Mieliepap (cornmeal) with eggs, turkey bacon, and cheese

Mieliepap is a South African breakfast dish of cooked cornmeal.  If I had a category for comfort food, this would definitely be in it.  It's warm and soft, a little sweet and a little savory.  And there's cheese and salty, smoked meat.  I served it drizzled with maple syrup.  Reading through the recipe, I thought it was going to be a rich, heavy, meal-in-a-bowl, and probably too greasy; it was nothing of the kind.  I hadn't anticipated the cornmeal would expand so much, turning the bacon and cheese into mild flavorings rather than substantial meal components.  In fact, I initially left the cheese out, but when I saw what a small proportion of cheese there was relative to cornmeal, I added it in.

The Joe Pastry web site has two entries for this recipe:  one with just the recipe (and some photos), and another that walks you through the steps, including photos along the way.  I followed just the recipe, since it seemed so simple, and was baffled why I didn't get the same results.  Then I found the step-by-step and could see the difference.  (I also think there might have been a little cheating with quantities to make the dish appear richer than it is-- more bacon, more cheese.)

I don't do pork, so I substituted smoked turkey leg.  I accidentally left out the baking soda.  I've modified the directions slightly to be more helpful and to simplify.  If you want this for breakfast, I recommend making the cornmeal mixture the night before, as it takes quite a while to cool if using a full cup.  Here's what I used:

1 cup cornmeal*
3/4 cup milk
2 cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 1 cup chopped slab bacon smoked turkey leg

2 eggs lightly beaten
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

maple syrup, for drizzling (optional) 

In a saucepan, combine the cornmeal, milk, buttermilk, butter, (sugar-- see below), honey, and salt, and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes until the mixture has thickened (like hot cereal); allow to cool enough so it won't cook the eggs. Meanwhile, slice the turkey meat thinly, then fry in some oil until lightly crisp; reserve half and fry the remainder to your liking.

 

Using the measuring cup used for the dairy, lightly beat the eggs, then add them to the cornmeal mixture along with the soda, the fully-crisped turkey, and half the cheese; stir to combine. Lightly butter an 8" cast iron skillet or an 8″ x 8″ pan. Spoon in the batter and bake at 375 for 20 minutes; remove from the oven and sprinkle on the rest of the cheese and reserved turkey bits. Bake another 10-15 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Scoop into bowls and drizzle with maple syrup.

Lots of issues with this recipe.  The first is that sugar is called for in the directions, but there is none listed in the ingredients.  It's probably 1-2 tablespoons, depending on your taste.  It's very mildly sweet with just the honey and no added sugar, and since I added syrup when serving, I was happy with the results.

*Pan size and baking times are cautionary: I feel confident there is an error in the amount of cornmeal-- it should probably be more like 1/2 cup. It's not fatal, but it has an impact. I thought I was making a meal, and what I got was really a tasty but very starchy, high glycemic, low nutrient side dish. Where to start? Well, the first clue was that he has you heat your oven at the start, but the cornmeal took at least 30 minutes to cool (maybe more like 45) and there's no need to be running an empty oven that long. Less cornmeal would have cooled faster. The next clue was that my cornmeal cooked up to be very thick, and continued to thicken into a solid mass as it cooled. His photos show a hot slurry and a cooled porridge. (He even states that this dish is like a cooked porridge or custard-- mine certainly was not.) My mixture was so thick, I don't think baking soda was going to add any lift to it, so it's just as well I left it out. His photos show a substantially higher percentage of mix-ins; mine were fairly sparse.  But the biggest affect was on baking time. Had I used an 8" skillet, it would have been filled to the very top, but his photos show the mixture coming up only about half way. I used an 8" x 3" casserole dish and filled it to about an inch from the top (whereas my skillet is only 1.75" deep.) This affected heating and evaporation and lengthened the cooking time. Even after an extra 30 minutes in the oven, I still wasn't getting a clean knife, but the cheese and crust had become very brown. I really only needed the egg to be cooked and it was certainly hot enough for that, so I took it out. The result was soft and scoopable while hot, but became very firm once cool. What I essentially ended up with was scrapple, which is fine, just not what I was expecting.

 

Because of how long it took for the pan of cornmeal to cool (yes, I could have spread it out on a sheet pan, but then that's more to wash, and there are already too many pans for this simple recipe) and then the extended baking time, this wasn't out of the oven until at least 2 hours after I'd started. That's too long to wait for breakfast! Especially when you're holding off drinking your coffee so you can have it with your meal. By the time I ate, I was so hungry I ate too much of it, and then felt guilty, and thus was forced to eat cabbage salad as the only other meal of the day, with a protein shake for dessert. "Yum", she says sarcastically.

If you want a warm dish of comfort, this is it. If you want a dish with more substance, reduce the cornmeal (or increase the mix-ins.) If you don't care what it looks like, you could probably cook the whole thing in one pan on the stove on low heat, stirring occasionally. Cooked grains are pretty forgiving-- you can mess with them to make them however you like. Use more liquid if you want it softer. Like scrapple, I've sliced my leftovers and am going to fry them up in a pan to heat and crisp.

Conclusion:  This had a surprising tartness, I guess from the buttermilk, that I didn't care for, although sourdough fans might love it.  (Perhaps the baking soda was included to temper that tartness.)  It was still good, but not something I'm likely to make again as is. I'm not diabetic, but I don't want to be either. Cornmeal has a very high glycemic index and it throws off my blood sugar, not really filling me up and leaving me hungry a short time later despite being high in calories. This would be great at brunch served on the side with a good protein and a salad.  Alternatively, if it truly were more like a baked cornmeal custard, that sounds delicious and a little more balanced.

Recipe:   Mieliepap (recipe) and Making Mieliepap (guidance) via Joe Pastry (MIA)

Spiced Rye Ginger Cookies

I'm not sure why I keep trying different ginger cookies-- it's not like I'm a huge fan of ginger, or even spice desserts for that matter.  I think I'm looking for a hearty breakfast cookie-- something not too sweet, that I can sink my teeth into, dip into my coffee, and not feel guilty about.  (This Breakfast Cookie didn't work out so well.)  To me, the basis for that is in whole grains for nutrition and character, and spices for flavor.  (My imaginary recipe would also keep well for days, long enough for me to work my way through them.)  So I was intrigued by the use of rye flour here.  I thought it would give the cookies some substance.  I'm sure it did, but I don't know if you'd be able to identify the rye without being told it was there, even though I used dark rye rather than medium.  The only other change I made was to roll them in Sucanat, which is unrefined, natural cane sugar.  It has a dry, dark brown grain with a soft crunch rather than hard crystals.  It's producing the grainy texture you see in the photo.

Here is the original recipe:

    2 cups (212g) medium rye flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon table salt
    2 teaspoons ginger
    3/4 teaspoon black pepper
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/2 teaspoon cardamom
    3/4 cup (149g) granulated sugar
    1/2 cup (99g) vegetable oil
    1 large egg
    1/4 cup (85g) molasses
    1/3 cup (76g) coarse sparkling sugar or 1/3 cup (66g) granulated sugar
    chopped crystalized ginger for topping (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, using either a hand whisk, an electric mixer, or a stand mixer, whisk the sugar and oil until combined. Add the egg and whisk until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and stir until well combined. Use a spoon (or a tablespoon cookie scoop) to portion 1 1/4" balls of dough. Roll the dough balls in granulated or sparkling sugar to coat before placing onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave 2" between them on all sides; they'll spread as they bake. Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until they're puffed and their edges are set. Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool completely right on the pan.

A keen eye will detect that I had a little trouble with these.  It looks like my oven might have been a bit too hot, causing them to rise and firm rather than melt into flat puddles like the King Arthur examples, with "bendy centers" as they called them.  The bigger issue was that I didn't know what they meant by the edges being "set".  When I first tested them, the edges were no longer shiny, but still quite soft.  By the time they were what I consider "set" (slightly resistant to a poke), they were overdone, and even slightly burnt on the bottom.  (I didn't bake them that much longer!)  I probably should have taken them out about 30 seconds after my first test.  Oh well.  That's how the cookie crumbles.

Conclusion:  These tasted a lot like ginger snaps, but with a mild burnt sugar flavor because of being over baked, which wasn't necessarily unpleasant. They were quite hard and crunchy, which is not how they were supposed to turn out. I enjoyed them well enough dipped in hot coffee, but they weren't anything special 

Recipe:  Spiced Rye Ginger Cookies via King Arthur Baking

Black Bread with Pecans, Raisins & Cranberries

I was looking for a decadent sweet dough to make when I came across this recipe in my files.  This didn't match what I was looking for at all, but I thought it might make a nice breakfast toast in the mean time.  I made it back in 2007 and didn't make note of any issues in the process; then again, I was more inclined to follow directions exactly as given back then.  (These days, I tend to go off script and then wonder why I have problems.)  In my notes, I recommended adding orange zest, which I've done here.  I also made mention of using half whole wheat flour in place of the bread flour; I made a similar substitution here.  However, I don't have bread flour, so I used Trader Joe's all-purpose flour, which has a higher protein content than standard AP.  I used up the last of some light rye flour, about 1/2 cup, and made up the rest with dark rye.  I also used about 1/2 cup of mild whey (left over from straining yogurt) in place of some of the water.

I'd consider this a sort of mock black bread in that it's not a sourdough.  I wondered why there is vinegar in the ingredients-- maybe to add sourness that would normally be provided by true sourdough?  Despite that, while the dough tasted a bit sour, the end result is not, which is okay by me.

Here's what I used:

1 envelope active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105 degrees F to 115 degrees F)

1½ cups rye flour

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour 

1¾ cup bread flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

2 tablespoons molasses

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1/2 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries

zest of 1 orange, finely grated 

1 large egg white

1 tablespoon old-fashioned rolled oats 

Proof the yeast in the warm water.  In a mixing bowl, whisk together the rye flour, white whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, and salt.   In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, white vinegar, molasses, sugar, and coffee powder to dissolve the coffee powder.   Add the butter mixture and the yeast into the flour mixture and stir to combine.  Stir in pecans, raisins, cranberries, and orange zest until mixed, then stir in the remaining 1 cup bread flour to make a soft dough.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes*, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking.  Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl; turn to evenly coat.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in warm place, away from drafts, about 1 hour or until doubled in volume.

Punch down dough and shape into a ball. Place on a greased baking sheet and cover with a towel.  Let rise in warm place, away from drafts, about 1 hour or until doubled in volume. 

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small cup, lightly beat the egg white with a fork. Brush top of dough with egg white, then sprinkle evenly with the rolled oats. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until browned and bread sounds hollow when tapped. Transfer bread to wire rack; let cool. Serve warm or completely cooled.

 

*Times were all much longer than called out in this recipe.  I used my stand mixer to knead the dough and it took about 30 minutes to reach window pane status.  The first rise took about 2 hours, and the second about 90 minutes.  (The loaf did experience oven spring while baking, as well.)

 

I added only about an extra 2 tablespoons of flour to the dough at the beginning of kneading.  I don't know if it was the added heaviness of the whole wheat flour, or because I used AP flour instead of bread flour, but I had trouble getting it "smooth and elastic".  I'd use a bit of high gluten flour if available to give the heavy rye and wheat flours a little help and reduce kneading time.

During the final shaping, the dough tends to pull away from the fruit, especially the cranberries (because they're glazed), so it might be helpful to give them a light coating of flour before mixing in.  Otherwise, I pulled the dough over to cover any exposed fruit.

I used a small Romertopf clay baker (9.5" x 6.5"), so I let the dough do its second rise as a vague loaf shape on a piece of parchment in a separate pan.  I soaked the top and bottom of the clay baker in water for about 15 minutes, then placed both in the cold oven to preheat.

I was aware of a fair amount of added acid in this recipe, not only in the molasses, coffee, and vinegar called for, but also the whey that I used (in place of water-- a very mild whey, not sour.)  In researching what affect acid has on yeast dough, I found this on The Fresh Loaf:  "[I]n rye breads, acidity matters a lot. Rye bread structure doesn't depend on gluten but on a viscous gel made of water and complex carbs (polysaccharides). The amylases degrade the complex carbs, turning them into simple sugars and causing the rye breads to become dense and gummy."  So, two thoughts:  1) maybe I didn't have to knead the dough to the windowpane stage; and 2) what affect, if any, did the whey have on the bread?  I wouldn't have called the bread gummy, but I thought it could have used another 5 minutes or so in the oven.  I baked it at 425 for about 30 minutes.  I would have left it a bit longer except when I checked, the sides were turning black.  (Now I think that was something on the baker causing them to burn, because it was only in spots.)

Conclusion:  Very good.  The crumb (and crust) is dense but soft, and the flavor delicate.  No specific flavor comes through, but they all blend together with only the occasional sweet tang of a bit of fruit and a light floral note from the orange peel.  This is not a fruit-heavy bread so, if the yeast is strong enough, it could easily accept more fruit and nuts, up to a cup of each.

Recipe:  Black Bread with Pecans, Raisins & Cranberries via Family Circle magazine

Blueberry Muffins V

 My obsession with the perfect blueberry muffin continues.  This is the fifth installment (hence the "V").  That said, this effort was a FAIL, by my fault alone.  I don't know how many times I have to tell myself NOT to try baking first thing in the morning, but I did it again.  And I made mistakes.  Mistakes that dramatically affected the outcome.  So I can't give a fair assessment of this recipe at this point.  (Some day I'll remake it, properly, and update this page.)

I was really excited about this recipe, not only because I know the author really does her research, but because also it uses only a small amount of milk (which meant they wouldn't be too soft and delicate) and because the batter was very thick and you're encourage to pile it high (which meant the muffins would have a nice, high dome.)  Those were two very promising characteristics.

The problems arose from making only half the recipe.  Couple that with the measurements being given in multiple formats (volume and weight) and it was all too much for this bleary-eyed night owl who'd just rolled out of bed.  I mismeasured the flour, the sugar, and the milk.  The milk!  That's critical to the texture!!  I soldiered on.

For 6 high-domed muffins (using her whole wheat option), here's what I was supposed to use:

3¼ oz (3/4 cup) white whole wheat flour
2¾ oz (5/8 cup) all-purpose flour
2⅝ oz (3/8 cup) sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
3/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/16 teaspoon nutmeg
2⅝ oz (3/8 cup) virgin or refined coconut oil, soft but cool (or 3 oz unsalted butter)
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg, cold
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
5 oz (scant 1 cup) fresh blueberries

Heat oven to 350F.  Grease 6 muffin tins.  Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl.  Add the coconut oil or butter and mix on low speed until it becomes a mealy powder, about 2 minutes.  (If using coconut oil, the mix can be made up to this point and stored long-term.)

Add the milk, egg, and vanilla to the dry mix and stir to create a thick, dough-like batter, then gently fold in the blueberries.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, piling the batter high.  (Top each with a sprinkling of sparkling sugar, if desired.)  Bake until domed and firm but still pale, about 22 minutes.  Serve warm.

The first mistake I made was dumping in an equal amount of AP flour before realizing it was supposed to be slightly less than the amount of whole wheat flour, so I scooped some out.  I think I did okay there.  The next mistake was dumping in the full amount of sugar (for 12 muffins); I scooped out what I could, but there was probably some extra in there.  The worst mistake was dumping in the amount of milk for 12 muffins-- that couldn't just be scooped out.  It rapidly soaked into the flour and sugar.  I sucked out as much as I could with a turkey baster (which also resulted in sucking out some of the extra sugar, since it dissolved in the milk), but by weight it wasn't nearly enough.  I probably ended up with about 3/4 the full recipe amount, rather than half.  This made the batter softer than it should have been (bearing in mind that whole wheat flour is "thirstier" than AP, which helped some), so the muffin tops spread more than expected.  The extra milk also might have been the reason why I had to bake them a few extra minutes, about 25 minutes.

Conclusion:  For all the failings, these turned out alright.  They weren't too sweet, there was a good amount of berries... even the texture wasn't bad.  I didn't use the nutmeg, but I think I'll try it next time.  I definitely need to try the recipe again, properly.

Recipe:  Blueberry Muffins via Bravetart by Stella Parks

Onion and sage rolls

I happened upon an episode of Hairy Bikers, and two of the recipes they made that day appealed to me:  parsnip and apple soup, and these savory rolls.  It's been rainy for days, and one of my new year's resolutions is to cook more.  At the time I was cooking, I did not know there were written recipes available, so I was going off the video of the episode.  They weren't entirely clear in the video of everything they were doing, but nothing left unclear was terribly critical.  Maybe.  (See asterisk.)

The rolls they made had seemed rather small (and didn't use a full loaf's worth of flour), so I made the full recipe, which actually resulted in 8 fairly good-sized, though quite fluffy rolls.  My only known deviations from their recipe was the flour and adding cheese.  Here's what I used:

150ml (0.6 cup) milk
150ml (0.6 cup) water
1½ teaspoon rapid rise yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
400g (2½ cups) bread flour
200g high-protein white whole wheat flour
200g high-protein AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter*
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, grated or crushed
approximately 12 large sage leaves, finely chopped*
large pinch of black pepper
approximately 1 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese

Heat the milk and water until quite warm; use about 1/4 cup to proof the yeast and sugar.  Once proved, add the remainder of  the liquid, along with the yeast mixture, to the flour and salt.  Knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.  Form into a ball; place in a greased bowl and allow to rise, covered, until doubled-- about 1 - 1½ hours.  Meanwhile, heat the butter and oil in a medium frying pan; add the onion and garlic and sweat over low heat for 10 minutes until soft and transparent, but not browned.  Add the sage and pepper and cook for another 2 - 3 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Punch down the dough; remove from the bowl and flatten out on work surface.  Spread the onion mixture (and cheese, if using) over the dough, then roll up so all the filling is contained.  Knead the filling into the dough until it is evenly distributed, sprinkling with flour where it becomes too wet.  Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces; roll each into a ball.  Arrange the dough balls in a greased baking sheet in a circle with one in the middle and edges touching.  Cover lightly with oiled plastic film and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375F (to 400F).  Before baking, brush each roll lightly with milk, then top with a single, small sage leaf.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Move to a rack to cool.

*Their written recipe calls for "1/2 ounce" of butter (1 tablespoon - I'm sure they used more on the show) and "15 - 20 sage leaves" (probably what I should have used, given the size of my leaves.)

They mixed their dry yeast, salt, sugar, and flour all together, then added the warm liquid.  I decided to proof my yeast first, since I was using less.  The butter and oil measurements weren't given; their pan of onion was liberally oily, but I didn't know the ratio of butter and oil, so I estimated.  (I assume just a small amount of oil is present to prevent the butter from browning.)  The yeast was given as "1 sachet", which is presumably 2¼ teaspoons, though I chose to use a little less.  Their sage leaves were quite large and I suspect I didn't use nearly as much.  They probably had at least 1/3 cup of chopped sage, if not 1/2 cup.  (It was certainly a manly handful.)  I noticed their rolls had probably twice as much green speckled throughout as mine did.  Their oven instructions were for "190C to 200C" (375F - 400F).  I've never seen a recipe with a range for the oven temperature, and both of these are higher than I normally see in a bread recipe.  I don't know why they didn't provide a single temperature.  (He probably couldn't remember the correct temperature at the moment of filming.  The written recipe indicates 200C, which I think would have been better than 190C.)  My oven does not maintain a stable temperature; it was 400F when I was ready to bake, but I tried to cool it down a bit after putting the rolls in and then worked to keep it at 375F.  They looked done at 20 minutes, so I took them out.

I had concerns about the baps being too salty with added cheese, (I used salted butter with the onions, and the dough already tasted a bit salty), but in the end they were okay.  Salty, yes, but not too bad for a savory roll.  (If I used more cheese, I would cut down on the salt elsewhere.)

Conclusion:  Easy enough to make, but I wasn't thrilled with the result.  Surprisingly, they were a bit bland and tasted a little floury.  Something gave them a slightly bitter taste, perhaps the whole wheat flour or the cheese.  They also could have used just another minute or two in the oven-- baking at 400F likely would have been perfect.

Recipe:  Sage and onion tear and share bread via Hairy Bikers (season 1, episode 2 of Best of British)

Irish Oatmeal Muffins

(I seem to have misplaced my photos.  It's just an oatmeal muffin-- nothing too sexy about it.)

Following on from this post for oatmeal muffins a few years ago where I discussed my search for the perfect oatmeal muffin, I'm trying another recipe, one that I've tried before but didn't say much about at the time.  That probably means I thought it was just okay, acceptable. (I've also made these banana oatmeal muffins, which I liked better.)  I've made some small adjustments this time:  I used regular milk, but changed up the sweetening to add molasses (which provides the acid necessary to react with the baking soda.  For good measure, I squeezed in about a teaspoon or more of lemon juice, since I already had a sliced lemon handy.)  I also added just over a 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg.  

The original recipe claims to make two dozen muffins; I made a note previously that 18 was a better quantity.  I cut the recipe in half this time and it filled nine standard muffin cups to the top.  Here's what I used:

1 cup buttermilk whole milk, plus juice from 2 small lemon slices
1/2 cup rolled (old fashioned) oats
1 egg
3/8 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark molasses
1/2 + 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon oil

Combine the milk and oats at least six hours (preferably overnight) before mixing and baking the muffins. Stir well, cover, and let rest in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 400F; grease the muffin tins. Beat the egg in a mixing bowl just until yolk and white are blended. Add the sugar and molasses and beat until smooth and well blended. Add the milk-oatmeal mixture, then the flour, baking soda, salt, and oil. Beat until the batter is well mixed. Fill the muffin tins almost to the rim. (The oats settle to the bottom of the bowl, so be sure to scoop them up with a spoon or ladle rather than pouring the batter into the tins.)  They usually bake about 20 minutes, but start testing for doneness after 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool on racks or serve hot.

This batter was very thin, liquid.  Nonetheless, it baked up fine.  (The oats and whole wheat probably soak up the excess moisture.)  The skewer came out clean at 15 minutes, but the center of the tops still looked a little glossy, so I gave them another 2 minutes.

The flavor was good, but not very interesting.  They needed something, either more spice (like a spice muffin -- the nutmeg wasn't noticeable) or a crunchy streusel topping.  The texture was extremely light and fluffy, like cake, probably from all that milk; I prefer something more dense and solid in a muffin.  (Maybe the amount of milk could be cut a tad.)  They were especially delicate while still warm, although they firmed up after cooling.  Because they were so delicate, they didn't come out of the pans nicely.  I probably would need to let them cool longer before trying to remove them, but then there's the risk of the edges firming to the point that they stick.  Perhaps the happy medium is to run a knife around the sides after they've cooled a few minutes, then letting them firm up more before trying to remove them.

Conclusion:  Nice, but I'm not inclined to make them again.  Mostly, they're not a texture I like in muffins, being far too delicate and soft.  Also, they're not so much a muffin to be eaten plain, but should have butter and jam.

Recipe:  Irish Oatmeal Muffins via The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham

Vanilla Cornmeal Wreath Cookies

I made these cookies many years ago and found them less than exciting, but thought they had promise.  The original recipe has you coating corn flakes in egg white and applying them to the surface of the cookies in a leaf pattern.  I didn't find this to be a good addition for a number of reasons.  For one, corn flakes always taste like breakfast cereal, and that's not a flavor I want in cookies.  Second, when the cookies were fresh, the corn flakes were tough and unpleasant, although they crisped up after a couple days.  Lastly, it was a process that was extremely time-consuming.  The flakes were a nice touch as far as appearance, but the cookies are a bit dry and I had decided they needed a bit of frosting, which would further make the topping unnecessary.

For 17 3½-inch cookies, here's what I used:

1⅛ cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon anise extract, optional
1 large egg, room temperature

Sift together the flour, cornmeal, and baking powder. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter with a handheld electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla, and anise (if using) to the butter and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes more. Add the egg (one at a time if doubling the recipe) to the butter mixture and mix until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Stir the flour-cornmeal mixture into the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula; it will be a stiff dough. To make dough easier to handle, chill until firm. Divide the dough into 17, 1-inch balls. Make a hole in the center of each ball with the tip of a wooden spoon and work each piece of dough into a doughnut shape with a 1-inch hole and about 2 inches wide. Use scissors to snip 1/2-inch long angled cuts, about 1/2-inch apart around the outside ring of each cookie. Arrange cookies on greased cookie sheets about 1 inch apart. (Optional: freeze cookies on the sheet until firm, about 10 minutes.) Bake at 350F until just golden around the edges, about 14 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Frost and decorate.

Frosting
1/4 cup butter, softened
2½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Cream together the butter and vanilla. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until smooth and very fluffy.  Add green gel coloring and use a large star tip to decorate cookies, immediately sprinkling each with red nonpareils. Allow frosting to dry until firm.

A ridiculous number of the nonpareils fell off while I was sprinkling them on (I had frosted all the cookies and then added the sprinkles-- the frosting had already started to dry), until I finally placed each cookie in a small bowl so I could collect and salvage the deserters.

I over baked the cookies slightly, getting them a little too brown around the edges.  They were a little drier than I would have liked, but I think a minute or two less time in the oven would have fixed that.  I had to be a little stingy with the frosting and barely had enough as it was-- they could have used just a tiny bit more, both for flavor and appearance. 

Conclusion:  It still needs tweaking, mostly just on the bake time, but I was pretty happy with the results.  (I discovered chopped peanuts would be a good addition, either in the cookie or sprinkled on top of the frosting.)  The frosting not only adds moisture and sweetness to what is otherwise a somewhat dull cookie, but also provides a buttery richness to the corn flavor.  While it will never be the most exciting cookie on the plate, the subtle flavor and texture is a nice contrast to the outspoken fruits, nuts, jams, and chocolates of a traditional holiday cookie assortment.

Recipe:  Cornmeal Wreaths via Food Network