Perfect Cornbread Muffins with Honey Butter

Dry Ingredients:
2 c. flour
1 c. yellow cornmeal
1 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding (not sugar free!)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Wet Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled slightly (NOT margarine!)

3/4 c. sour cream

1 c. whole milk (you can substitute lower fat milk, but the whole makes it YUMMY!)

Topping:

Granulated sugar

Honey Butter:

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. powdered sugar

3 Tbs. honey

Add cinnamon to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Adjust oven racks to middle position. Grease muffin tins accordingly (This recipe makes 16-18 average-sized muffins or a few pans of mini muffins-- Maybe close to 100 muffins?? I like to make 12 regular muffins and finish off the rest of the batter with the cute minis.)

In a small bowl, melt butter. Set aside and let cool.

Prepare honey butter by combining very soft butter (not melted) with powdered sugar and honey. Add cinnamon. Combine with a fork until light and fluffy. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients and whisk together. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs until well-combined. Add the sugar to the eggs and whisk vigorously until thick....About 20 seconds. Add the cooled butter, combining well. Add sour cream and mix well, followed by the milk. The mixture should be smooth and lump-free.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix gently with a large spatula until evenly moistened. Don't over mix!

Spray an ice cream scoop liberally with PAM and use it to place one large scoop of batter in each muffin cup. (For mini muffins, use a small cookie dough scoop.) Sprinkle muffins with a light dusting of granulated sugar (I just use a tablespoon heaped with sugar and sprinkle the tops).

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 13 minutes (for large muffins) and 11 minutes (for mini muffins). Muffins should be BARELY browned around the edges but not on top. Make sure that a toothpick inserted comes out clean, but do NOT over bake. They will dry out quickly.

Remove muffins from oven. Before removing from the pan, use a small spatula to spread honey butter over the tops of the piping hot muffins (I probably use somewhere close to 1 tsp. on each large muffin). Remove from pans and let cool slightly before serving.

Serve hot with remaining honey butter on the side.