Maple Corn Muffins, a Family Tradition on Thanksgiving

The sweet maple and brown sugar flavors bring out the inherent creamy sweetness of the corn. Dreamstime/TCA

According to historical accounts, corn was a very important crop that was served at the first Thanksgiving. It isn’t the corn we know—it was called flint corn and turned into a kind of mush. On Thanksgiving tables all across America today, we celebrate the day with the usual turkey and cranberry sauce and often with some type of corn dish. You might find a corn salad, a corn pudding, or cornbread on your holiday menu. This is a way to give homage to the first Thanksgiving, remembering those who came before us.

In my house, there are certain recipes that cannot be excluded on my Thanksgiving menu, including this recipe for maple corn muffins. These sweet little corn nuggets are a big hit served with orange-honey butter.

Combining flour with cornmeal lightens the batter, and the sweet maple and brown sugar flavors bring out the inherent creamy sweetness of the corn.

Don’t limit this recipe to Thanksgiving. It’s also a lovely accompaniment to barbecued ribs or chicken. You can even make these in the mini-muffin size to serve with tea in a pretty napkin-lined basket with your favorite butter and preserves. The muffins can be prepared up to eight hours ahead and reheated in a 350-degree F oven just before serving. Enjoy!

Maple Corn Muffins

Makes 12 regular or 48 mini muffins

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup corn kernels (about 1 medium ear)
• Orange-honey butter, optional, for serving (see note)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a standard muffin tin or put paper muffin cups in each cavity. Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the brown sugar into the eggs until well blended. Add the melted butter, milk, and syrup, and mix until combined.

Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and fold them together with a rubber spatula until the dry ingredients are completely blended. Add the corn kernels and mix to combine.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups two-thirds of the way up. Bake for 20 minutes for mini-muffins or 25 to 30 minutes for regular muffins or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for 15 minutes. Serve them immediately with orange-honey butter if desired.

Recipe Note: To make orange-honey butter, combine some orange zest with softened unsalted butter and orange blossom honey and mix them together until they are well blended.

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