Cornbread Muffins
on Jan 14, 2012, Updated Aug 22, 2024
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These Homemade Cornbread Muffins are rich, buttery and perfectly delicious! They’re wonderful for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We especially love eating them as a side dish with a big bowl of chili.
These are great soakers of the last few drops of a bowl of chili, ideal bites on the side of a big barbecue meal, and the savory heroes placed upon many a brunch plate. While you might think cornbread is best with only certain types of dishes, I promise these go swimmingly alongside a versatile range of meals. Truly! And they are ultra heavenly with a generous swipe of honey butter. Give it a try!
Looking for a traditional cornbread recipe? Hundreds of readers love this easy homemade cornbread recipe! I bet you will too!
Table of Contents
17 Best Cornbread Recipes Ever!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Individual muffins are perfect for an on-the-go snack
- Takes less than 30 minutes start to finish
- Lighter and sweeter than traditional cornbread
Recipe Ingredients
- Flour: All-purpose
- Yellow cornmeal
- Sour cream – Gives them a tender, fluffy, thick, and creamy consistency that is to die for!
- Baking soda, baking powder and salt – Allows the muffins to rise and puff up, and balances the flavors.
- Eggs
- Sugar – Gives a touch of sweetness so they don’t taste bland.
- Butter – Makes them rich and moist.
- Milk – Or your favorite dairy-free alternative.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities
How to Make Cornbread Muffins
Step 1. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
Step 2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together. Whisk in the melted butter, sour cream, and milk until smooth.
Step 3. Gently fold the wet ingredients mixture into the dry ingredients. Do not over-mix.
Step 4. Spoon the batter using a large ice cream scoop or a measuring cup to divide the dough evenly among the muffin cups.
Recipe FAQs
You’ll definitely want to spray your muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray really generously for this recipe. If you don’t, or even if you use liners, you’ll risk them sticking to the pan or liners because this is a bit denser, grainier muffin than others.
When serving cornbread muffins warm, you can place them in a shallow basket or bowl lined with a cloth napkin or tea towel. Cover the top of the basket with the napkin until it’s time to eat so the heat stays locked in for longer.
There’s actually a slight difference! Corn muffins are typically a little bit lighter and sweeter than traditional cornbread (which was a Southern soul food originally). Sometimes, corn muffins might also have real bits of corn in them, depending on the recipe. Looking for a more classic cornbread? This cornbread recipe is my all time favorite.
You can certainly freeze these muffins! For storage before that, wrap them in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and leave them at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to a week. Place the remaining wrapped muffins in a sealable bag to freeze, and store them in the freezer for up to two months.
Expert Tips
- To prevent sticking generously spray your muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Liners may not work well with this denser batter.
- Avoid over-mixing by gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined to keep the muffins tender and fluffy.
- Use a large ice cream scoop or measuring cup to evenly divide the batter among the muffin cups for uniform muffins.
- Keep your muffins warm by place baked muffins in a basket lined with a cloth napkin and cover with another napkin to maintain warmth.
How to serve and store Cornbread Muffins
Cornbread muffins pair perfectly with a wide array of dishes. They go great dipped in chili or roasted butternut squash soup, or accompanying BBQ pulled pork, or beef short ribs. These muffins are best served wrapped in a bowl lined and covered with a cloth napkin to keep them moist and warm.
Wrap your cornbread muffins in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and leave them at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to a week. Place the remaining wrapped muffins in a sealable bag to freeze, and store them in the freezer for up to two months.
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
Corn Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Generously coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a medium bowl until combined. Whisk in the melted butter, sour cream, and milk until smooth.
- Gently fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula, until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Use a large ice cream scoop or a measuring cup to divide the dough evenly among the muffin cups.
- Do not level or flatten the surface of the mounds.
- Bake until light golden-brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a few crumbs attached, about 18 minutes.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then flip out onto a wire wrack to let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve with butter, honey, or honey butter!
These were yummy! I deleted all my other cornbread recipes; this is the only one I will make from now on.
I am so happy I found this recipe. These were perfectly balanced-sweet, moist but the right crumble. I did use buttermilk instead of regular milk because buttermilk makes anything better! Also (per usual) wasn’t paying attention to directions and threw it all in one bowl, finally adding eggs when I realized it looked dry and I had forgotten them! Perfect rise and delicious. I love it when a recipe is low maintenance!
The reason for the four stars is because when I baked them, the flour didn’t entirely bake out and showed up in the muffins. I guess I didn’t mix them enough but I didn’t want to over-mix. They’re crumbly still but it’s whatever. Hopefully, they turn out to be delicious, though. Next time, though, I’m baking them a little longer.
Yep, the flour should be mixed in better next time, that should help!
I made them tonight so easy to make we just loved them will be making them again.
I made a double batch for a large party last night and they were a big hit. Got asked to share the recipe multiple times! People said they were expecting them to kind of fall part on first bite but were pleasantly surprised when they didn’t instantly crumble. They found them both moist and delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
Almost forgot, I also made the Vanilla Bean Honey Butter and everyone was raving about that as well.
Made these for tonight’s dinner to go with vegetable lentil soup and they were the perfect pairing! The crunch on the outside was really nice. I subbed Greek yogurt for the sour cream and it worked out great. I would definitely make this again! It was easy and I had most of the ingredients in my pantry. Thank you!
I used the same substitution and served it alongside a tamale lentil casserole. Delicious 😋
Yummm. Enough batter for about 14-15 muffins, but, honestly, the BEST cornmeal muffins I’ve ever had, bar none. Delicious!!!
These were not bad at all. It says it makes 12 but I had enough batter for 18 regular muffins and I filled the cups almost to the top. I did use 1 cup wheat flour and 1 cup white flour. It did not hurt the recipe but did make the muffins a little darker. Won’t do this next time.
I also only had white cornmeal and not yellow but that didn’t seem to hurt taste either. I did not have sour cream on hand and use mayonnaise. It also worked fine. All in all I would make these again but would not like to have 18. I try to stick to 6 or 12 quantities.
These ate like cake…..oh so good! The vanilla bean honey butter took them over the top! I baked these yummy things in cast iron muffin pans so they were done a few minutes sooner. I didn’t have any yellow cornmeal but my blue cornmeal substituted in just fine. Going on the list to make again!!!!! Thanks!!!!!
I bet the blue cornmeal was BEAUTIFUL! I can’t wait to try that myself!
Sarah asked about doing “no sugar” for a muffin. I have some thoughts on that! If you aren’t opposed to honey, it’s a great sub. It is still a sugar, but it’s a whole food! Some hints for baking with honey – use a ratio of 3/4 cup honey to 1 cup granulated sugar and reduce your baking temperature by 25 degrees.
Let me know if you try it!