For me March Madness means rushing to the store or going online to buy containers of the new crop of maple syrup. I get all kinds. Grade A for pancakes. Grade B for baking. New York. Vermont. Quebec. Whatever.

There’s a delicate sweetness to maple syrup. It doesn’t pound you in the head like granulated sugar does. It doesn’t yell at you “I’M SWEET! I’M SWEET. PICK ME!”

I like subtle.

So I use maple a lot to sweeten baked goods like these corn muffins (which you can freeze and then reheat for breakfast every morning).

Maple Corn Muffins

1/3 cup butter

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 large egg

2/3 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease 8 muffin tins. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. In a bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl mix the maple syrup, egg and milk, beating until well blended. Pour the liquid into the cornmeal mixture, pour in the cooled melted butter and stir to blend the ingredients. Spoon equal amounts into the muffin tins. Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 8