Honey cornbread muffins recipe that’s easy, fast and will be the perfect complement to any feast. These golden muffins have cornmeal and sweet honey in each bite.
There’s something about freshly baked cornbread muffins that makes me smile. Do you feel the same? I crave those sweet corn cakes. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, there’s never a wrong time for them. When feeding a crowd, especially for a busy holiday feast like Thanksgiving, individual servings are the way to go.
I pop these cornbread muffins into the oven about 30 minutes before serving so that they’re nice and warm. Using the magical ingredient baking powder, allows the batter to rapidly rise and bake into light and tender muffins. The balance of sweet honey nectar with savory cornmeal makes for a delicious side dish that will disappear faster than it took to make!
The first time I ever had cornbread muffins was in second grade (yes, going way back!). My class was having a Thanksgiving party, and I vividly recall someone’s mom dropping off a platter of cakey golden squares. My eyes turned to saucers, and I couldn’t wait to try it. It happened to be the recipe from the back of a Jiffy box, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Now I enjoy my homemade version crumbled on top of some turkey chili!
Can’t forget the Honey
Each cornbread muffin is packed with sticky sweet honey. This makes the flavor even more delicious and the cake super moist. Honey is a humectant, which means that it attracts water and keeps the cakes from becoming dry. This is my absolute favorite cornbread recipe, and I’ve made it countless times. I’ve even experimented with gluten-free flour as the base. I swear you can barely notice the difference in textures compared to wheat flour.
Tiny pieces of ground yellow cornmeal provide a nice crunch and are a welcome contrast to whole pieces of sweet corn kernels. Adding some rosemary, thyme or even grated citrus peel can make the flavor even more interesting. Make sure to let some butter come to room temperature, and then get ready to drizzle honey on each irresistible bite.
More Muffin Recipes
How to make tender cornbread muffins
Cornmeal is dried kernels of corn that have been ground down, but it can be pretty dense. To make these muffins cakey and moist add flour and eggs to the base. This process will help give the muffin structure from the proteins. The honey and sugar not only sweeten the muffins but tenderizes them as well. Using a leavening agent like baking powder (sodium bicarbonate and cream of tartar) helps the muffins to rise. The acid and base in the baking soda react in the presence of water to create gas bubbles. When baked in the oven, the carbon dioxide formed gets trapped as the heat helps the batter set. You know what I’m talking about, those cute little muffin tops.
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
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204ºC).
- In a large bowl mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, butter, and honey.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. Gently fold in the corn.
- Lightly spray the muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray. Skip this step is using paper liners. Fill the muffin tins ⅔ full with the batter.
- Place the muffin tin on a sheet pan and bake in the center rack of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden and toothpick inserted in the center, comes out clean.
- 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
Equipment
Notes
- 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.
- To make the cornbread muffins less sweet and more savory, reduce the honey to 1/4 cup and sugar to 1/4 cup.
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Cassidy Zuver says
These came out perfectly!! Thank you so much for sharing. I also whipped some honey butter up to spread on top. Goes great with homemade Chili too.
Jessica Gavin says
Whoo hoo! Great job Cassidy, I’m loving the addition of the honey butter 🙂
Maha says
I just made these they came out perfect! I am in love 💗 I think I will make more for my friends too ! Thank you so much and the only change I made was using 1/2 cup of butter and 1/4cup of honey that’s it and the baking time is perfect 👍🏻
Doris says
Can I use self rising cornmeal?
Jessica Gavin says
No, I would use regular cornmeal since I’m not sure how much leavening agent is the self rising cornmeal.
donutstodanish says
I’ve now made this recipe a few times (most recently for Thanksgiving) and they are such a crowd-pleaser! So moist, sweet and delicious….and easy to make! This last time I made them into mini-loaves, which were so fun!
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you for making the recipe! I love the idea of making them into mini loaves. Did you have to adjust the bake time?
Sharyn says
I had been buying a honey cornbread mix in a box. We moved from VA to CO, and I cannot find the boxed mix anywhere. Since I had all the ingredients at home, I figured why not make my own instead of buying a mix? Really enjoyed these. They were not overly crumbly (some corn muffins are). They were a bit sweet for me and my husband, so next time I’ll try the 1/4 cup each of sugar and honey, as you suggest. You mention adding rosemary, thyme or grated citrus peel as interesting additions for flavor. How much would you add of any of these?
Miss Tee says
I would like to try this recipe but is there a substitute for the eggs?
Jessica Gavin says
To replace two large eggs mix 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds with 6 tablespoons water, allow to sit and thicken for 5 to 10 minutes. The cornbread will be a little denser without the eggs.
Joy says
Could you cook this in 9×13 pan instead of muffin form?
Janis Osborne says
My favorite cornbread muffins recipe ever!
I think the addition of the honey and the corn made
a remarkable positive difference.
My husband was all smiles…thank you.
Jessica Gavin says
Great to hear Janis! So glad that your family enjoyed the cornbread. My kids love it too!
Kaelyn says
how to make it thick and brown
Denise Y says
Oh my goodness, these were so easy to make and turned out beautifully 👍 The only change I made was using KA Gluten Free flour. This is definitely going into my all time favorite recipe box 🤤 Absolutely delicious !
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you, Denise! Great to hear it worked well with gluten free flour too.