Matthew Woolen is a master pastry chef and has worked in a variety of Seattle restaurants, including gastropub Old Sage, Zhu Dang, and a gluten-free restaurant called Capitol Cider.

Matthew Woolen

The key to the best corn muffins is treating them like sweet and delicious <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/johnny-deep-dish-corn-skillet-cake">corn cakes</a>, not sweeter, mini-portions of <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/rich-and-moist-cornbread">cornbread</a>, and then figuring out how to amplify the corn flavor without making a batter that bakes up leaden and dry.We use both cornmeal and corn kernels to double up on corn flavor, but there comes a point at which jamming more corn into the recipe has an adverse effect on the texture, producing a dense and heavy muffin. To heighten the flavor of the corn without crossing that line, we use spices, like cayenne and vanilla, to accentuate the corn’s sweetness. We incorporate yogurt, and the acidity helps to brighten the corn flavor (which is why we also add a touch of malic acid); and we cook corn kernels in blackened (beyond browned) butter to concentrate their sugars and make the flavor stand out more brightly in juxtaposition with the bitter notes of blackened milk solids.To lighten the crumb, we use a multipronged approach. Blending cornmeal into a finer powder improves its hydration as it sits in the batter and yields a softer, finer crumb; the relatively low proportion of gluten provided by the cake flour offers structure without making the muffins tough; and separating the eggs and whipping the whites before folding them into the batter provides a ton of aeration, ensuring the muffins bake up lighter and fluffier than if we’d just mixed whole eggs into the batter.These muffins are delicious when cool, but they’re incredible when still warm, before the natural cornstarch has a chance to cool down and firm up, so plan on slathering at least one of these babies with butter fresh out of the oven.

Ultimate Corn Muffins