Savory Corn & Pepper Muffins

This was a wonderful recipe from Dorie Greenspan's book! I made this to accompany a chicken & sausage gumbo and it really complimented it well. Due to the nasty winter weather we're experiencing here in Chicago, I had to make do with the ingredients I had on hand and made a few (okay, a lot of) substitutions...

• Rather than using a stick of butter, I used 1/4 cup each of canola oil and extra virgin olive oil. It resulted in a very moist and tender crumb.
• In place of cilantro, I used two stalks of green onions, sliced thin (green part only.) The onion seemed to work well with the peppers and gave more to the overall southwestern flavor.
• Speaking of peppers, I added additional color and used a trio of finely diced yellow, green and red bell peppers. (Honestly, I just can't do only red peppers. Red peppers just isn't my thing. So small doses of it are tolerable, even moreso when combined with yellow and green peppers.)
• Just when I thought I couldn't substitute anything else, I realized that I ran out of chili powder. I did have some Pilsen Latino Seasoning on hand and used that instead. The seasoning is on the spicy side so I used 1 teaspoon of this. I really loved that kick and heat it gives these muffins! This seasoning is 'hand mixed from: coarse Kosher flake salt, garlic & onion powders, Mexican oregano, Tellicherry black pepper, hot red pepper flakes.'
• Finally, the cheese lover in me thought it best to top these muffins with a Mexican blend of cheese. It added a nice golden color and slight crispness to the muffin top. Yum!

Be sure to check out the other fabulous foodies who made this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Savory Corn & Pepper Muffins. Interested in the recipe? Check out Rebecca from Ezra Poundcake who has the recipe on her blog or page 6 of Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking from My Home to Yours.