Rosemary Cheddar Cornbread Muffins #MuffinMonday

A great cheesy, savory muffin flavored with fresh rosemary and extra sharp cheddar that is perfect as a snack or for breakfast.

I was in Providence, Rhode Island this week, baking in my elder daughter’s kitchen.  First I went to the grocery store and fondled the fresh yeast, whispering to the tiny foil-wrapped cubes that I would be back next week for Spring Break.  And I bought rosemary, cornmeal and sharp cheddar cheese for this week’s #MuffinMonday.  Our required ingredient is rosemary, one of my favorite herbs and, surprise! I decided to go savory with this one.  Yeah, I know, not so surprising if you’ve been reading along here for a while.

As an expat parent, I have missed every milestone in our daughters’ university journeys beyond the emotional drop off at the beginning of their first semester the first year.  (And their father wasn’t even able to make that.)  We have missed Parent Weekend for four years now and we get all of our news via email and Skype without the benefit of occasional weekend visits to touch base or help with laundry or cook for them or love on them in person.

I close their bedroom doors for the first few weeks after they leave home to start a new semester because it makes the separation more bearable.  I pretend they are still at home, just out with friends for an evening.  So, as you might imagine, it was our distinct joy to attend the opening reception of our elder daughter’s Senior Show at Rhode Island School of Design last week.  We are proud of the beautiful, passionate young lady she has grown into and have complete faith that she will continue to be the talented, caring, hardworking artist that she has always been.  And that is success enough for us.

Our sweet talented young lady. You can see more of her artwork here. 

Victoria's current obsession (and I don't think she would disagree with my use of that word) is typography.
This is one wall of her portion of the show and includes (on the right) a textface or font she created. It's called Sylvia, after Sylvia Plath and is perfect when you need to express deep emotion. Or just good taste. 

She and her roommates (and a good friend from KL who had come in from Boston for the show - Hi, Aeden!) enjoyed these muffins for breakfast the day after.  They went quickly.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 260g yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 cups or 190g all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups or 355ml milk
1 egg
1/2 cup or 120ml canola oil, plus a little extra for greasing the muffin tin
8 oz or 230g extra sharp cheddar or other strong cheese
3-4 long sprigs fresh rosemary (about one tablespoon minced, plus some extra leaves for decoration)

Method
Preheat oven to 375°F or 190°C and prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by oiling the inside of each cup, using a pastry brush dipped in a little canola oil.

Grate half of your cheese and cube the remainder.  Remove the leaves from the rosemary stalks and reserve a small amount for decoration.  Mince the remaining rosemary leaves and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add in the grated cheddar and minced rosemary and stir well.

In another bowl, whisk milk, egg and oil.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix well.

Fold in the cubed cheddar and divide the batter between the greased muffin cups.

Sprinkle on the reserved rosemary leaves.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden.  Some of the cheese may melt out, but just scrape it off the pan with a knife and eat directly.  This is a perk of being the baker.

Cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove to a metal rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

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