Sweet Cornbread Muffins Recipe

These sweet cornbread muffins are perfect for breakfast with honey butter or jam, but they also make a great side dish to any meal. Bring them to a barbeque or potluck and watch them get gobbled up in a flash!

If you have a few pantry ingredients and a whisk, you are thirty minutes away from some of the best corn bread muffins you have ever tasted! Unless you don’t like your corn muffins sweet, then this isn’t the recipe for you. 🙂

I grew up eating cornbread, and have made it for my family for decades. It’s a family favorite! I don’t know why it took me so long to branch out and try cornbread muffins. They bake up even faster, and are so easy to just pop in your mouth!

After experimenting with a few recipes, I came back to my original cornbread and just added a few tweaks. We thought they were the best cornbread muffins out of all the ones we tried.

I’ve already made them three times, and they are always gobbled right up. Usually we like them with honey butter, but I happened to have some homemade strawberry jam, so we gave that a try. Delish!

These muffins are on the sweet side (just how we like them), so even if you serve them plain right out of the pan, they are downright tasty!

HOW TO MAKE SWEET CORNBREAD MUFFINS

1. PREP – Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spray 16 muffin cups with non stick cooking spray. You can use muffin liners, but you don’t get the nice crispy edges.
2. WET INGREDIENTS – Whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, and milk in a large mixing bowl. 
3. DRY INGREDIENTS – Measure flour and cornmeal into the wet ingredients. Make a well in the cornmeal. Add the baking powder and salt to the well; use the measuring spoon to stir them into the cornmeal/flour mixture.
   
4. BLEND – Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined. It’s fine if you have a few small lumps, you don’t want to over mix the batter.
   
5. BAKE – Divide the batter between the 16 greased cups. They will be at least 3/4 full. Bake at 375° for 12-14 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 
   
6. COOL – Let muffins sit in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove to wire cooling racks. Serve warm with butter, jam, or honey butter.

HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER CORNBREAD MUFFINS

If your family doesn’t inhale all of the muffins in one setting like mine does, they are also tasty later on. You can store them at room temperature for 3-4 days in an airtight container. We like to heat them in the microwave for a few seconds before eating them.

Want to freeze the muffins? Let them cool completely, then place them in heavy duty ziplock freezer bags or other airtight containers. They will keep in the freezer for 3-4 months. 

When you are ready to serve the frozen muffins, you can either let them thaw at room temperature, or heat them in the microwave at half power for 30-45 seconds.

VARIATIONS:

• For a honey flavored corn muffin, substitute part or all of the sugar with honey.
• I have replaced half of the all purpose flour with freshly ground white whole wheat flour with great results.
• Like a tangy cornbread muffin? Replace the milk with buttermilk and use 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1 1/2 tsp baking soda.
• We think that oil keeps the muffins moist, but you can substitute melted butter if you prefer.
• Gently fold about a cup of blueberries, raspberries, or chopped strawberries to the batter after mixing in the dry ingredients. Note that you will get 18-19 muffins instead of 16.

Can I grind my own cornmeal?

Yes, I have use freshly ground cornmeal for muffins and cornbread and it works great. I used the popcorn kernels I had in my pantry. I have a nutrimill, and it worked perfectly.

The flavor of the corn is even more fresh when you grind your own, and you can grind it as coarse or fine as you like. If you have a smaller grinder, it might be a good idea to grind it coarsely at first, then grind it again on a finer setting.

CORNBREAD MUFFIN PRO TIPS:

• Make sure you are using corn meal for this recipe, and not corn flour or cornbread muffin mix. Just plain cornmeal, either yellow or white will work.
• These muffins really do work best without paper liners. They tend to stick to the liners, and you lose that crisp golden brown edge. Just make sure to give your muffin pan a good coating of cooking spray and they will pop right out.
•  After adding the dry ingredients, don’t overmix the batter. As with any quick breads or muffins, overworking the batter leads to tough muffins.
• Cook the muffins just barely till a toothpick comes out clean. If you over bake them, they will be dry.

Looking for something to serve with your cornbread muffins? Try these:

• Pumpkin Chili
• Taco Soup with Ranch
• Easy Taco Salad
• Lemon Grilled Chicken

MORE TASTY MUFFINS:

• Morning Glory Muffins
• Cinnamon Swirl Muffins
• Rhubarb Muffins
• Oatmeal Muffins

Cornbread muffins are perfect for breakfast, snacks, or as a popular side dish to any meal. They are ridiculously easy, and always a crowd pleaser!