I stole this recipe for Cornmeal Cheese Muffins from Fresh from the oven Breads & Rolls: From Taste of Home who stole it from Sherri Gentry from Dallas, Oregon. These muffins are an easy to make quick bread. Cornmeal and flour combine to make a light fluffy muffin. A little crunch comes from the cornmeal and the flour keeps the muffin light. Baking powder is the leavening agent used in these muffins.
Did you know? Baking powders are a mixture of baking soda and acid salts, with starch added as a stabilizer. Double acting baking powder reacts twice in baking: reacting first when liquid is added to the mixing bowl and second when heated while baking.² (see more trivia in the Trivia tab)
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, ½ cup yellow cornmeal, ¼ cup sugar, 1 tbsp baking powder and ¾ tsp salt.
In another bowl, mash ½ cup small-curd cottage cheese
add ¾ cup milk, ¼ cup vegetable oil and 1 egg to mashed cottage cheese.
Make a well in the dry ingredients
Add wet ingredients into the center of the well
stir just until moistened.
Fold in ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese and ½ tsp dried thyme.
Fill greased muffin cups three-fourths full.
Bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Don’t be worried about trying these muffins because of the cottage cheese. The cottage cheese melts into the muffin batter when cooking and helps the muffins stay light and moist. No one will even know about the cottage cheese unless you tell them!
Cornmeal Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup yellow cornmeal
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ cup small-curd cottage cheese
- ¾ cup milk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ tsp dried thyme
Instructions
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In a mixing bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, mash cottage cheese with a fork; add milk, oil and egg. Add to dry ingredients; stir just until moistened. Fold in cheddar cheese and thyme. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
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Bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Recipe Notes
You can use low fat or full fat cottage cheese. I would not recommend fat free cottage cheese. Don’t worry if you see the cottage cheese lumps prior to cooking, they will melt into the batter when cooking, making the muffins nice and light. If you are out of thyme you can substitute dried basil or parsley. The cheese can be changed as well, use a pepper jack for more spice or mozzarella for a milder flavor. You can also sprinkle some cheese on top of the muffins the last two minutes in the oven.