Yummy Corn Muffins

Yesterday, a gloomy upstate New York day (gloomy because it had warmed up into the 20's) called for some baking.

There is nothing like baking to dispel gloom on a cold winter's day.  Baking helps heat up the house.  It gets you on your feet and the aroma of baking makes a house smell like a home.

Next to chocolate, one of my favorite foods is corn muffins.

Because I am back on the full Weight Watchers diet to get rid of late year weight gain, I decided to bake one of my favorites - corn muffins - but try a recipe that was supposed to be healthier.  I made a couple of substitutions, in turn, since my stomach doesn't like spicy food that much. 

This recipe is dairy free, but is not vegan nor is it gluten free.  Also, it is written in American measurements; with apologies to my metric blogging friends I didn't try to convert this.  From what I've read (although I could be wrong) corn may be less popular overseas than it is in the States.

This recipe is on the Weight Watchers public website.  Here it is, with my modifications below.

Almond Milk Corn Muffins
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup almond milk
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1 tbsp honey (I used local dark, but you could use any honey)
1 4 3/4 oz can chopped mild chilies (if you want heat, use hot chilis)
1 c canned corn kernels, drained (creamed would be interesting, too)

Method (you will need two bowls)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray, or use oil, or paper liners.

Mix cornmeal, flower, baking powder, salt in one bowl ("dry" ingredients).

In the other bowl, whisk the almond milk, egg, oil, honey ("wet" ingredients) until combined.

Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just enough to wet everything.  Do NOT overbeat.
Gently stir the chilis and corn kernels into the batter.
Spoon mixture into the muffin tins, filling about 3/4 full.

Bake about 18-19 minutes or until done. (toothpick will come out clean)

Let cool.  Serve warm, or at room temperature.  In the old days, I would always eat corn muffins with butter - no more.  But you are more than welcome to.

So, how did I like these?

They are a bit less sweet than commercial muffins tend to be.  But, I liked them.  Then again, I've been eating the Weight Watchers way for over two years now, so my taste buds have adjusted to this style of cooking.  My husband felt they were a little underbaked (although they were browning, and came out clean with a toothpick), so you may want to watch the time in the oven carefully.

Do you have a favorite way of making corn muffins?