Iced Lemon Corn Muffins

Following in the blogsteps of my favorite Creampuff, I'm going through a lemon phase. I purchased and have become enamoured with Lemon Zest by Lori Longbotham, a charming, fresh cookbook full of innovative citrus twists. I filled a drawer of my fridge with lemons; I made lemon oil, lemon ice cubes, frozen zest, lemonade, lemon cream pasta, lemon tilapia, chilled lemon-tomato soup, lemon all-purpose cleaner, lemon salt scrub, lemon facial cleanser. And since I just couldn't get enough, last night I made Iced Lemon Corn Muffins (because, as we all know, a muffin is just a very small pie). This isn't a recipe from the cookbook, but I think Ms. Longbotham would approve of its extreme lemony deliciousness.

ICED LEMON CORN MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 large egg yolks
1 whole large egg

muffin-cup liners

Juice and zest of two lemons
2 cups powdered sugar


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400°F and line 15 (1/3-cup) muffin cups with liners, dividing evenly between 2 pans (muffins cook more evenly with empty cups among them).

Whisk together flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and zest in a large bowl. Whisk together butter, milk, yolks, and whole egg and stir into flour mixture until just combined.
Divide batter evenly among cups (each cup will be about three fourths full).

Bake in middle of oven (or upper and lower thirds if necessary) 15 minutes or until tops are golden and a tester comes out clean. Remove muffins from pans, cool 5 minutes, and ice. Serve warm.

Icing: Whisk zest, juice, and sugar together. Spoon gently onto warm muffins; drizzle remainder on serving plates.

Makes 15 muffins.

(Recipe adapted from Epicurious.com)

Cook's note: I also added a cup of chopped strawberries to mine, and they were quite complimentary. Raspberries might also be good...