I had the choice to have made a dessert over muffins, well of course I would have jumped at the opportunity, but I would have never found this incredible recipe! 

Next week we are headed to Newport Beach, CA and I couldn't be more excited! Seven days off of work? Unheard of!! Seven days to spend with my husband uninterrupted by life? Even more unheard of!!!! It is going to be a great week spending time together and with our family! 

**This is one of those posts that you will want to read all the way through before beginning. There are two times where you have to let the dough rise and hour or so**

Whole Wheat Cornbread Muffins

yields 9 muffins or 1 loaf

for the muffins:

2 cups white whole wheat flour

3/4 cups cornmeal

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 package active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1/8 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons honey 

2 eggs, whisked and at room temperature

1 cup fresh or frozen corn, if frozen defrosted to room temperature

cornmeal and olive oil for preparing muffin tins. 

Prepare your pans by rubbing them with olive oil, dust with cornmeal, tap our any extra. Set aside

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cornmeal and salt. Set aside

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Let sit 3 minutes. Add about 2/3 of the flour/cornmeal mixture. Barely mix together. Then add the olive oil, honey, a little over one egg, corn, and begin to mix at low speed. As the dough starts to come together, begin adding little bits of the flour mixture at a time, letting it incorporate along the way. You may not need to add all of the flour mixture. Keep adding until the dough is tacky and clears the sides of the bowl, but sticks to the bottom. If it is too wet, add a little more flour, if it is too dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time until you achieve the consistency your looking for. 

Turn up the speed to medium, and mix for about three minutes. Turn the dough onto a floured countertop, and knead a few times. Gather dough into ball and rub with a nit of olive oil. Place in a large, greased (olive oil) bowl, cover with plastic wrap or kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.

Once the dough has doubled, turn it onto the countertop. To make the muffins, cut the dough into thirds. Pat each third into a square shape and cut into three pieces- you will end up with nine equal size pieces. Without over-handling, shape each piece of dough into a ball and place in the muffin tins. Let the rolls rise in a warm spot until roughly doubled - about another hour. 

Preheat the oven to 375º F. Just before baking, brush the dough with the remaining egg and sprinkle cornmeal on top. Bake for 18-20 minutes on the middle rack, or until rolls are golden. Remove and let cool on rack.