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.
7.2grams(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)
168grams(⅔ cup) whole milk or buttermilk
90grams(¼ cup + 2 tablespoons) eggs(about 2 large eggs)
90grams(¼ cup + 2 ½ tablespoons) canola or vegetable oil
72grams(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.