i think i may have found it...

the most delicious cornbread muffin recipe EVER!

If you are like me every once in a while you get cravings for cornbread muffins. And also, if your like me, when you eat a cornbread muffin, the romantic idea of that muffin is quickly replaced by the reality - that it's a little dry or a little bland and usually leaves you wanting.
Well - I think I found the perfect recipe for delicious cornbread muffins. I made it up, it's a hybrid of two recipes I found. This recipe is pretty simple, it's pretty healthy'ish, and I was able to make it with ingredients I already had in my kitchen - 3 things that make a dish A-ok in my book. And on top of all the other pluses, these muffins are full of flavor and taste REALLY good. I was so excited about it that I wanted to post the recipe, just in case there was someone else out there looking for the perfect cornbread muffin recipe.

*WARNING: the red pepper flakes give these muffins a kick, so if you can't handle the heat you best get out the kitchen dawg!* (translation: if you don't want your muffins to be spicy, cut back on the amount of the pepper flakes or omit them all together:))

Bestest Cornbread Muffins:
1 c. flour
1 c. yellow cornmeal
1/4 c. sugar (you can use a sugar substitute if you want)
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. oil
1 c. small curd cottage cheese
1 c. shredded cheese (you can use whatever cheese you want, i used havarti, cheddar would also be good)
1 tsp. dried thyme

in a large bowl mix together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking, powder, salt and pepper flakes. Whisk together egg, milk, oil and cottage cheese in a separate bowl. Pour liquid mixture over dry ingredients and stir lightly, using no more than 15 to 20 strokes to mix. Coat 12 muffin cups with vegetable oil spray. Fill each muffin cup 1/2 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Let muffins rest in pan for 3 to 5 minutes then move to a wire rack.

--I paired the muffins with split pea soup because I already had the soup made when I invented the muffins, but I think a more perfect match would be something with a Southwestern flare like black bean soup or chili. You could also top these with jalapeno pepper jelly if you really want to blow your taste buds out of this world. I hope you like these as much as I did.


Happy Fall Baking!