After watching Priscilla, I pulled out the Elvis cookbook Are You Hungry Tonight? and landed on his blueberry corn muffin recipe -- or more accurately, his cook's recipe. My own muffin recipe is similar, so I thought it would be fun to bake my version vs. Elvis's to see which one we liked best.
Different Amounts of Baking Soda
The two corn muffins recipes are very similar on paper, but with some seemingly small differences. Mine calls for ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, while Elvis's calls for a full teaspoon. Neither calls for baking powder, which is partially what makes them special. They're not as light and fluffy as muffins with baking powder, and tend to be crumbly.
So how do the recipes compare -- ¼ teaspoon soda vs. 1 full teaspoon? While both recipes are good, they bake up quite differently. My muffins (pictured above) are lighter in color, softer and crumbly, while the Elvis muffins (first photo) rise higher and are darker in color. We did a taste test and I hate to say it, but we picked the Elvis muffins with the full teaspoon of baking soda. So I combined Elvis's amount of baking soda with my baking method -- 425 for 5 minutes, then drop the heat to 375 and bake for about 14 to 17 more minutes.
Muffins With Crispy Edges and Ridges
Like Elvis, these muffins have some charisma. Bake them without papers in a well-greased muffin pan and the batter will push up and away from the sides, forming crisp edges and those signature ridges with a little moat around the top. When baked in papers, they're brown with rounded tops. I like the textural contrast of the paper-free muffins, plus if grease with salted butter you get a hit of that too.
More Notes on Making Elvis Style Muffins
Cornmeal -- Here in the south we have a pretty vast selection of cornmeal, and our muffins are different from place to place based on the type of cornmeal used. Any medium cornmeal should work. Lately I've been using a water ground type which has more corn flavor than most stone ground.
Oil -- Oil gives the muffins crispy edges. The old Elvis recipe calls for corn oil, so you can use that if you like more golden colored muffins (and want to keep the corn theme going). I typically use ¾ sunflower oil or ½ cup oil and ¼ cup melted butter.
Baking Soda -- My usual blueberry corn muffin recipe calls for only ¼ teaspoon, which gives a cleaner flavor, more controlled rise. The Elvis recipe calls for a full teaspoon, so the muffins bake up taller and darker, with a little more lingering baking soda flavor.
Baking Temperature -- Elvis Presley's muffins say to bake at 425F for 20 minutes. In some ovens that might work perfectly. I prefer starting in a 425 oven and dropping the heat to 375 or just baking at an even 400F.
Salt -- Go as low as ½ teaspoon of salt if you'd like, or bump it to ¾ teaspoon, which is my preference.
Recipe
Blueberry Corn Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups cornmeal, (160 grams)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (130 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- ¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar (50 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt (I use ¾)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup vegetable or corn oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla (optional)
- 1 ¼ cups fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease 12 muffins cups generously and skip the muffin papers or line with paper liners and grease just around the top.
- Mix the dry ingredients (cornmeal through salt) in a mixing bowl. In a second bowl or in a large glass measure, whisk together the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla If using).
- Pour the egg mixture into the dry mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in the drained, dried, blueberries.
- Divide the batter equally among the muffins cups (it will come almost to the top).
- Bake at 425 degrees F for 6 minutes, then drop the heat to 375 and bake for another 14 or 15 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.
Liz says
I made these over the weekend. Yum!
P.S. I only used 1/2 c of oil and substituted 1/4 c applesauce for the missing oil. The muffins were moist and delicious.
Mackenzie@The Caramel Cookie says
I love the crunchy tops of muffins! They are by far the best part :). These sound like the perfect muffin for me.
d.liff @ yelleBELLYboo says
Corn and Blueberry and my favorite muffins - I would love to combine the two! The tops look caramelized and wonderful!!!
carolina says
They sound great! I also love muffin tops... You think I can use polenta to make these?
Linda says
I think I'll try these this weekend, they look delicious! I usually make corn muffins into mini muffins, do you think these would work well as mini muffins? Thanks for the recipe!!
jess☆ says
Ohhh what an interesting idea, I've never thought to use cornmeal for a muffin... they look beautiful and crunchy on the outside though, yum!
Anna says
Darlene, that's interesting. I'd like to see that article.
Katrina, I made 1/2 batch and am pretty sure 1/4 would work.
Gloria, frozen berries would be fine.
Adam, these are super moist. The grind I used was whatever was in the bulk bin so I guess it was kind of fine but not super fine. It was less coarse than polenta, but not as fine as when I grind the corn flour myself.
Adam says
I'm not the biggest muffin top fan (I like warm centers) but the people in my house don't even know about this recipe and I can hear them swooning over it :). Definitely going to be a big hit around here.
What grind cornmeal did you use (I would assume fine)?
Gloria says
These look yummy! I still have frozen blueberries from last summer...wonder if they would work?
Katrina says
I'm sure I would like those, I've been liking everything baked with cornmeal. Unfortunately, no one else around here likes cornmeal. I could try a 1/4 of the recipe though!
Darlene says
I love the crunchy tops of muffins, and always eat the less desirable (for me) bottom first and save the delicious top to eat last. I once read an article that said you can tell a lot about a person's personality by the way they eat muffins or cupcakes. I think I would be classified as a non-spontaneous person who believes in delayed gratification.
Fallon says
Yummy! I love corn muffins/ bread anything. The top looks amazing. You could probably add any fruit in these muffins and it be delicious.
natalie (the sweets life) says
ooh perfect, I have way too much cornmeal on my hands right now!! 🙂
holly says
Oooh I want to try these!!! They sound scrumptious!!:)