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
I don’t have any honey or other syrup to sub for it. Will it make a difference If I leave it out?
Hi Dee, you can leave out the honey.
These were PERFECT. Excellent buttery flavor with just the right sweetness. Like others have said though, I got less than 14 muffins. Ended up with 10. But I didn’t want to have to bake a second tray anyway. I had sriracha peppers in my garden and used one of those and it had a nice hint of spice. I think two would’ve also worked without being too spicy. I’ll make these again!
This corn bread recipe is sooo good! Thank you sally for sharing! The combo of butter and corn is just heavenly. By the way, can i add a can of “creamed” corn to this muffin recipe? If so, whats the ideal quantity of creamed corn ? Thank you!
Hi Bianca, 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. Glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Can you use olive oil instead of canola, veg or coconut? Also has anyone tried adding actual pieces of corn. My friends mom makes cornbread with actual corn and it was soo good (buts a secret recipe) so I dont know if I could use this one and just add the corn?
Hi LLK, you can use olive oil, although the taste may be slightly different since it is not as neutral-tasting as vegetable or canola oil. You could add up to a cup of corn kernels. Enjoy!
Can I make in the jumbo muffin tin?
Hi Stephanie, For jumbo muffins 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 22ish minutes.
Made these twice this week -excellent recipe. Made once with fresh jalapenos and once with pickled. I’m sure blueberries and lemon zest would also be great.
Used another recipe before this, in a loaf pan, but after one success, the loaf came out mushy inside twice so wanted an easier recipe and found Sally’s — now I’m just as happy with muffins rather than a loaf.
Interestingly, the recipe only made 9 muffins, filled to top as written, but not in paper cups, just in a regular sized muffin tin. Also, after 5 mins at 425F, they only took 10 mins at 350F.
Thanks!
Good recipe but it only yielded 8 muffins, not 14. I had to make a second batch. I double checked measurements, using a kitchen scale. I filled to the top of the cups, as directed and they look looked like you would expect. Not sure how it could make 14.
Anyway, taste was very nice and loved the addition of jalapeños! Only issue, besides the yield, was that the bottom of muffins were a little too oily/greasy for my taste.
These were AMAZING! I omitted the jalapenos and also made the mini muffin version which came out perfect. Soft, ,moist and the flavors were very well- balanced. Do you have the nutritional value of these and would this work by using Almond-meal or Flaxseed -meal in place of all-purpose flour to make it Gluten free? Thank you for sharing!
Hi Jo Anna, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flours, but some readers have reported success using 1:1 flour substitutes (like Cup4Cup). If you try it, let us know how it goes!
Another winner recipe!
My recipe made 12 regular sized muffins plus12 mini. Muffins!
Thank goodness…cause warm from the oven, those little mini muffins were soooo good…they made a good appetizer!
This is a keeper recipe!
Thank you, Sally!
These were delicious! Didn’t have any jalapeños but used a Hungarian hot wax chilli and it was a lovely flavour without being hot. Used medium cornmeal and worked well.
OMG! So delicious! We actually made these as mini muffins with rosemary for my daughter. We have yet to try the batch with jalapeños. I can’t stop eating them; they are so good!
Advice on doubling this recipe? I need to make a big batch for preschool Thanksgiving and wondered if ok to double all ingredients or if some stuff should not be fully doubled…? Thank you! Love the site and all your recipes!
Hi Mandi! For best taste and texture, we recommend making two batches instead of doubling. Hope they’re a hit!
Can I replace butter with oil?
Thanks
Maria
Hi Maria, we highly recommend using the melted butter. Without it, the flavor could be lacking. Best to stick with the recipe as is. Hope you’ll give it a try!
Muffins were great. Texture was a little crumbly. Used jalapeno from a jar so not spicy at all. Will definitely try again with fresh jalapeno. Will also use less brown sugar.
Delicious! Made a few jalapeño and a few regular corn muffins, both were great! All your recipes I try are always a hit! Thanks for sharing!
Could I substitute 1 cup strawberries instead of jalapenos for a sweet option? Or would that add too much liquid to the recipe? I want to bake one spicy option and one sweet option for the Farmer’s Market! 🙂
Hi Kate! We’ve never tested a strawberry version of these muffins but please let us know if you do!
I subbed the jalapenos for one cup of diced fresh strawberries (patted some moisture out) and then threw in the zest of 3 lemons. They turned out perfectly and had the same wonderful texture of the jalapeno version. Yay! 🙂
Fab recipe! I made it as written last week and everyone loved them. Made them again this morning but added lime zest and some frozen blueberries instead of jalapeño and they were also great!
I have sour cream and yogurt. Can I make buttermilk using either of these please ? If yes could you please let me know how much water should I add to make this buttermilk ?
Hi Niharika! You can use a mixture of half sour cream and half milk to make a buttermilk replacement. Enjoy!
Hi Sally,
Love, love this website. Use your recipes for all my baking. You truly are an inspiration 🙂
For this cornbread 2 tbs on honey. Can I swap in pure maple syrup instead of the honey instead? Run out of honey..
Hi Isabell, Thank you for using our recipes! We haven’t tested this cornbread recipe with maple syrup but it should be ok. Let us know if you try it!
These came out so well! I had tried a different recipe a few weeks back that I didn’t love so have this recipe a try and, wow! They have the delicious corn flavor but with a really nice, moist texture. I left the jalapeños out of a few muffins (I’m a big baby when it comes to spice) and they were delicious on their own! I can’t wait a different variation with cranberries, as suggested.
Would like to add cheese to recipe-how much should I add.
You can add up to a cup of shredded cheese. Enjoy!
Can always rely on Sally’s recipes coming out delicious! The muffins are not too sweet and just a tiny touch of heat with the jalapeno peppers. Nice and moist – I used cornmeal – I’m guessing medium, but next time will try with corn flour which is a very fine blend. Definitely recommend you try this recipe.
Fantastic recipe! If you make it in a skillet, do you preheat the skillet first?
Hi Anthony, you certainly can. Pre-heating a cast iron skillet helps seal a delicious crispy crust.
Fantastic! Thank you
Love the taste of these but found when adding the buttermilk that the subsequent reaction turns it into a mousse-like mixture very quickly and difficult to spoon into individual cases. Is there a way around this? Thanks
I use a large piping bag. That makes it easy to get the batter into your muffin tins.
Scrape the batter into a large pitcher/measuring cup with a spout, and pour the batter into the muffin cups.
Really very good recipe explained in simple. Must try recipe. Thank You.
Can I use fine ground cornmeal for this? That’s what I have in my cabinet.
Hi Mary! Yes, you can use fine ground cornmeal. That is what I typically use.
I’m eating the cornbread as I am writing this. This is the BEST cornbread I have ever tasted. Perfect combination of sweet and spice with super moist texture and flavor. Simply out of this world. I didn’t have a muffin pan so baked in a regular square pan. Amazing!!!!
Thank you, Sally.
This is my second time using this recipe and all I can say is SIMPLY DELICIOUS!!!! During this time of staying home, my husband and I are cooking more and trying different recipes. This one is so easy to make and SO moist! I used jiffy mix for the dry ingredients and added chopped colorful mini peppers with the jalapenos. I now understand why these are addictive! Thanks for sharing your favorite recipe with us novice cooks!!
I had a problem with this recipe. The heat was definitely too much on this one & mine came out too brown around the edges. It is very moist in the center & the flavor is good but disappointed that they over baked. In my oven at least.
Hi Leanne, I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor! I recommend checking your oven temperature. An oven thermometer has saved me many times! Check out #7 in my Baking Tips post.
I’m very picky about corn muffins and I love these corn muffins- I don’t currently have a jalapeño but the next time I have one on hand I will definitely be adding it to this recipe. Thank you Sally.
Hi! Can I make these not using a muffin tin? I want it to be more like a bread? Also what would be the cooking time?
Hi Katie, You can use this recipe and follow the baking instructions on my Favorite Cornbread Recipe.