Goat Cheese and Chive Cornbread Muffins
Loaded with creamy goat cheese and fresh chives, these Goat Cheese and Chive Cornbread Muffins make an excellent side dish for dinner!
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Now that The Sopranos is over, we’ve barely known what to do with all of our free time. (It’s not like we’ve got a certain 1-year-old toddling around the house or anything. We don’t mind, though!) But after Robbie goes to bed, Laura and I still like to unwind and watch a little bit of tv. We’ve moved on to Breaking Bad, Stranger Things and then Narcos. See? Our timeline is catching up to present day! (We even got caught up on Better Call Saul as of last night.)
Breaking Bad is a funny one though. Laura had been begging me to watch that show for at least a year. But I kept saying no because of the bathtub scene. If you’ve watched Breaking Bad, then you know exactly what scene I’m talking about. Laura kept telling me that it was just one scene, and the rest of the show was totally fine. But I kept saying no. I can be stubborn like that.
But then one of my curling buddies mentioned that he and his wife loved the show. He said the bathtub scene was just a one-time thing. Essentially he said the same thing as Laura. But I believed him. Laura was so annoyed with me. And of course I rubbed it in by saying, “Man, this is a great show! I’m so glad Isaac told us to watch it!” I had to duck to avoid the pillow.
This isn’t the first occurrence like this. Back when Laura and I first met, she tried everything to get me to eat goat cheese. But it wasn’t happening. You see, I didn’t grow up eating goat cheese…and the thought was a little odd to me. She tried for months with no success. But then one of my classmates in grad school brought goat cheese for lunch one day. I tried a little bit…and I liked it. I liked it a lot! When I got home that night, I told Laura we should get some goat cheese at the store that weekend. I had to duck to avoid the pillow.
Seriously, though, I can’t get enough goat cheese now! I love the tangy flavor, and I’ve been known to spread goat cheese on a piece of rustic bread for lunch. Delicious! So when I found goat cheese on sale last week at the store, I immediately grabbed a couple of containers. Laura has been asking me to make cornbread lately, so I decided to use some of that goat cheese in these Goat Cheese and Chive Cornbread Muffins. The result? Amazing!
Most of the goat cheese goes into the batter, but a little bit gets sprinkled on top before baking. Those pieces on top get nice and browned. I think I could have eaten this entire pan of muffins. No shame in my game.
I added some chopped chives into these Goat Cheese and Chive Cornbread Muffins, too. Chives are one of the few garden crops that return year-after-year up here in New York. As long as there’s no snow on the ground, we’re lucky enough to always have chives on hand. Usually I use them as a garnish, but this time I gave ’em a co-star role along with the goat cheese…and the combination is quite tasty! Enjoy!
Goat Cheese and Chive Cornbread Muffins
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- ¼ cup sugar
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1¼ tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ cups milk
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup chives diced
- 1 cup crumbled goat cheese divided (see note)
Instructions
- Grease a muffin pan, or line with paper liners; set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a large bowl, add all dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt.) Stir until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and melted butter. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients along with chives and ¾ cup of crumbled goat cheese; stir until well combined.
- Fill each muffin cup ~¾ full.
- Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup of goat cheese on top of muffins before baking.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out mostly clean.
Notes
Looking for more cornbread recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno Cornbread
Ok, so much to say! First of all, what did you think of the ending of the Sopranos?? Next, I can’t remember the bathtub seen in Breaking Bad….maybe I blocked it out?? And Better Call Saul – I couldn’t get into that one for some reason; perhaps there was a bunch of other shows on at the time. Ya know how sometimes certain shows take priority and others get kinda lost? Maybe I’ll give it another shot cause I know it’s doing well.
Wait, what? You didn’t like goat cheese???? Boy, am I glad that you finally tried it! I love pretty much all cheese, stinky and all. And love the creaminess of goat cheese. So good on a salad too! These cornbread muffins are just perfect – love that they’re handheld and the goat cheese and chive combo is just delicious! Perfect for dunkin’ in some chili or soup 🙂 Cheers, my friend!
Oh, don’t even get me started on the ending of the Sopranos, Dawn! I wanted to say something up above, but I wasn’t sure if someone out there might actually still be watching the show. (I’m pretty sure we were the only ones…but still.) One word: Terrible. With a capital T. As far as other shows, I totally get it! It’s always a random jumble to see what show we’ll start on next. But give Better Call Saul a chance. Season 3 started a couple weeks ago, and I’ve seen it called “just as good if not better than Breaking Bad.” That’s serious!
So, yeah, growing up I didn’t like goat cheese. To be fair, I had never tried it…it just sounded strange to me. But now it’s one of my favorite cheeses! Although I have to admit that I pretty much like every cheese ever now. Haha! Thanks so much for your awesome comment! Hope your week is going well. 🙂
I never watched Breaking Bad, but I liked your story behind the show. BTW these muffins looks YUMM!!! 🙂
Why thank you very much, Puja! It took me some time to finally sit down and watch Breaking Bad, but man was that show awesome!! And now Better Call Saul is a spin-off of Breaking Bad, and it’s just as good in my opinion. Nothing like watching some shows in the evening with tasty food, right? 🙂
I’m still chuckling over your back stories–too cute! Like you, I did not grow up on goat cheeese, but once I tried it, I was hooked. But as a southerner, I did grow up on cornbread, and it’s still makes a regular appearance at our tables, so I’m looking forward to trying this. I’m going to see how it works out with my beloved only-in-the-south White Lily cornmeal!
Hey there, Kim! Thank you so much for your kind comment…I love linking fun stories in with my posts. Not only are they more fun to write on my end, but I feel like it just makes for a better read! Another southerner I see! Where did you grow up? I was born in Texas, but grew up in Charleston, SC and then Raleigh, NC. I also spent time in Baton Rouge, LA and Atlanta before my wife got a job way up here in upstate NY. I’m way out of my element up here, and I miss my Southern food! 🙂 Oh my gosh…and don’t even start with the White Lily cornmeal. I can’t get that one up here. Anyways, have a great day, my new friend!
David, I grew up in Middle Tennessee, near Nashville, but I have lived a few places including East Texas, St. Louis, Northern PA, Tampa, Florida, Little Rock, AR, and now I am back in Tennessee after a 35 year absence! When my then-husband and I lived in PA, his mother used to fly up from Little Rock with frozen bricks of pulled pork BBQ and White Lily cornmeal in her suitcase! (you can get White Lily from Amazon, but it’s a little pricey…) I adore Charleston, you are lucky to have lived there. I’m glad I found your blog– it’s very enjoyable and I can’t wait to try some of these recipes!
Hey again Kim! So I actually have links to several of the places you mentioned. My sister + mother now live in Nashville, and we try to get down there every summer to visit. I love that city…and I love Nashville Hot Chicken, too! (Hah!) East Texas. I’ve got family in both Palestine and Longview. I love the pines of east Texas. Great country out there! And northern PA. This one might be a stretch, but Laura is from Altoona, and her parents still live there. It’s only ~6.5 drive for us, so we end up there more than we do back south.
I’m really glad to have ‘met’ you as well! You’ll see that I share a lot of my southern stories and southern recipes here. I might be way up here in NY, but my heart is still in the South! 🙂
Well I hate to keep rattling on on your food blog, but I had to pop back in and say, I lived in Longview! In a 1938 house on Hughes street. My kids went to Trinity School. My sister lives there still; she owns Pink Crown Farms (horses). And I know Altoona–right smack in the center. I lived in Oil City, between Pitt and Eerie. My other sis lives near Philly. And yes, Nashville is awesome. I went to college there and lived there and more recently, right downtown. Such a small world and how fun the connections.
Oh, you aren’t rattling on at all, Kim! I actually enjoy chatting with readers…it makes the blog world so much more personal. 🙂 What a small world for sure! I don’t know Longview that well as far as streets, but I haven’t visited my uncle/aunt there a number of times. I love that city! And Nashville is just amazing. My sister went to college there…and then never left. I can’t blame her either! Thanks for commenting here, and I hope you have a great weekend!
Laura sounds like one smart cookie! Breaking Bad is one of my favorites–I don’t remember the bathtub scene though. I still haven’t watched any of the Sopranos. . .I’m way behind on the whole pop culture thing :). These muffins look like little bites of heaven! Seriously, goat cheese IN (and on) cornbread is just the stuff dreams are made of.
So the Sopranos is totally legit. I highly recommend watching it…although it will make you crave pasta + red sauce every single night. You’ve been warned, Kelsie! In the meantime, let’s just eat a bunch of cornbread muffins, ok? I hope the packing has begun out there! If you have extra cupcakes that you don’t want to pack, then you can just send them to me. I’m helpful like that.
Hi David. We just had corn muffins the other night with barbecued ribs. I will definitely look for crumbled goat cheese as I think it would be more difficult to use the creamy. I cut the small logs of goat cheese into discs and dip them in flour, then egg and then panko and pan fry them for salad croutons. We were just watching Better Call Saul; been binge watching Netflix lately.
Oh man, Dorothy! Every time you tell me about your latest meals, I start drooling. BBQ ribs + cornbread muffins? That’s a Southerner’s dream right there! (Fortunately it’s finally warm enough for us to get out and make ribs and such again.) Pan-fried goat cheese? Woah! I know where I’m coming for dinner tonight! 🙂 Oh, and how are you liking Better Call Saul? I love that show! Did you watch Breaking Bad, too? It makes Better Call Saul even more interesting!
David, there are a couple of good shows you might like as well. They finished like in the mid of 90th so hopefully you would watch them one day:) (On a side note, I’ve never watched the Sopranos) But let’s talk about this delicious muffins. They are amaizing. Lately, I’ve been enjoying savory baked goodies more than sweet stuff (Moreover, more than sweet lavender stuff). So I do love these savory guys loaded with goat cheese. Pleese send me a batch (And I’ll ship you some lavender cookies:)
Hmmm…mid-90’s? That’s way too recent for me, Ben! Geez! 🙂 Also, you can’t make fun of me since you never watched the Sopranos. Now go watch it this weekend. It’s a good one! And while you’re binge watching old tv shows, I suggest baking up a batch of cornbread with goat cheese. Scratch that. Make it 2 batches…you’ll need ’em. Hah! Thanks, my friend!
Hi David. Me again. Went to the store this afternoon and found crumbled goat cheese with sun dried tomatoes and basil. That would be interesting in these corn muffins.
Hey there, Dorothy (again)! I’m so glad you found crumbled goat cheese. It really does open up some new options when it comes to baking! And those sun-dried tomatoes + basil? Why didn’t I think of that for these muffins? They’d taste amazing, and just think of how colorful they’d be! In fact, they’d look a bit like the Italian flag with the red, white and green. I’d say that’s appropriate! 🙂
So I’ll start by saying I love goat cheese but I’ve never cooked with it. I get really intimated by strong flavored cheese. I’m dying to start Breaking Bad, I’ve only heard great things. I love cornbread I defiantly don’t eat it or make it enough. The addition of goat cheese sounds divine. I could eat an entire batch.
So goat cheese wasn’t a childhood thing for me (as I mentioned in the post), but man I am making up for lost time now! I love goat cheese. Heck, I love all cheese. I’m pretty sure I could eat cheese for an entire meal and be happy with it. 🙂 Also, Breaking Bad. Watch it. That’s all I have to say about that. Oh, and cornbread. Breaking Bad + cornbread. That sounds like a pretty good weekend plan to me right there! Thanks, Mary!
These look absolutely delish David! I just had to pop on over and say that!
I love goat’s cheese but I’m only allowed any form of cheese into our house on a limited basis as my wife (Lynne) tends to snack on it like fruit. Lol!
Hey there, Neil! Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. And thank you for the kind words, too! 🙂 So I get the whole cheese disappearing act…it happens around here as well. That’s why I have to hide the goat cheese deep in the fridge behind the jar of pickles. Hah!
You certainly finished watching the Sopranos in style 🙂 To me it is one of the most amazing things to find a series later than anyone else and then just binge watch the whole thing. My husband and I are currently a little bit lost as we seem to have watched all the good series. Hopefully, something will come out soon. As for your goats cheese and cornbread muffins – they look beautifully fluffy and I am huge goats cheese fan. Maybe you should listen to your wife more often 😉
Haha, yes we did, Miriam! I mean we were only 11 years too late on finishing the Sopranos, but we were total nerds about it. We did a classic pasta + red sauce and even opened a bottle of red since that’s what they always had on the show. (On a side note, I’m pretty sure it was always the SAME bottle on the show…but yeah.) Have you guys watched Breaking Bad and then on to Better Call Saul (the spin-off)? Both are amazing, and very binge-able. 🙂 And even more enjoyable with a warm cornbread muffin. I speak from experience here!
I actually want to watch Breaking Bad but somehow whenever I have tried, I have failed! I remember watching the entire season 1 (well almost) and still not getting interested in the show or characters.. I don’t know maybe it’s just not for me so I gave up! Maybe one day I will revisit it!
These muffins sound lovely!
Yeah, I get it, Manali. It sometimes takes me a few episodes to get into something. I didn’t think I would like Breaking Bad, so I went into it thinking I’d only last an episode or two. Turns out I loved it! Give it a shot again maybe? And this time watch it with a warm cornbread muffin in hand…that makes everything better! Haha! 🙂
These cornbread muffins look amazing David! Would you send me a ton of them to Spain? LOL
Breaking Bad.. mmm.. another show to consider. I never know what to watch on Netflix (is it even out on there?!).
ps. I hate it when guys listen to their Moms or friends but not to their wives.
I´m siding with Laura on this one 🙂 🙂
I’ll pack up a box of these muffins and get them off to Spain ASAP, Johlene! Will you just ship me a bit of Gran Canaria? (Like the actual island. It looks like my heaven there!)
Yes! Breaking Bad is totally on Netflix. That’s where we watched out. And then Better Call Saul is a spin-off of Breaking Bad that tells the earlier story of some of the characters. (Make sure to watch Breaking Bad first, though.) Watch it. Trust me!
Also, Laura is right more often than not. But don’t tell her I said that. Haha!
I like to watch a little tv at the end of the day just to unwind too. These cornbread muffins look so tasty!!
I love that little bit of unwind time there at the end of the day! Thanks so much, Dawn…and I hope you have a great weekend! 🙂
Yummy! Such a palatable recipe, David! I will definitely give it a try!
Thank you so much, Agness! I love a good cornbread muffin, and the goat cheese + chives in these really take ’em to a whole new level. 🙂
David, me thinks you are underselling these muffins by saying “The result? Amazing!” Cos, dude, goat cheese in cornbread is freaking EPIC!
And, you know what – Lil Shashi is a lot like ya – I tell Lil Shashi to try a new food item or visit a new part of town or attend a festival and she resists – a friend or teacher she admires tells her too and she’s in!?!? Whatthewhat???
P.S. – What did y’all think of Stranger Things?
I hope you and the Spiced Clan had a wonderful weekend!
Haha…why thank you very much, Shashi! I can get behind some epic cornbread muffins for sure! You know me. I grew up in the south, so cornbread muffins practically flow through my veins. 🙂 And I gotta say, the goat cheese + chives addition to this batch was pretty darned, well, EPIC! Funny how that works when we try to get loved ones to try new things, huh? Next time, just tell Lil Shashi that I recommend it. Maybe that will convince her to try it?
And Stranger Things. It look me a little bit to get on board since I’m not super into sci-fi…but man, by the end of the season, I was SO hooked!
Oh geebuz… I hope breaking bad doesn’t elicit some bad habits 😉 Or potential career options haha!
So these sound so good- I’ve had a cornbread muffin with cheddar but never with goat cheese- I can only imagine how good the texture would be!
Hahaha…no bad habits here, my friend. Although like Walt, I am a former high school teacher looking for unique ways to support my family. Somehow I think food blogging > making meth, though. 🙂 Definitely add some goat cheese into cornbread the next time you make it. And now I want cornbread…stuffed with cheese. Hmmm…the recipe idea gears are turning again!