Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery makes some of the best muffins around! This recipe for their corn muffins is sheer perfection. These tender morsels are full of sweet corn kernels for added texture and flavor. Get bakery quality corn muffins in your kitchen with minimal effort with this simple recipe.
(This recipe was originally published in October 2014, but was updated with new photos and content in 2021).
These corn muffins are incredibly moist due to the fact that the batter is made at least a day in advance. This gives the flour (and in this case cornmeal also) time to really absorb some of the liquid and soften before baking, yielding very tender-crumbed muffins.
These bakery style corn muffins aren't too sweet, making them perfect for either savory or sweet applications. You could easily add a little jalapeno and grated cheddar to the mix to make them even more savory, but they really are perfect just as they are. I love having extra little bites of corn in there too.
Ingredient notes
- Cornmeal: Cornmeal ranges in texture from fine to medium and coarse, and even stone-ground. For these corn muffins you should aim to use fine or medium grind cornmeal for optimal texture. If there is no label on the package distinguishing its grind, assume it's either fine or medium. Stone-ground cornmeal is also fine and will likely have some varying texture throughout.
- Milk: You can use whole milk or buttermilk for these muffins. I've made it both ways and it will be delicious regardless. The buttermilk provides a bit of tang, and if you have leftover buttermilk hanging around your fridge this is a good opportunity to use it.
- Oil: This recipe uses neutral oil such as canola or vegetable oil in place of butter. This makes mixing the batter a breeze—no electric mixer necessary.
- Frozen Corn: If your frozen corn is a bit icy, make sure you put the kernels in a strainer and run some cool water over them to melt/thaw the corn before mixing in. You don't want the ice melting into your batter and ruining your muffins.
How to make it
Whisk together the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the milk and eggs until just combined. Slowly pour in the oil while whisking until smooth.
Use a rubber spatula to fold in the corn. Transfer the batter to a covered container and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 36 hours.
Line either a standard muffin pan with 12 muffin papers or line a jumbo muffin pan with 6 jumbo muffin papers. Spoon the batter evenly into the papers (I recommend an ice cream scoop for portioning), stopping ½ inch from the top (135 grams each for jumbo muffins and about half that for standard muffins).
Bake until the muffins are golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool completely.
These corn muffins are best the day they are baked, but they can be wrapped individually in a few layers of plastic wrap or stored in a single layer in a covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 week.
Expert tips
Although the original recipe from Bouchon Bakery uses an electric mixer to make the corn muffin batter, I absolutely don't think it's necessary in this particular case. Since you don't need to cream any butter, you can easily make this batter by hand and save yourself from lugging your mixer out from wherever it may be stored!
For true bakery style muffins you can make these as jumbo muffins, but I prefer to bake smaller standard size ones for better portion control. This recipe will work great for either size.
The frozen corn really adds a bit of texture to this recipe, but you can easily omit it if you don't have any. I wouldn't use canned corn as a replacement.
These muffins are slightly sweet but have a neutral enough flavor that they would be great as an accompaniment to savory dishes like chili, barbecue anything, fried chicken, or even your Thanksgiving turkey. I have also used leftover Bouchon Bakery corn muffins to make cornbread stuffing with excellent results.
Other recipes you may like
- Bouchon Bakery Banana Muffins
- Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins
- Bouchon Bakery Blueberry Muffins
- Sarabeth's Pumpkin Muffins
- Plum Almond Muffins
- Honey Butter Glazed Cornbread
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Bouchon Bakery Corn Muffins
Ingredients
- 201 grams (1 ¼ cups + 3 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 135 grams (½ cup + 3 tablespoons) granulated sugar
- 51 grams (⅓ cup) yellow cornmeal
- 12 grams (2 ½ teaspoons) baking powder
- 7.2 grams (2 ½ teaspoons) kosher salt (preferably Diamond Crystal brand for correct weight/volume conversion—if using Morton kosher salt reduce to 1 ½ teaspoons to yield approximately the same weight)
- 168 grams (⅔ cup) whole milk or buttermilk
- 90 grams (¼ cup + 2 tablespoons) eggs (about 2 large eggs)
- 90 grams (¼ cup + 2 ½ tablespoons) canola or vegetable oil
- 72 grams (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) frozen corn kernels
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the milk and eggs and whisk until just combined. Slowly pour in the oil while whisking until smooth.
- Use a rubber spatula to fold in the corn. Transfer the batter to a covered container and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 36 hours.
- To bake the muffins: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line either a standard muffin pan with 12 muffin papers or line a jumbo muffin pan with 6 jumbo muffin papers.
- Spoon the batter evenly into the papers (I use an ice cream scoop), stopping ½ inch from the top (135 grams each for jumbo muffins and about half that for standard muffins).
- Place the pan in the oven, lower the temperature to 325°F, and bake for 35 to 38 minutes for jumbo muffins or 24 to 26 minutes for standard muffins, until the muffins are golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool completely.
- The muffins are best the day they are baked, but they can be wrapped individually in a few layers of plastic wrap or stored in a single layer in a covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Although the original recipe from Bouchon Bakery uses an electric mixer to make the corn muffin batter, I absolutely don't think it's necessary in this particular case. Since you don't need to cream any butter, you can easily make this batter by hand and save yourself from lugging your mixer out from wherever it may be stored!
- For true bakery style muffins you can make these as jumbo muffins, but I prefer to bake smaller standard size ones. This recipe will work great for either size. The nutritional info is based on a standard sized muffin. Double it for a jumbo sized muffin.
- The frozen corn really adds a bit of texture to this recipe, but you can easily omit it if you don't have any. I wouldn't use canned corn as a replacement.
- These muffins are slightly sweet but have a neutral enough flavor that they would be great as an accompaniment to savory dishes like chili, barbecue anything, fried chicken, or even your Thanksgiving turkey. I have also used leftover Bouchon Bakery corn muffins to make cornbread stuffing with excellent results.
- For scooping the muffin batter I use this Oxo ice cream scoop which is a #12 size, with a 2 ½ fluid ounce capacity. A slightly scant scoop of this size is a good amount for a standard muffin cup.
- I have tested the kosher salt conversion MULTIPLE times for this recipe using my digital scale and it is correct. It may vary if you use different brands of kosher salt because the size of the crystals may vary. I use Diamond Crystal brand (the same that Bouchon Bakery uses), and ¼ teaspoon of this brand of kosher salt is 0.7 grams. Other brands of kosher salt like Morton weigh differently. According to the Morton kosher salt box ¼ teaspoon of their salt weighs 1.2 grams. This would convert to 1 ½ teaspoons for the same weight. As you can see different brands can vary greatly. This is why weighing your ingredients will always be the most accurate way to bake.
- Adapted from Bouchon Bakery
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
These are the best corn muffins I have ever made. Borders on dessert level.