Cornbread Muffins
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These tender cornbread muffins are the perfect side to any Southern or Southwestern dish. You can whip up the batter in no time!
These tender and sweet cornbread muffins are the perfect side to BBQ chicken, ribs or beef chili. My kids love them so much that I’m constantly swatting their hands away from the bread basket so they don’t fill up before the main course. I know that baking at dinnertime might seem a little ambitious but these muffins are super-easy to prepare. You can whip up the batter in ten minutes, and I usually serve them instead of a starch. Leftovers are delicious for breakfast, reheated and slathered with honey butter or jam.
Table of Contents
“Let me tell you, this recipe is perfect. My picky family loved them and my hubby almost ate the whole pan.”
What You’ll Need To Make Cornbread Muffins
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by whisking the eggs in a medium bowl.
Add the honey and milk and whisk to combine.
In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Whisk to combine.
Add the egg mixture and the melted butter to the dry ingredients.
Whisk until just combined.
Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin pan, filling each cup about 3/4 full.
Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until the tops are set and golden. Note that they will not dome.
Cool the muffins for a few minutes in the pan, then serve warm with softened butter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, the muffins can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to three months. Thaw for 3 for 4 hours on the countertop before serving.
The muffins are best served fresh from the oven, but leftover muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
To reheat, wrap them in aluminum foil and warm in a 350°F-oven until hot. Alternatively, you can heat muffins in the microwave at 50 percent power for 30 to 45 seconds, or until just hot; do not overheat or muffins will get tough.
Yes, see my simple cornbread recipe for instructions.
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Cornbread Muffins
These tender cornbread muffins are the perfect side to any Southern or Southwestern dish. You can whip up the batter in no time!
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ¾ cup yellow cornmeal
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¾ cup milk (preferably whole but low-fat works too)
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray. (I prefer to use non-stick cooking spray so the muffins get nice and crisp on the edges.)
- In a medium bowl, break up the eggs with a whisk. Whisk in the honey, and then the milk. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk mixture and the melted butter to the dry ingredients. Whisk until just blended. Do not overmix; it's okay if there are a few lumps. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup about ¾ full. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are set and golden. (Note that the muffins will not dome.) Cool the muffins for a few minutes in the pan, then serve warm.
- Note: If you'd prefer to make this as cornbread rather than muffins, spray an 8-inch square pan with non-stick cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: Cornbread muffins taste best when served right out of the oven but can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 3 months. Thaw for 3 for 4 hours on the countertop before serving. To reheat, wrap them in aluminum foil and warm in a 350°F oven until hot. Alternatively, heat muffins in the microwave at 50 percent power for 30 to 45 seconds, or until just hot; do not overheat or muffins will get tough.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 216
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Sugar: 12 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Sodium: 305 mg
- Cholesterol: 53 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This recipe is perfect! The corn muffins were dense and moist and not too sweet. I followed the recipe though substituted milk for full fat oat milk (Oatly) and its was seamless. You are a TRUSTED recipe source always. Thank you!!
Loved the recipe!!! Moist inside and crunchy top!! A little honey and butter on top, in heaven. *Side note,?I followed recipe and had enough batter to made 10 Muffins not sure 🤔 how someone could do a dozen.
Made this today and it was so good!! Decreased the sugar to only 1/4 cup and 1 tbsp. Thank you for this!!
Hi Jenn
Could I substitute 3/4 cup of EVOO instead of a stick of butter?
Hi Karen, If you want to use oil, I’d suggest using half oil and half butter. They won’t have as much buttery flavor, but as long as you use some butter, it should work. Hope that helps!
I made the cornbread muffins but put them in a 8×8 pan – this is great with chili
Made these never made homemade before,they were great,love your recipe, Thanks!!,had company over they loved them ,and husband loved them,and he is picky on cornbread!muffins where something I will make again!
Hi, thanks for the recipe Jenn. The muffins tasted great with warm butter however, I would prefer them to be more moist. Any advice on how to do it? Thanks
Hi Tricia, Cornbread is a little dry by nature but next time, try using 1-1/2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of cornmeal instead. (The cornmeal adds to the dry texture.)
Delicious! I froze some to have with our first batches of chili this fall. Would you recommend using buttermilk in these? I have some that I need to use up. Thanks again, Jenn!
Glad you like them! I’d stick with regular milk here though. 🙂
I’ve made these numerous times and they are great. Would you get the same result if you cut the recipe in half? Thank you!
Sure, Danice, that should be fine. You can also make a full batch and freeze half if you’d like. See the bottom of the recipe for freezer-friendly instructions. 🙂
Made other recipes for cormeal muffins including the recipe on the corn meal box. This by far has the best taste and texture. Made exactly as the recipe recommended and they came out great! Thanks!
Do you have suggestions for how to adapt this recipe for baking at high altitudes?
Hi Mary, Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with high-altitude baking so I don’t have any wisdom to share. You might find this page useful though.
Made this tonight and reduced the sugar by half and added a cup of frozen corn kernels. Turned out fantastic!!!
this was a wonderful recipe! i made it for my family with chili and it was delicious. i added some cheese on top and reduced the sugar to only 2 tbsp of honey and it came out very crumbly and light. will definitely make again.
Tried making corn muffins for the first time and it came out perfect. It was delicious, moist and well enjoyed by my family.
Perfect! I used gluten free flour and 4 small mini loaf pans and they came out great. Thanks!
Hi Jenn,
Got a question, can I use stone ground corn flour instead?
Thanks!
Hi Fiona, It should work. I’d love to know how it turns out.
Perfect, really flavorful and moist.
Perfection on the first try. Far superior to any other cornbread muffin recipe I’ve tried. They are super tender and moist. I used half the sugar and the muffins turned out plenty sweet enough. So happy to find a keeper recipe. Thank you!
These muffins have been a huge hit with the numerous people I’ve served them to! I’m looking forward to trying this tonight in the 8-inch square pan!! Thank you for the wonderful recipe 😁
Way too much salt!
Absolutely perfect! Served them with the herb grilled chicken and black bean salad. Fabulous and easy dinner.
Best cornbread muffins! Perfectly moist, which is hard to get in cornbread, and perfect amount of saltyness and flavor
Came out great and taste amazing! Only one issue, they taste a little salty. Will use half the salt next time.
Can I use polenta instead of cornmeal? Or are they too different?
Hi Anna, Polenta should work – enjoy!
Can I just use honey? I don’t want to use sugar:
I wouldn’t recommend it — the muffins are likely to burn. Sorry!
Delicious! Cut the recipe in half for a family of 2 & they turned out amazing!
Hello Jenn, I am a devoted follower of the Jenn Segal School of Cooking and Baking. When my friends tell me I’m a great cook and baker, I reply, “It’s all Jenn Segal.” And many happily joined your team or bought your cookbook.
My question is what adjustments should I make to your cornbread recipe if I prefer to bake in an 8” x 8” pan or a 9” x 9” pan rather than a muffin pan? And would you suggest one size as better than the other?
Thanks for your help!
Karen, your sweet words made my day – so glad you like the recipes and I really appreciate you spreading the word about the blog! I’d go with the 8-inch square pan. Bake time will be different; I’d start checking for doneness at about 30 minutes. Enjoy! 🙂
Amazing recipe! Just made my second batch. Followed the recipe to a t, and my muffins domed like crazy both times! They are so fluffy and tasty! Extra bonus of this recipe that this is SO EASY!! Also, they freeze beautifully. I would encourage people to try different honey types – had different honey for two different batches, both super tasty, but the first batch was made with Australian blossom honey (which has caramel and raisin notes) and oh, boy, this was so good! Thank you, Jenn!
Delicious! One of the better cornbread recipes I’ve made. Very moist!
Great texture and absolutely delicious! These cornbread muffins turned out amazing… even tastier with some added maple syrup on top:)
Funny how hard a time I had finding a good cornbread recipe. So many are more ‘cake-y’ than crumbly. This recipe made the grade. Less cake like than a regular muffin, but not fall-apart like some corn muffins. Great corn texture while maintaining its structure. Toasted with butter – amazing.
TURNED OUT ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS, UNBELIEVABLY PERFECT, MOIST AND FLUFFY, I MADE IN 8X8 GLASS PAN AND BAKED FOR 35MINS AT 350F AND ALSO ADDED SOME RAISINS AND HAZELNUTS INTO BATTER, REALLY TASTY 🙂 THANKS FOR THE GREAT RECIPE!
The best cornmeal muffins ever! So moist, just the right sweetness.
While alot of people tell me to buy ready mix to do my cornbread, I insist that I start from scratch because is so difficult to make this perfectly moist. Your recipe is just right and so delicious with that dap of butter and cream cheese on it! All time favorite!
My father told me he didn’t like cornbread muffins and then this happened..I add a bit more milk and they’re delicious. now my elderly father loves my cornbread muffins…in fact I can’t quite get a hold of one lol unless I make them in the middle of the night and steal a few lol…great recipe!!!
First time I ever tried making cornmeal muffins , could not believe how tasty and light these were. So easy to make and will definitely make them again .
So I made these about a year ago and I thought they tasted a bit dry and grainy. I decided to give them another try but this time using the brand of corn meal in your picture and weighed my ingredients using your metric conversions. They were perfect and delicious!!
This cornbread muffin recipe is the best of all the cornbread recipes I have tried. My family loves them and they are my biggest critics. I make them in a jumbo muffin tin and that yeild 6. Just have to bake a bit longer than one would if you use a standard 12 tin. These muffins are good anytime and great with chili.
Just made this for breakfast and it is delicious! I followed recipe exactly except, I left out the extra 2 tbs of sugar and since I wanted some fresh corn in it I used the kernels of 1 ear corn with 1/4 cup of the milk in the blender for 2 pulses only to break up the kernels then added this to wet ingredients. It came out perfect, baked for 20 min in a 6 muffin pan!!! It is moist, not too sweet and the kernels breakup the dry texture of the cornmeal. Thanks for your recipe!!!
Great recipe! What I really like about this recipe is that it is a great base for any additional ingredients you may want to add. After I combined the the wet and dry ingredients, I folded in chopped bacon (that I cooked & candied with brown sugar), scallions, jalapeño peppers, and cheddar cheese—and I paired my muffins with a honey butter I made. They came out yum! I will say, if you are a person that likes a more dense cornbread (not light and fluffy like this recipe calls for) you may want to consider how you’ll tweak it to your liking.
I made these this morning for tonight’s Mother’s Day BBQ. I subbed buttermilk for whole milk and used 1/2 c coarse-ground cornmeal + 1/4 c regular because we prefer the texture but followed the rest as written.
Holy DELICIOUSNESS, Batman!
Light, fluffy, and sweet but not obnoxiously so! The test batch didn’t even get a chance to cool before they were devoured. This is my new go-to recipe!
Made these today.Delicious! Made a couple of changes though. I used self rising flour so I didn’t need baking powder or salt and I didn’t add honey. My husband doesn’t like his cornbread very sweet but I did add the sugar. He loved it! The bread was not crumbly and had
a really good crust. We always heat the pan first for a better ctust!
I’ve tried many cornbread recipes, this one is simple and really delicious. It has the perfect balance of sweet and savoury, and the muffins are very light and tender.
Made these muffins last night exactly as written (sprayed the muffin pan to get the crunchy edge) and they were delicious! Very moist, crunchy edge, wonderful flavor. Also followed the recommendation to bake them so they’d be ready with dinner (still warm). So worth it! Thank you!
Thank you!! These muffins are just to die for. My boys literally inhale them and they disappear in no time. I have made 3 dozen in the last week already! A definite keeper in our house forever.
Jenn,
I like the ingredients you have in your recipe. I was looking for a corn muffin top recipe. Any chance I could bake these on a baking sheet to get the muffin top I am looking for?
Hi Carol, I’ve never made these as muffin tops so I can’t say for sure, but I suspect it would work. Please LMK how they turn out if you try it!
Jenn, I was successful in making this recipe into muffin tops. Depending on the size, baking times were about 8 to 12 minutes. I baked them until they were golden brown on the bottom. Delicious recipe, next time I hope to perfect the size and shape of them.
Glad they turned out well! And thanks for reporting back – I’m sure other readers will find it helpful!
Hands down, the best cornbread recipe EVER! Can’t say anything more, other than a must try!
Fantastic corn muffins! Perfect texture, level of sweetness and so easy to make. Thank you for another family favorite! Perfect with chili or just as a simple breakfast bread.
Do you think I can add fresh corn to the recipe? What should be adjusted? thanks!
Sure, Jazmin. I’d add about 1 cup to the batter along with the dry ingredients and butter. Please LMK how they turn out!
Jenn, Can I double this recipe ?
Sure!
These muffins are SCRUMPTIOUS!! I tried it for the first time three or so months ago and I thought “how it is possible that they are so perfect from the first try?” Then I baked them again and sent them to my daughter’s college to share with her friends for breakfast, many thanks were received. When I bake them to share with my coworkers- they are gone in a flash. I plan on making them again soon (being home teleworking all the time) and I can’t wait to bring them back to the office once we re-open. This recipe never fails and it’s makes the most delicious muffins ever! With a few ingredients always handy and ready in a “few minutes” they are the best breakfast for me (my hubby is a not a muffin person). For this reason I freeze them in a container or ziplock bag and I have them anytime I need to make my breakfast complete, They Freeze Very Well. YOU MUST HAVE THIS RECIPE HANDY!! Thank you Jenn!
These were so simple and amazing! I typically don’t love cornbread because it’s always so dry and crumbly. These were moist and a lot less crumbly. The taste was amazing too- a little more salty than sweet which I thought was perfect
Super easy to whip up with everything I had on hand. Big pot of chicken chili is up next to serve these with. Great recipe. In my files!
Loved these. Did not find dry at all or not sweet enough as some other reviewers have suggested. Maybe they are used to the grocery store cornbread that’s more like a sticky, processed, “corn” flavored cake (no judgement, I have my attachments to things like this too). Thought this was a winner as basic recipe that will please most and went really well with the Best Beef Chili.
I feel like I’m cheating using your recipes sometimes because they are all so well balanced and easy to follow. Now my friends and family think I’m an amazing cook and really I’m just following your instructions… I’ve tried many to date and have concluded that while they might not all be 100% to my personal taste, they are all fantastic. I’d feel comfortable serving to guests without having tested first–that’s how consistent you are!
🙂
Scrumptious!
Not much of a baker and not a big fan of trying to eat a handful of crumbs.
These were great and so simple to do. Perfect next to a sweet potato/black bean chili.
Only two of us, so I made a half batch – figured she’d eat one and I’d eat two, and save the others in the freezer (thanks for the instructions). Didn’t happen. Won’t waste my time on that again. Damn the calories – full speed ahead!
Thank you, again and again and again……
🙂 Glad you both enjoyed!
Yummy. I’ve been looking and testing, looking and testing — I will now stop looking and keep this recipe! Easy and delish. My opinionated husband said they were awesome!
🙂 Glad you found “the one!”
Not very “corny”, next time I would add more cornmeal and less flour, and not sweet enough. I think it needs more like 1/2 cup of sugar. Also kinda dry. I was surprised given the 5 star reviews.
Dunno, but I think its might just be you Deb! I made these tonight for the first time and they are sweet, fluffy and moist. Just the right amount of corn for a corn muffin. You can do equal corn and flour but that’s more of a cornbread and not a corn muffin, which is probably what you are looking for!