Much like my favorite cornbread recipe, these cornbread muffins make for a delicious accompaniment to so many meals. Tender and buttery, with just the right amount of sweetness, you can have warm, homemade cornbread muffins on the table in less than an hour. No mixer required!
I originally published this recipe in 2015 and have since added new photos and a video tutorial.
My favorite cornbread recipe has become a favorite of hundreds of readers, too. It’s tender, buttery, and—the best part of all—it’s NOT dry. It’s also supremely versatile. Bake the cornbread in a skillet or a regular baking pan, or bake it directly on top of chili like I do in my cornbread chili casserole. It’s a quick, easy, and satisfying side dish. And today I’m sharing how to make a muffin version.
One reader, Sandra, commented: “Best cornbread muffins I have ever made! Not too sweet. Beautiful light texture and perfectly moist… I added 2 large seeded chopped jalapeño peppers. The batter produced 12 lovely muffins. I will be making these frequently! Winner! ★★★★★“
One reader, Parks, commented: “Easy recipe to follow, quick to make, and turned out fabulously! Moist in the middle, crunchy on top, and delicious. I made them to accompany chili. Will add this recipe to my regulars. ★★★★★“
These Cornbread Muffins Are:
- Buttery and slightly sweet.
- Moist & tender, not dry in the least.
- Easy to make—no mixer needed!
- A delicious side dish for so many meals. Or just a tasty snack!
Important Ingredients (& Why You’re Using Them)
- Butter: Butter is one of the main flavors in this cornbread muffin recipe. Cornbread without butter can taste like it’s missing something.
- Oil: Unlike in my regular cornbread, I add a little oil to the muffin batter. The oil lightens up the crumb and helps prevent the cornbread muffins from being too crumbly.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk makes cakes, muffins, and breads extra moist. If you’re interested, I have plenty more on this topic in my Baking with Buttermilk post (including a DIY buttermilk substitute recipe).
- Cornmeal: Equal parts cornmeal and flour makes for the BEST cornbread muffins. With 1 cup of cornmeal, you get lots of flavor, plus crisp-crunchy edges.
- Brown Sugar & Honey: Just enough to sweeten and add flavor, without making these taste like dessert.
You’ll also need flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and an egg.
Cornbread Muffins Batter: Fill It High!
The batter for these cornbread muffins comes together quickly with just a couple bowls and a whisk. It’s very thick, so you can fill the muffin liners all the way to the top without risking over-spreading (…into mushroom-looking muffins).
Don’t over-mix; you want to stir until just combined.
Success Tip: Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F, then reduce the temperature to 350°F for the remaining bake time. This initial high oven temperature lifts the muffin top up quickly and creates a tall, crusty cornbread crown. The best! I use this trick for my base muffin recipe and pretty much all muffin recipes I develop and publish.
Optional Add-ins
These buttery-moist cornbread muffins are delicious all on their own, but add-ins are welcome here, too! Try jazzing them up with:
- Shredded cheese: 3/4 cup of cheddar, monterey jack, or pepper jack cheese all taste great in these corn muffins.
- Corn: 1 cup of cooked or canned (and drained) corn kernels amp up the sweet corn flavor and introduce another texture to the muffins. I always include corn in this skillet cornbread recipe.
- Scallions: 1/4 cup of chopped spring green onions are a wonderful addition here, as well.
- Bacon: Crumble or chop 6 strips of cooked bacon and add to the batter for a cornbread muffin that would taste incredible alongside eggs, quiche, or frittata for brunch.
- Jalapeño peppers: Spice things up a bit with 1–2 chopped jalapeños. I LOVE these.
And of course, homemade honey butter is always fantastic with cornbread muffins.
Serve Cornbread Muffins With…
- Sweet Potato Turkey Chili
- Cilantro Lime Chicken
- Light Chicken Corn Chowder
- Slow Cooker Chicken Chili
- Sweet Chili Chicken
- Maryland Crab Soup
Cornbread Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
You can make these cornbread muffins plain, or add chopped jalapeños or any of the other optional add-ins listed in the Notes below. Paired with the subtle sweetness of honey and brown sugar, these easy cornbread muffins are a wonderful snack and side dish.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120g) cornmeal (fine or medium ground)
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (43g) honey
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
- optional add-ins: 1–2 chopped jalapeño peppers (or see Note below)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Line a 12-count muffin pan with liners or spray with nonstick spray. Set pan aside.
- Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the cooled melted butter, oil, brown sugar, and honey together until completely smooth and thick. Then, whisk in the egg until combined. Finally, whisk in the buttermilk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Fold in the peppers. Avoid over-mixing.
- Spoon batter into muffin liners, filling all the way to the top. Bake for 5 minutes 425°F (218°C) then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce heat to 350°F (177°C) and continue baking for another 16–17 minutes. The total time these muffins should be in the oven is about 21–23 minutes. Use a toothpick to test. If it comes out clean, the muffins are done.
- Remove muffins from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before enjoying. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze baked cornbread muffins for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Silicone Spatula
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is required for this recipe. If you don’t have any, you can make a DIY buttermilk substitute by adding 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk to make 1 cup total. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes before using. Whole milk is strongly recommended for moistest, richest texture, but you can use lower fat or nondairy milk in a pinch.
- Jalapeño: The heat cooks down in the oven. For mildly spicy muffins, use 1 jalapeño. For medium, use 2. Jalapeño seeds have the most heat, so add them to the batter for extra heat. I leave out the seeds in the batter.
- Other Add-Ins: Fold any of the following into the batter after you combine the wet and dry ingredients. Shredded cheese: 3/4 cup of cheddar, monterey jack, or pepper jack cheese. Corn: 1 cup of cooked or canned (and drained) corn kernels. Scallions: 1/4 cup of chopped spring green onions. Bacon: Crumble or chop up 6 strips of cooked bacon.
- Skillet Cornbread: Baking cornbread in a skillet gives it an even heartier, crunchy crust. Bake this cornbread in a 9-inch or 10-inch oven safe greased skillet at the same temperature for the same amount of time.
- Why the initial high temperature? Like I instruct for most of my muffin recipes, bake the muffins for 5 minutes at a very hot temperature. Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, switch to a lower temperature for the remaining bake time. This initial high temperature will quickly lift the muffin tops, then the centers will bake during the lower temperature bake time.
- Mini Cornbread Muffins: This recipe yields around 30 mini cornbread muffins. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for around 10–12 minutes.
Reader Comments and Reviews
These were tender and delicious and not too sweet! Thank you.
I Always depend on you Sally for my best baking, thanks, the muffins were tasty, moist and baked consistently throughout.
Can I replace the honey with maple syrup and the buttermilk and oil with yogurt or sour cream?
Hi R, you can omit the honey if you wish with no other changes. Or, you could use maple syrup in its place. We recently tested several recipes with multiple buttermilk substitutes, which you may have already seen. We did not specifically test the cornbread muffins with yogurt, but we think it would probably be fine. It may not have the exact same taste and texture as if you made the recipe with buttermilk, but we think they will be perfectly edible!
Thank you! I think I’ll keep the buttermilk, but I only see low-fat buttermilk. Is that ok?
Yes!
I decided to make these on the spur of moment. Its an easy and delicious recipe. I ran out of olive oil and so I used 1 tablespoon of Meyer Lemon olive oil and 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil.
If I wanted to make these autumnal with pumpkin puree how would I adjust the recipe…
Hi Adelle, we haven’t tested the addition of pumpkin to this cornbread, but it would definitely take some experimenting since pumpkin is such a wet ingredient. If you decide to try anything, please do let us know how it goes. Otherwise, cranberries are a fantastic addition for a pop of autumn!
There is nothing like making a new recipe and having it being a success the first time. That is how I feel every time I make one of Sally’s Baking Addiction recipes. This cornbread muffin is just amazing. Not surprised about that because every recipe I have made of Sally’s is just perfect. The first recipe I made of hers is the bagel recipe. I can’t tell you how many times I have used it and making different variations of it. I just want to say to you a big THANK YOU!
Haven’t tasted yet, so disregard that. I doubled the recipe to make 24, only made 21 with the filling hitting approximately 1/8-1/4 below the top rim of the muffin liner. I anticipated this after reading the reviews, and I’m starting to think it’s a recipe/batter thing rather than user error. Maybe just adjust the numbers at the top of the recipe so people aren’t expecting 12/24?
Wanted to add that the flavor was great and they were all ate at my party.
I made these cornbread muffins tonight to go with chilli and they brought back a memory of when we were kids and we would put dark syrup over a piece of cornbread. Delicious! This recipe is a keeper! Thanks!
I made these for dinner tonight to go with our chili. I only made half a batch. They were delicious and filled the muffin tins to the top. This will be my go recipe for corn muffins going forward! Thanks for this easy delicious muffin recipe!
I filled to the top as was written in this recipe and only got 9 muffins. And they cooked in 20 mins.
I love these muffins, but I’ve also found that if I fill them “all the way to the top” I only get 10-11 muffins, so I just fill them slightly lower than all the way full and I get 12. (I make them with no add-ins.)
Can I make the batter in advance and refrigerate until ready to bake?
Hi EV! We don’t recommend it. The muffins won’t rise properly when baked.
I made these exactly as described, but could barely fill 12 cases half way up….. what did I do wrong? I use the USA Pan Bakeware Muffin Pan if this helps….
Hi Adelle, were any ingredients accidentally omitted by chance? The batter should fill 12 standard-sized muffin cavities to the top. It sounds like there wasn’t quite enough batter.
I only got 9 muffins because I filled to the top. I followed the recipe exactly but didn’t add jalapenos.
I like that they were moist and not too crumbly but I do like a sweeter cornbread. The recipe is a keeper but maybe more honey next time around will make the just right for me.
Is it ok to double the recipe or must I make 2 batches?
Hi Jan, this recipe should be fine to double. Enjoy!
Made this recipe, I used a large baking sheet to bake the bacon (making a bit extra for a bit more fat to work with), scraping the fond off when it was done to set aside, roasted the corn in some butter and the bacon fat, and cut the olive oil with some of the bacon fat. For jalapeños I used pickled, drained and dried off with paper towels, and the recommended amount of cheddar. I greased the tray with the bacon fat and put the fond in the batter, and these are some of the best cornbread I’ve ever had. Great recipe.
Hi! If adding a can of creamed corn, do I need to cut any of the liquid ingredients from the recipe to avoid this becoming pudding vs bread?
Hi Jenn, you can add up to a cup of corn to this recipe. Try not to add too much of the canned liquid (drain the corn as best you can) so that there isn’t too much additional liquid in the batter. Enjoy!
This is such a delicious recipe! I am in love with these muffins and will definitely make again!
“Goofed” in my first comment. Had been looking for a recipe using honey – but very happy this recipe calls for brown sugar!! I’ve never made corn muffins using brown sugar. Can’t wait to taste them!!
Hi Cecile, thank you for trying these! Let us know how they turn out for you.
I’m 75 years old & have been baking since I was 15. I wanted the best recipe for cornbread made with honey & butter – so I immediately came here!!
Trying – for the first time – country style ribs in my air fryer. Will be perfect with these muffins! ❤️
I have an electric oven, it doesn’t cool down as fast as maybe a gas stove, any suggestions?
Love love love these muffins! Thank you for another delicious recipe!
These are yummy! I used honey instead of brown sugar. Put in hot peppers & used flour from Italy. Even forgot 425 at first so did it after 5 minutes. They still came out great! I am spoiled can’t eat anything not homemade. Thank you!
I made the Cornbread Muffins for the first time today and they came out amazing! It was a last minute decision and I used corn flour instead of cornmeal as that’s what I had on hand. The flavor was amazing , and they were very moist. I will never used a boxed corn muffin mix again! I am addicted to Sally’s Baking Addiction!
Delicious. Also like that the only sugar is a 1/4 cup brown sugar.