Musing about muffins made with as many locally grown food ingredients as possible in the winter, I whipped these up. Our local co-op sells local flour and honey, and regionally-grown cornmeal, canola oil and milk, and local eggs and are readily available year round (though chickens slow down during a well-deserved winter vacation). Where olive oil is more of local/regional item, it would add a nice flavor variation, and would be excellent for a savory version.
To maximize the goodness:
- go organic – better for human and environmental health
- use as many local ingredients as possible – maximize flavor, support neighboring farms & local economies, preserve farmland
- use bulk ingredients – save money and eliminate packaging waste
Corn Honey Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup organic cornmeal
- 1 ¾ cup organic flour (2:1 white-wheat ratio works well)
- ½ to 3/4 cup unrefined sugar or coconut palm sugar ( I used a blend of Big Tree Farms Heritage ginger and SweetTree vanilla coconut palm sugars) (use ¾ cup if you want sweeter muffins)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbl baking powder
- 2 organic, free range eggs
- 1 1/4 c organic milk or tap water
- 3/4 cup organic canola oil
- 3/8 cup favorite local, organic honey or Big Tree Farms honey (cinnamon, vanilla, jungle, etc.)
Directions
- Mix dry ingredients (cornmeal through baking powder)
- Preheat oven to 350 F (save energy by not preheating unnecessarily early)
- Beat eggs in separate bowl and mix in 1 cup milk or water
- Pour egg mixture into dry ingredients, add honey and oil, and blend until mixed (You can add oil and honey to the egg mixture before adding to the dry ingredients but clean up is easier if you add the honey and oil to the dry ingredients using a ¼ cup measure, then use that to put batter in the pans.)
- Gently mix in extra water or milk if needed (depends on grind of cornmeal)
- Pour into muffin cups, filling 2/3 full (or pour into other baking pan accordingly)
- Sprinkle with organic rolled oats and sugar
- Bake 20-25 min at 350 degrees F (bake longer for a loaf pan, etc.), or until knife inserted into center comes clean
