Up next on the Baked schedule… Lemon Pistachio Cornmeal Muffins! Posting date is January 20th. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1/2 cup pistachios, divided
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Zest of 1/2 lemon
3 ounces (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
In the bowl of of a food processor, pulse the pistachios until they are coarsely chop. Remove 1/4 cup cup of the coarse pistachios and set aside. Continue to process the rest of the pistachios until they are almost powdery but not a superfine dust.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray each cup of a standard 12-cup muffin pan with a little bit of vegetable spray and use a paper towel to spread the oil evenly along the bottom and sides of each cup.
In a medium bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter and whisk again until combined. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, the powdery (not the coarse) pistachios, salt, and baking powder. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, pour the wet ingredients into the well, and fold the dry into the wet until just mixed.
Fill each muffin cup about three quarters full. Sprinkle the tops with the coarse pistachios and tap the bottom of the pan against the counter to level the batter. Bale for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 – 15 minutes. Pop the muffins out while they’re still warm, and serve immediately.
Leftover muffins will keep, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 36 hours.
Excerpted from Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copyright © 2012 by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Excerpted by permission of Stewart, Tabori & Chang, an imprint of Abrams. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Liz says
Looking forward to these! Does anyone know if it should be unsalted or salted pistachios?
SandraM says
I’m pretty sure you’d want to use unsalted, as the salted would make the muffins really salty.
Erin Star says
Hey all! Unsalted pistachios definitely. I just made these and HIGHLY recommend following the note in the book about pan frying in browned butter….SO worth skipping dinner for!
Erin Star says
Also…it makes your kitchen smell wonderful! :)
Yael Even says
These sound yummy!
Linda says
I’m excited about these. I think we’ll make them tonight.
Linda says
Oh, my. I used salted (and peppered) pistachios, but I left the salt out of the batter. DELISH!
Margot says
I made these when I first bought the book and loved them. I can’t wait to make them again this weekend!
Mark says
Are these still pretty good without the pistachios? I’m not a huge fan and wonder if the pistachios make a huge difference.
Liz says
How about almonds instead? I haven’t made these yet, but I was thinking almonds would be really good with the lemon.
Mark says
Almonds would be awesome! I road-tested them with the pistachios after all, just to stick true to the initial recipe for the first time. They were okay. I wouldn’t make them again… and if I did, I definitely would swap out the pistachios. Yuck…
Chelly says
http://sweetabandon-starlily.blogspot.com/2013/01/lemon-pistachio-cornmeal-muffins-baked.html
Here is mine…sorry I am late….had to work today