Breakfast, lunch or dinner, more-often-than-not, a corn muffin or wedge of cornbread is a welcome addition to the table. Served hot or warm slathered with butter and/or a drizzle of honey, puts it over-the-top. That said, while corn muffins and cornbread are easy enough to make from scratch (if you use enough yellow cornmeal on a regular basis to justify keeping a bag in your pantry), there is a popular and inexpensive way to speed the process up and still produce a seriously-delightful loaf of this beloved Southern staple. It's called Jiffy corn muffin mix, and, at 59-ish cents a box, it's the hands down preferred brand amongst us card-carrying cheaters.
When the end justifies the means, I'm all for shortcuts.
Jiffy corn muffin mix-- a staple in my pantry for over 40 years:
1 8 1/2-ounce box Jiffy corn muffin mix
4 tablespoon salted butter, melted (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup buttermilk, shaken prior to measuring for proper consistency
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 14 1/2-ounce can fire-roasted corn kernels, well-drained
1 4-ounce can fire-roasted green chiles, well-drained (optional but highly-recommended)
2 tablespoons sugar
no-stick cooking spray, for preparing casserole
~ Step 1. Spray a 2-quart casserole with no-stick cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350º. Open the fire-roasted corn kernels and optional fire-roasted chiles, drain the excess water from both, then, empty the contents of both onto a plate that has been lined with two-three layers of paper towels. Set aside so veggies can drain thoroughly.
~Step 2. Place butter in a 1-cup measuring container and melt in microwave. Stir the sugar into the butter, then, after gently-shaking the container of buttermilk (to make sure the buttermilk is an even consistency throughout), stir 1/2 cup buttermilk into the melted butter-sugar mixture. Transfer to a large bowl.
~Step 3. Crack the eggs into the same 1-cup measuring container and use a fork to lightly-beat them. Add to the buttermilk mixture and use a rubber spatula to thoroughly incorporate the eggs.
~Step 4. Add, fold, and thoroughly incorporate well-drained corn and chiles into the buttermilk-egg mixture. Add the box of corn muffin mix and fold again, until thoroughly incorporated.
~ Step 5. Transfer the mixture to prepared casserole dish. Bake on centre rack of preheated 350° oven about 30 minutes, or, until puffed through to the center and a cake tester inserted into two-three spots in the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool about 15 minutes prior to serving warm, or, cool completely, about 1 hour, to serve at room temperature.
Slice while warm or at room temperature:
Go ahead, take that first taste. You'll be wowed:
It's full of flavor, cornbread crumbly, &, delightfully moist:
In a Jiffy-Mix Delicious Cornbread w/Green Chiles: Recipe yields 8-10 servings.
Special Equipment List: paper towels; 1-cup measuring container; fork; large rubber spatula; 2-quart casserole; wire cooling rack; cake tester or toothpick
Cook's Note: How seriously does one take their cornbread recipe? I take mine very seriously, but, I'm not proclaiming it the best recipe. Why? If I walked into a room full of people right now and struck up a conversation about cornbread, the cornbread lovers would all chime in unision, "I have the absolute best recipe and I'd be happy to share it with you." If there were a Southerner or two in the room with us Yankees, there'd be a lecture about Southern cornbread being the only "real" cornbread. The discussion would revolve around the rights and wrongs of cornbread baking, and, Northern- vs. Southern-style cornbread. With one or two minor deviations, I classify my ~ Triple-Corn Jalapeño Corn-Muffins ~ as Southern.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos Courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2021)
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