This quick and easy cornbread muffins recipe features corn kernels and sweet honey flavors in every bite. It’s the perfect addition to any meal!
Recipe Science
- Honey sweetens and tenderizes the muffins. As a humectant, it attracts moisture to keep it soft.
- Cornmeal is made from dried, ground corn kernels and can be dense. Adding baking powder keeps the batter light.
- Baking at 400°F encourages a beautiful domed top on the muffins, thanks to a quick rise, while creating a golden-brown crust.
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Featured Comment 56
“These are the best! I have tried variations of cornbread muffins and bread, but this recipe rocks – so well that the entire office has a copy, and this is now a family staple. They also work so well for lunch boxes.”—Georgina
Why It Works
Something about freshly baked cornbread muffins brings a smile, doesn’t it? Those sweet, tender corn cakes can be enjoyed any time of the day. To serve a crowd, you can make skillet cornbread or prepare it in a pan, to slice and share. However, individual servings are the way to go when feeding a crowd, especially for a busy holiday feast like Thanksgiving.
This is my favorite sweet cornbread recipe, and I’ve made it countless times. I’ve even made a dairy-free and gluten-free cornbread muffin version. Before serving, I pop them in the oven for 30 minutes, so they’re nice and warm. The balance of honey with savory cornmeal makes for a perfect side dish.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Cornmeal: Cornmeal is dried kernels of corn ground down for a hearty and dense ingredient. Select yellow cornmeal for a golden hue in the muffins.
- Corn: I like to add whole pieces of corn kernels to the muffin batter for an interesting texture with each bite.
- Flour: The mild protein level of 10 to 13% in all-purpose flour provides structure while keeping the muffins soft.
- Leavening Agent: Using a leavening agent like baking powder (sodium bicarbonate and cream of tartar) helps the muffins rise. Eggs add richness to the batter and help bind the cake together.
- Sweetener: The honey adds a lingering sweetness to the muffins and keeps them moist. Granulated sugar adds sweetness and contributes to browning, helping create a golden crust.
- Butter: The fat reduces gluten formation for tender muffins, and the milk solids accelerate browning.
- Milk: Helps to dilute the batter to make it pourable.
- Salt: Enhances the sweet and savory flavor of the cornbread muffins.
See the recipe card below for all ingredients and measurements (US and metric).
Ingredient Substitutions
This sweet cornbread muffin recipe is easy to customize! Try these tasty options:
- Reduce the Sweetness: To make the cornbread muffins less sweet, reduce the amounts of sugar and honey to ¼ cup each. This will give them a more savory taste. Maple syrup is a good substitute for honey.
- Seasoning: Adding rosemary, thyme, sage, or grated citrus peel can enhance the cornbread muffins’ aromatic flavor.
- Fruit: Stir in fresh or dried cranberries, blueberries, or strawberries for a fruity taste.
- Cheese: Add shredded cheddar cheese, Pepper Jack, Monterey, or Mozzarella. Add ½ to 1 cup. Cooked bacon is also a delicious savory option to mix in.
- Spice: Make jalapeno cornbread, cayenne, chipotle powder, or use hot sauce for a spicy kick!
- Compound Butter: Soften butter to room temperature, then whip in pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon and spread on top. Make honey butter for extra sweetness.
How to Make Cornbread Muffins
Step 1: Heat the Oven
Position the oven rack in the center to ensure even heat circulation for uniform baking. Preheat the oven to 400°F (204ºC), the ideal temperature for creating a perfectly golden crust on your cornbread muffins.
Step 2: Combine Dry Ingredients
The batter base comprises dry ingredients: flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and granulated sugar. Mix those in a large bowl to distribute the fine powders evenly.
Step 3: Combine Wet Ingredients
The wet ingredients help bind the batter, adding fat for tenderness and moisture to prevent the cornbread muffins from drying out. Mix milk, eggs, melted butter, and honey in a medium bowl.
Ingredient Chemistry: The honey sweetens and tenderizes the muffins. Honey is a humectant, which means that it attracts water and keeps the cakes from becoming dry. The natural acids in the honey react with the baking soda to create gas bubbles. The carbon dioxide gets trapped as the batter sets, making light and tender muffins.
Step 4: Make the Batter
Add the wet ingredients to the cornmeal mixture, then gently mix the batter until the flour is hydrated. This prevents a chewy texture. Don’t overmix the batter!
Step 5: Prepare Muffin Tin
To avoid the muffins sticking to the pan, lightly coat the insides with cooking spray. Alternatively, add muffin liners to make them easy to remove. Fill each cup about two-thirds full, and this will give it a domed top.
Step 6: Bake
Bake for about 15 minutes until the surface is golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 7: Cool After Baking
I let the muffins cool in the warm tins for 5 minutes to complete carryover cooking, then immediately transfer them to a wire rack. I always serve them warm with a drizzle of honey so the butter slathered on top melts.
Once you take a bite, you’ll find that the tiny pieces of ground yellow cornmeal provide a nice crunch and are a welcome contrast to whole pieces of sweet corn kernels.
Frequently Asked Questions
Corn muffins are made in a muffin pan to give individually portioned pieces. Cornbread is a similar batter baked in a larger pan or cast iron skillet and then cut into pieces of the desired size. Cornbread often adds sweet fruit or savory ingredients like cheese or spicy peppers.
Either there is too much flour, which makes it fall apart, or there are not enough binders, like eggs. If it’s very dry, you may need more fat from melted butter or vegetable oil.
Cool the muffins completely, then individually wrap them in plastic. Transfer the muffins to a large resealable plastic bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Traditional cornbread muffins aren’t gluten-free because they usually contain all-purpose flour, which provides structure and helps them hold their shape. However, you can easily make them gluten-free using a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend instead of wheat flour.
More Muffin Recipes
If you tried these Cornbread Muffins, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Honey Cornbread Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup reduced-fat milk, or whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup honey
- ¾ cup yellow corn kernels, cooked (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the Oven – Set the oven rack to the center position. Preheat oven to 400°F (204ºC).
- Combine Dry Ingredients – In a large bowl, whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Combine Wet Ingredients – In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, butter, and honey.
- Make the Batter – Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. Gently fold in the corn.
- Prepare Muffin Tin – Lightly spray the muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray. Skip this step if using paper liners. Fill the muffin tins ⅔ full with the batter.
- Bake – Place the muffin tin on a sheet pan and bake in the center rack of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool After Baking – Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack. Do not leave the muffins in the tin longer than 5 minutes. Otherwise, they will become soggy as it cools.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Make Mini Muffins: 48 mini cornbread muffins can be made with this recipe. Grease the inside of the muffin tins and fill 2/3 full, about 1 tablespoon of batter. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, 24 muffins at a time. Cool in the pan for 2 minutes, and then remove.
- Reduce the Sweetness: To make the cornbread muffins less sweet and more savory, reduce the honey to ¼ cup and sugar to ¼ cup.
- Storing: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: Individually wrap in plastic, transfer to a large resealable bag, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Tam says
These were absolutely delicious!
Just a few things about the description:
1) The batter was very thin; more like pancake batter (I had to pour it into a jug to fill the muffin tray). I’m European and I know nothing about cornbread, so this might be completely normal, but then it would be reassuring to make that clear. For example, say “pour” the batter into the muffin tin (versus the usual “spoon/scoop”): “fill” really gives you no hint.
2) This made a lot more muffins than I was expecting. Maybe it was because I used paper liners, which reduces the space, but I had to make a second half batch, so 18 muffins overall.
Jessica Gavin says
I appreciate your feedback, Tam!
ChrisG says
Great recipe ! First time I get this result and I tried A LOT of recipes .
Thanks !
Jessica Gavin says
Thanks Chris! I’m so happy to hear that you had success with the cornbread muffins recipe.
Rosemary says
Delicious! I love how moist these muffins are, yet without the greasy, oily mouth taste so many cornbread and corn muffins have. I only had 1/4 cup of honey in the house, so I completed the remaining 1/4 cup with light brown sugar. I baked them at 425 for 5 minutes to help them rise, then reduced the temperature to 400 for the rest of the time. A keeper!
Jessica Gavin says
Thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the cornbread muffins! Great job substituting the honey with brown sugar.
Kristine says
These were delicious!! Thank you!
Jessica Gavin says
You’re welcome!
Tina says
Taste is great and super moist. But don’t raise at all. I tried to make some mini loaves and they are flat. Same with muffins. But yummy.