Grits Muffins

When I was two years old I met my very best childhood friend, Lee Ann.  Her parents moved her and her brother to California from North Carolina. To me, her mom Julie was everything southern.  The thick accent and the odd food, like fried okra and grits was new and amazing to me.  And I loved it all!

I've continued to love grits and have found a few winning recipes over the years.  My absolute favorite, is Dreamy Creamy Baked Grits.  We discovered these years ago (too many to count) while celebrating my birthday at a B&B in Trinidad, CA.  But they take like two hours to make.  No joke.  I do it very seldom.  This morning I really considered spending the time to do it.  But decided to see if I could find a similar, less time consuming version.  And then I stumbled on this muffin recipe at Yesterfood. And I'm all about muffins recently.  A one stop, all ingredients in a small bite, easy to make, and less to clean up, type of meal.  I'll admit, they do not measure up to the insanely delicious, Dreamy Creamy version.  But at about 5 minutes of prep time, and 15 minutes baking...well the time savings alone made these dreamy!

The syrup blobs originally were cute, artisitc drizzle lines.  But then I thought it would be a good idea to add in my coffee cup and by the time that all happened....blobs.  Oh well!

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/3 cups flour
• 1/2 cup quick grits (dry, not cooked)
• 1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 & 1/2 cups sour cream (yes, it's a lot!)
• 6 Tbsp melted butter
• 2-4 Tbsp honey (use less for savory and more for sweet.  I used 2 Tbsp of Agave nectar)
• 3 large eggs

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Grease a muffin tin with cooking spray (I use butter and my handy baster brush)
3. In a large bowl-combine everything! (Ok, the real directions have you combine the dry in one bowl, the wet in another, and then stir until just mixed and moist.  Whatever, I stirred it all at once and it was fine.)
4. Don't over mix, just like Dutch Babies. I don't know why but it ruins it. 
5. Scoop roughly 1/4 cup into the each of the 12 muffin cups
6. Bake for 15 minutes
7. Let them cool slightly on a wire rack
8. Serve with butter, honey, syrup, or jam of your choice.

 

These were quick and super easy. Came out with a texture very much like cornbread muffins.  I topped with syrup to make them more "breakfast" appropriate, and because my original Dreamy Creamy Baked Grits are served that way.  We also brewed some yummy, strong, French Roast coffee in our french press.  Its always better than regular coffee maker results!

These muffins can easily work for breakfast, or as a hearty addition to soup or even chili!  The one mixing bowl and short bake time make these an easy go-to!