LEMONY ROSEMARY-CORN MINI MUFFINS

I once tested a Texas chef’s truly delicious recipe for lemon-cornmeal cookies flecked with rosemary. It had more than twenty ingredients, used three appliances, and took eight hours. To re-create the flavor without all the fuss, I developed these quick corn muffins. The maple syrup makes them taste like breakfast, but they’re great any time of day.

TIP: Use the freshest corn you can find here. Frozen corn ends up chewy, and old fresh corn has tough, tasteless kernels. Buy from a local farm stand to get lightly crisp, extra-sweet kernels.

makes 3 dozen

no nuts

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F. Coat 36 mini muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the corn and rosemary and toss until the corn is evenly coated. Combine the milk, oil, maple syrup, and egg in a medium bowl. Zest the lemon into the mixture, then squeeze 1 tablespoon juice from the lemon and add to the bowl. Whisk until well blended. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Fold gently just until all the dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups; the cups will be almost full. Top with rosemary leaves, if you’d like.

3. Bake until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a center muffin comes out clean, about 15 minutes.

4. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Carefully slide a small offset spatula or knife between each muffin and the pan to pop the muffins out. Cool on the rack until warm or at room temperature.

MAKE AHEAD

The muffins are best the day they’re made but will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.