Muffin or cupcake? So many muffins skate that fine line between breakfast and dessert, am I right? Not mad at it. Not complaining…though some mornings I don’t want sweet. I don’t want dessert. I want something savory, delicious, cheesy and warm.
Enter: Goat Cheese Chive Corn Muffins.
Also!–don’t mean to be a debbie-downer on breakfast muffins–but sometimes I’m all psyched about making muffins, and so I do, and then I eat, like, two for breakfast and end up with a bunch leftover. Lame.
These muffins are pretty cool because they can dual as a breakfast snack or a dinner snack. Double-action muffins!
Like a uni-sex shirt or a camisole that can be worn to bed or out into public. Versatility is cool.
That’s what these muffins are like.
They come together in speed quickness. Two bowls: dry and wet ingredients. Throw those together and done. Boom. Muffin oven time.
There’s a few awesome things going on in these muffins. First, the goat cheese; it adds an awesome tangy, creaminess to the muffins, while the chives add a nice little freshness. The cornmeal isn’t, like, the star in these, but rather adds a nice texture.
In other non-related muffin news, I gave up my French press and swapped it for this nifty Chemex. I’d been meaning to do this for months but finally pulled the trigger, and I can confidently say that I’m never going back. I’m totally over the whole thick cup of coffee thing that a French press yields. I’m digging the clean, crisp cup of coffee from the Chemex. I’m growing up, guys! How do you make your coffee at home? What’s your tool?
Goat Cheese Chive Corn Muffins
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
1 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sea-salt
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 ounces goat cheese, softened
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons fresh chives, minced
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners and spray insides with non-stick spray.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, melted butter, goat cheese and eggs. With the mixer on the lowest speed, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until they are just blended. Gently fold the chives into the batter until thoroughly combined. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each one to the top. Bake for 30 minutes, until the tops are crisp and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly and remove from the pan.
Recipe yields 12-14 muffins
Adapted from Ina Garten
I love muffins and never ones with goat cheese and chives…gonna have to try those!
This recipe looks like a great way to use up leftover goat cheese and sneak it into my husband; I never manage to get through the whole log before it starts to go bad, even after serving at parties. Wish I had seen this sooner as I just put the remainder of a log in the freezer yesterday!
Coffee: We have an Aerobie Aeropress and love it! Easy to use, clean, and hard to break, even take it camping! The most important thing is to not have the coffee ground too finely or too coarsely, otherwise it is too hard to press or the water will filter through the grains too fast, respectively. The bialetti stovetop maker went into the trash after it was beyond cleaning and I learned that it leaches aluminum… I miss the ceremony of using it, but nothing else. Our French Press has been delegated to looseleaf tea making, which I think it is perfect for! I agree, fresh ground is a must, and you don’t have to invest a ton of $$$. We use a small basic Mr. Coffee grinder, had it a few years and still works great. I pulse and give the grinder a shake to ensure an even grind. If I want to grind spices or do a routine clean, I grind rice in it to get rid of any coffee residue. We bought the Cuisinart stainless steel electric kettle w/ various temps and have not had a bitter cup since. It is also very efficient for boiling water for pasta, etc. and is the most used item in our kitchen.
I love goat cheese! In a muffin yet, I love it!
Great color of nail polish by the way!
LOVE my Chemex. I am totally that person who would use the french press, plunger the coffee, go to work, then not make coffee for 3 days. Meanwhile, I have forgotten to clean out the press and it’s getting all funky. With the Chemex, you just pull the paper and compost it and done! Also it’s pretty. And the only coffee maker in the Smithsonian. 🙂
Oh, and the muffins look good too. 😉
Ahhh yes I’ve done this with the French press–it’s gross. The clean up is awesome, since there’s basically none.
I’ve been wondering about those Chemex things. I was in a coffee quandry earlier in the year when my coffeemaker broke. I just started using my Italian Bialetti espresso maker that I had previously rarely used. Now I’m into stronger coffee, I guess. These muffins look delicious. Anything with goat cheese has my name written on it!
A chemex is in your future!
I love the combination of ingredients in these muffins!! If I had goat cheese and wasn’t working I’d run home right now just to make these!
Yum! I love savory muffins (and anything with goat cheese). I’m also a big fan of corn-based-baked-goods – perfect pairing! I’ll prob make these this weekend.
xoxo,
mon amy
LOVE. I love corn muffins and corn bread.. I had the BEST corn bread when i was in South Carolina last week, and I actually bought the restaurant’s cookbook so that I could recreate it haha it was delicious with a side of scrambled eggs!
I really need to try these out. Any ideas for something other than chive? My mom for some reason does not like chives, and I would love to make these for her impending visit to me next week. Also, what do you think they be like with something crunchy like a sunflower or pumpkin seed? You’ll have to let me know since I’m not sure what they taste like yet.
So, coffee: I have a basic electric coffee maker, a french press, and a stovetop espresso thingy. I’ve never liked the weird aftertaste of french press coffee, or how it looks grey from the floaty bits at the bottom… I usually use the electric, and would use the espresso thing more if it didn’t take SO much coffee just for one little drink, but I guess that’s the point. I guess my objection to using lots of coffee is that even with three different types of coffee makers I only have an old-fashioned hand grinder for my beans. (It’s super cute and vintagey looking, but it’s a lot of work!) Electric grinder is on my wish list, but I can’t find one cute enough to be worthy of sitting on my counter… (I should say to those reading that you must must must grind your beans at home right before you make your coffee rather than buy it pre-ground. On the flavour scale it’s like the difference between stale bread and bread fresh from the oven. Once oxygen hits the grounds the flavour starts to go out the window after the first 30 seconds or so. My local coffee shop is very snobby about these things and I’ve learned a lot from them since they serve the best coffee I’ve eeeever had.)
Okay, sorry for the coffee tangent. The Chemex looks awesome!
You can use green onions? Or simply leave it out? And maybe some sunflower seeds might be nice. And I dunno if a cute coffee grinder exists! I’ve looked. 🙂
seriously – can you just come make me breakfast this weekend? i’d like these and the egg nests, please. i’ll make the coffee!
These savory muffins look delicious! This will be good with soups. We have a French Press at home and an espresso maker and go back and forth between the two. Never heard of a Chemex but the maker thing looks really nice. Thus, it must make good coffee!
Non-sweet muffins. I like that!! Goat cheese just made it onto my grocery list. I don’t do coffee. I did recently consider trying to acquire a taste for it (after all, I drank espresso in 3rd grade!), but my sister told me the thought of me on coffee was quite scary 🙂
I like the sound of these. So unique!
hi just found your website and it’s a very nice place to learn to cook.
I love goat cheese and I’ve never tried a goat cheese and a muffin together.
so I’m going to try this tomorrow Along with my barbecue.
Best wishes Alan
Sound like any time snack to me! Multi-action muffins 😀