Blueberry Cornbread Mini-Muffins (Pioneer Woman)

We like...

blueberry...
corn...
mini things...
muffins...
fast...
easy...
kid-friendly...

These are all the nice things in this Pioneer Woman's Blueberry Cornbread Mini-Muffins recipe, so why aren't we baking these? Why not? No reason, of course!

The only thing that we didn't like is the use of shortening in this recipe and so I have replaced it with butter. After baking these, I think Ree is very clever creating this recipe by deconstructing a typical corn bread into bite-size muffins. These country-style muffins can be super-addictive and fun to eat. Within a minute, my son and I each can eat four of these...

Besides using dried blueberries, we have baked a batch of these muffins with dried cranberries and all are delicious. If you like dried fruits like us, you might like this idea of eating dried fruits being a major component of these muffins as these not-too-sweet muffins are great to contrast, compliment and highlight the natural sweetness of added dried fruits.

Typically, most corn breads require substantial amount of added fat to keep them moist and fresh but each of these mini corn muffins contains 1.6g of added butter and less than 1g of added sugar. I reckon that it must be the high content of dried fruits in these muffins that helps to keep the muffins moist and delicious. Ree recommended eating these with vanilla butter and we prefer to eat these just on their own.

So why aren't you baking these?... LOL!

Lots of cornbread mini-muffins

My son said that mixing these is easy!

Can't be easier than this?

Only 12 minutes to bake...

Munch! ... yummy blueberries!

My son loves these dried cranberries ones more...

Here's the recipe from Pioneer Woman
(with my modification and notes in blue)

1 cup (160g) yellow corn meal
1/2 cup (75g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp baking soda
(I didn't add this)
1 egg
1/4 cup shortening, melted
(replaced with 60g melted butter)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8 ounces dried blueberries
(I made 29 muffins with 200g dried blueberries and used 40g of dried cranberries to make 8 muffins)

Preheat oven to 400°F (or 180°C fan forced). Combine corn meal, flour, salt, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, egg, and baking soda ( I didn't add this). Stir to combine. Add melted shortening (or butter), stirring constantly. Add vanilla extract, then stir in dried blueberries (you can use a little more or a little fewer if you'd like.) (I took out about 1/4 of batter before adding dried blueberries and add dried cranberries into it)

Pour into a greased mini-muffin pan, trying to make sure blueberries (and cranberries) stay evenly distributed. Bake for 10 mins or so, or until golden brown. I bake mine for 12 mins.

We prefer to eat these muffins on their own and omit the vanilla butter. Please refer to the original recipe for details of making Ree's vanilla butter.

Happy Baking
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