This is a recipe for bakery-worthy Blueberry Corn Muffins. Just as good leftover as fresh. They go with everything but are great on their own.
Bluberry Corn Muffins
Course: Breakfast, BrunchCuisine: American12
standard muffins52
minutes18
minutes10
minutes1
hour20
minutesIngredients
3 tsp rendered and cooled bacon fat
1 cup (160-155 grams – weight will vary by brand) + 3 Tbs (or more) medium- or fine-grain yellow cornmeal, divided
120g all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup cooked, crumbled bacon
Zest from 1 lemon (optional)
70g butter, melted (45 seconds in the microwave) and slightly cooled
33g coconut oil, melted (15 seconds in the microwave) and slightly cooled
240 mL whole milk, lukewarm
1 large egg
110g brown sugar (light or dark)
203g blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Directions
- Heat oven to 400ºF. Generously grease a standard-size muffin tin with bacon fat; use all of it. Use 3 Tbs cornmeal (¾ tsp per muffin cup, or more as necessary) to thoroughly coat the inside of all 12 cups.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 1 cup of cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, 100 strokes. (Whisk in the zest.) In a large bowl, whisk together butter, coconut oil, milk, egg and sugar until smooth. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, whisking until just combined. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Fold the berries into the batter. (Do not thaw if using frozen berries; add them directly from the freezer).
- Use an ice cream disher to scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tin’s cups. Bake until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack until the pan is cool enough to handle (10 minutes), then remove (by gently tipping the pan and gingerly removing each muffin) to a wire rack to cool further. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store refrigerated in a paper towel-lined, airtight container for up to 3 days. Or, freeze for up to 3 months and thaw at room temperature.
Notes
- Substitutions: more butter for the coconut oil, butter instead of bacon fat for greasing the tin, ¼ teaspoon fine salt for the Kosher
These muffins are fabulously bakery-worthy. They’re beautiful. The cornmeal you use to coat the tin will adhere to the muffins, creating an earthy, crunchy coating – a trick I picked up from David at Spiced. The muffins are so soft, so moist … the corn flavor is spot on, more so than even the best cornbread. I’ve taken them to dinner parties, or just as spontaneous gifts for friends and neighbors, and they are always extremely well received. They’re quite amazing.
Social Learning
You won’t taste the bacon in these muffins. I’ve tried increasing the amount, and still I don’t taste the bacon. However, it seriously contributes to the depth of flavor. Without the bacon, these muffins are still good, but they seem plain and ordinary. With the bacon – even though you can’t taste bacon – comes an extraordinary muffin.
Feel free to use lime zest instead of lemon. Also feel free to use minced peel instead of just zest. No matter how you do it, though it is a nice addition, but not a deal breaker. The muffins are perfectly good without it.
These muffins keep well in an airtight container, at room temperature. I also tried keeping them refrigerated, and nuked them lightly at serving time, and that was fine, too. I don’t know how long they keep, because as many times as I’ve made them, they’ve always disappeared quite quickly.
They’re versatile. I love them on their own, obviously for breakfast, but actually at any time of day. They also pair well with savory things, so they’re fantastic served with lunch or dinner with anything from a salad to a hearty soup to something Tex-Mex.
Pro Tip: once you’ve dished the batter into the tins, you’re going to have some batter left in the bowl that the disher can’t gather up, and you’re going to want to use a flexible spatula to scrape this up and top off some of the cups. This is fine – better than fine – but the topped off muffins won’t have berries popping through their tops once the muffins are baked. Remedy: mix a couple extra berries with the scraped up batter.
The Backstory
These muffins were a pull from the deepest, darkest corners of my pantry … you know, the kind where you find out that you have not only one, but two partially-full containers of cornmeal. Let me tell you, though: you will want to purposely stock up on cornmeal once you’ve had these.
Love the trivet in the photos? Me too! Thanks you to my favorite ex-neighbors! I wish we still lived close enough together that I could bring you a batch of these!
Blueberry Corn Muffins
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! unless otherwise credited. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, ⌘+C. References: NYT and Spiced. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #5 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.
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You’ve given the humble corn muffin such a massive upgrade with this recipe. And not just by jam-packing it with amazing blueberries! Using the bacon fat in conjunction with butter is such a brilliant flavor play!
Thank you!
I have never bought cornmeal. But minus the bacon these do look pretty good.Thanks for sharing.
It’s a kind of staple where I live. I’ve heard that you can do something similar to this with polenta.
What a delicious sounding muffin, they really would be good any time of the day.
Thank you, Karen!
Thank you for this recipe. I have a gigantic bag of frozen blueberries that need to be made into something. This sounds a little tastier than traditional blueberry muffins
This would be a fantastic use for them!
I love that you have added bacon to your recipe Jeff and used the bacon fat for extra flavour. Also good tip about lining the recess with cornmeal. I would use polenta here, I must check if we can buy cornmeal . Your recipe reminds me of my Blueberry and Polenta muffins from a few months ago, which were delicious as well and very popular, it’s a great combination. I might try adding bacon next time. Great work.
Oh, I love the idea of polenta! I’ll have to check that out!
Oh, I’m a big fan of cornmeal in baking! Something great about the texture? I have the last of the blueberries to pick, your timing is excellent 😉
I couldn’t agree more, Tracy!
I love muffins and these sound amazing. Why have I never thought to add blueberries before??
Thank you, Lori!
I am immediately surprised by the bacon in these! You definitely had me with cornmeal and blueberries (my favorite pancakes are a close cousin) but I never thought about bacon. But now you have me thinking about bacon. Bacon. BACON!) I need to try these!
I tried and tried with the bacon, and then tried omitting it, and they’re better with it. Even though you don’t really taste bacon flavor, it add a lot to the flavor backdrop. It makes the muffins seem complex, and without it they seem much simpler.
I love everything with cornmeal, so these muffins sound terrific to me. But the bacon is an unexpected touch (even though you can’t taste it), and I believe it adds something extra special!
Thanks, Ben. You know, I eventually made them without the bacon, and I thought they weren’t quite as interesting! So it turns out that, even though you can’t taste it, it adds a lot, just like you suggested.
I do love blueberry muffins Jeff, but I must try these with the bacon twist! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Neil!
So I see ex-neighbors, and I also see a note about spontaneous gifts for friends and neighbors. By my calculations, that means there is a spot next to you open. I need that spot…because who doesn’t need random corn muffin gifts!? Also, thanks for the shout-out on the cornmeal. I love the extra crunch that lends to cornbread!!
If you lived nextdoor, we would have some spectacular meals! Yes, thanks for that cornmeal idea. It gave these muffins a fantastic touch!
These look incredible, Jeff! I love the trick of coating the tin with cornmeal for that crunchy finish, such a smart touch. And I agree, cornmeal and blueberries together make for a muffin that feels both rustic and bakery-perfect.
Thanks, Raymund. You can thank David at Spiced for the cornmeal coating trick. I stole it from him. I love these muffins. I swear, I made them week after week after week this summer with fresh, local berries.