A Pretty Little Snack: Dairy-Free Blueberry Corn Muffins

Pin It

I made these little beauties for a group of friends who came over the evening after I got back to London from Thanksgiving – in other words, I made these muffins, and the other snacks I'd promised (thank god for truffle salt and hardboiled eggs) in a haze of jetlag and exhaustion after a full day of work. 

I wasn't expecting much from them; I threw the ingredients together based loosely on a basic muffin recipe and the random ingredients we had in our cupboard, and I was more than a little worried that they'd turn out strange.  But lo and behold, they came out looking fabulous (if I do say so meself)!

And they tasted pretty good too, although I did think they were a bit dry and would probably have benefited from some butter and milk/buttermilk in the mix.  But they needed to be dairy-free, and for a dairy-free corn-based muffin I was pretty pleased – these muffins were less sweet than the usual corn muffin, so even though they should technically be a breakfast food they were savory enough to serve as an evening snack.  The blueberries gave them a burst of juicy sweetness and the corn was dense enough to make them filling without them sinking to the bottom of your stomach like a yellow rock.

I've put the recipe below, with dairy substitutions in parentheses.  If you're not allergic to dairy, I definitely recommend using it, and if you're making them dairy-free but serving them to a mixed crowd (as I was), a little honey butter on the side would be a welcome addition (I didn't have time to make any – didn't even have time to peel my eggs! – but I will next time).

Dairy-Free Blueberry Corn Muffins:

Preheat oven to 400F/205C and line a muffin pan.

In a large bowl, combine:

     3/4 c cornmeal

     1 c flour

     2.5 tsp baking powder

     1/4 c sugar

     1/2 tsp salt

Stir the dry ingredients, and then make a well in the middle and combine:

     2 eggs

     3/4 c water (sub milk or buttermilk)

     1/2 c oil (sub 113g melted butter)

Stir just until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet, and then stir in:

     1/2 c dried blueberries

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 15-20 minutes (you don't want to overbake these or they'll dry right out), until golden.  Serve warm with honey butter for the dairy tolerant!