Cornbread Muffins Get A Moist, Creamy Flavor Boost When You Add This To The Middle

Muffins are an excellent alternative format for the cornbread that's often made in something like a larger skillet. Muffin tins give you more opportunities for deliciously crispy edges per serving, and cornbread is just easier to portion out this way since you don't have to do any crummy slicing. Muffins can also be an easier vehicle for tasty additions, including the cream cheese centers that can take your cornbread from good to great. Seriously, try eyeballing dollops of cream cheese into your cornbread muffins, and see how well that works out. You can even include the cream cheese just as successfully whether you're baking from scratch or upgrading boxed cornbread.

Once you've snuggled the cornbread batter of your preference into the muffin tin cups, you can simply drop a heaping teaspoon of your favorite cream cheese into each one. Greasing the spoon with neutral oil can help keep the cream cheese from sticking to the utensil. You can also dice similarly-sized cubes with a sharp knife if you're using a block like Tillamook, our top-ranked cream cheese, instead of a tub. It's the amount that counts, and a teaspoon's worth will sink into the muffin for a slightly tart surprise once you've finished baking the batch according to your recipe or box's instructions. The cream cheese will also give the crumbly cornbread a creamy richness and a soft, almost cheesecake-like center. It's really as simple as that. You don't need anything further to create these extra-special, cream cheese-filled cornbread muffins, but that doesn't mean that you can't experiment further!

You may want to sweeten the cream cheese before you add it to the batter, depending on how you plan to use the muffins. A tablespoon of sugar per two or so ounces of cream cheese should bring them to the dessertier side. You'll just want to thoroughly mix it together for the sugar to evenly distribute throughout the cream cheese, and thus also be equally divided between the muffins. You can also try the same ratio with that classic cornbread companion, honey, to taste. Some canned blueberries will sweeten the deal further and make your preparation seem a little more like something that came from the bakery.

You also, of course, have plenty of savory cream cheese-filled cornbread muffin options. Jalapeños, for example, are a pretty classic combination, and you can mix a couple of the chopped and diced peppers right into the cream cheese. Cooked bacon practically crumbles itself into the bowl, too, and that pork, jalapeño, and cream cheese will make for a delicious trio. Serranos and chorizo will have a similarly hot, protein-forward effect. The options are so limitless you'll want to break out these babies even when you aren't just trying to come up with ways to use up leftover cream cheese. Who knows, you might like them enough that you never have leftover cream cheese again.