Corn Muffins made with Masa Harina
Corn is not something that I normally recommend. Corn is a starch, it does not digested easily, and it is has PUFA.
Ray Peat mentions that “Starch grains, or other hard particles, can be found in the blood, urine, and other fluids after they have been ingested” (not a good thing!).
However, there is version of corn that I do recommend: masa harina.
Indigenous to the Americas, masa harina is a traditional food that has been eaten for a very long time (possibly even since 10,000 BC). Masa harina is a type of yellow, corn-meal flour. To make this flour, the corn is first removed from the cob and dried. The corn is then soaked in a lime or wood ash-lye water. The solution softens the corn and loosens the hulls from the kernels. This lengthy process is called nixtamalized. The word “nixtamalized” comes from Nauhatl, the language spoken by the Aztecs in central Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest. After soaking for a while the Nixtamal is ground and made into masa.
The nixamalized process improves the nutritional profile of the corn. It balances the amino acids – so there is actually more available (and usable protein). 28 grams of masa harina actually has 3 grams of protein. The lime also reacts with the corn so that the nutrient niacin can be assimilated by the digestive tract. The nixtamalized process changes the corn’s physical and chemical properties – it even adds calcium to the flour from the lime solution used. Soaking the corn in lime water also saponifies the fat (removes the PUFA!).
Ray Peat lived (and taught) in Mexico for quite some time which is why (I believe) he has a giant sumbrero on his website. While Dr. Peat was in Mexico he ate foods prepared with traditional masa harina. He did some experiments with the traditional masa and reported that his students showed that the starch particles from nixtamalized corn, unlike those from untreated corn, do not pass whole into the blood stream. He proved that the nixtamalized corn was very different from untreated corn. He writes: “In 1979 some of my students in Mexico wanted a project to do in the lab. Since several traditional foods are made with corn that has been boiled in alkali, I thought it would be valuable to see whether this treatment reduced the ability of the starch grains to be persorbed. For breakfast one day, they ate only atole, tamales, and tortillas, all made from the alkali treated corn. None of the students could find any starch grains after centrifuging their blood and urine. That led me to substitute those foods whenever possible for other starches.” Masa Harina is a healthy food!
Here is a great recipe that my friend Clint Mongan gave me, with a couple of slight changes. This is an easy recipe even for those of us that aren’t great bakers- like me. I like it served with a nice poached egg and honey butter!
ingredients:
makes 12 muffins
1 cup masa harina
1/4 cup powdered milk
3/4 cup Non-GMO fructose ( preferably powdered)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
a pinch of nutmeg
Two (organic and pastured) eggs plus one egg yolk
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup of honey
1/3 cup of melted coconut oil
1 Tablespoon of melted butter
Image may be NSFW.
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directions:
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then combine. Pour batter into unbleached muffin liners (or muffin molds that are well coated with coconut oil) and bake at 375 degrees for approximately 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with lots of honey butter.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
eat warm or store in an airtight container in the freezer.
Honey butter:
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 honey
In a small bowl mix butter and honey until smooth.
Store, covered, in the refrigerator.
Corn muffin recipe is courtesy of Clint Mongan- with a couple of minor changes. Thank you Clint!! Mi masa, su masa!
