Cornbread Muffins Recipe
Updated Aug 25, 2026
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These are the best cornbread muffins you’ll ever eat! They’re sweet and moist with a tender crumb, and fresh corn in every bite. Plus, these cornbread muffins are easy to make in 25 minutes – no mixer required. Best served slathered with this cinnamon honey butter!
I love cornbread and make it often in the fall and winter. But when we’re entertaining, I usually prefer to make these cornbread muffins instead. They’re just as delicious as my classic cornbread, but are baked in individual portions which makes them much easier to serve!
And I’m super picky when it comes to cornbread. It has to me moist, like really moist, and slightly sweet (but not too sweet) – and I can honestly say these are the best cornbread muffins I’ve ever had (even better than Portillo’s)! And, they’re easy to make from scratch without a box mix in 25 minute! Best served slathered with this cinnamon honey butter, of course.
Why You’ll Love These Cornbread Muffins
- Irresistibly moist. Butter, whole milk and sour cream make these cornbread muffins incredibly moist with a soft, tender crumb.
- Perfectly sweet. Sugar and honey give them just the right amount of sweetness without being overly sweet.
- Made with real corn. Corn kernels add delicious flavor and texture to every bite.
- Easy to make. One bowl, 25 minutes, and you get perfect cornbread muffins.
- Perfect for serving. Cornbread muffins are an easy individual side dish for chili, soup, BBQ, Thanksgiving dinner and more.
These were so good and moist! Even great the next day warmed up (even better really!)
– Janelle
Cornbread Muffins: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Yellow Cornmeal. I recommend using fine yellow cornmeal for the best texture. White cornmeal works well too, although the muffins will be lighter in color.
- All-Purpose Flour. Use gluten-free flour to make them gluten-free. Bread flour and cake flour also work well.
- Salted Butter. Unsalted butter can be used in place of salted butter.
- Whole Milk. I suggest half and half or heavy cream as the best substitutions.
- Sour Cream. Full-fat sour cream is one of the secrets to making these cornbread muffins super moist. Full-fat Greek yogurt is a great substitution.
- Granulated sugar and honey. I don’t recommend making substitution for the granulated sugar or honey. If you don’t love sweet cornbread muffins you can reduce the amount of sugar but that is all I would recommend.
- Corn. Feel free to use fresh corn (cooked) from the cob or frozen and thawed corn.
How to Make Cornbread Muffins From Scratch
Let’s walk through how to make this recipe step-by-step, and don’t forget to watch the video.
Begin by combining the dry ingredients (except for the sugar) in a large bowl, then set the mixture aside to use later.
Next, whisk the melted butter, sugar and honey together in a large bowl, then add the milk, sour cream and eggs and whisk until smooth.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir/whisk until the mixture is smooth. It should not be runny, but should be slightly thick and easy to stir.
Don’t over-mix the batter
Be careful and only mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Over-mixing can result in dry or sunken cornbread muffins.
Next, fold in the corn kernels. You can either use fresh corn cut off the cob (cooked) or thawed frozen corn. Don’t mix frozen corn kernels into the batter because it will effect the baking time.
Next, put a heaping ¼ cup batter into each well of a greased muffin tin.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are set, lightly golden-brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cornbread muffins comes out clean.
Let the corn muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool slightly.
Serve
Serve these cornbread muffins warm with a generous slather of this cinnamon honey butter – it’s seriously delicious.
They’re of my favorite side dishes for chili and soup, but they’re also delicious with pot roast, BBQ and just about any main dish! And because they’re already portioned for serving, they’re an easy cornbread recipe to make for Thanksgiving, super bowl parties, etc. Here are some of our favorite recipes to enjoy with these cornbread muffins.
- Chili! We love chili around here, beef chili, turkey chili, white bean chicken chili, crock pot chili, and healthy chicken chili are all great companions for this cornbread muffin recipe.
- Soup. this sausage and kale soup, vegetable soup and this chicken and rice soup!
- This slow cooker pot roast is a great main dish to serve with this cornbread muffins.
- And of course, serve them as a side amongst all your favorite Thanksgiving Recipes.
- Serve them as a Thanksgiving or holiday side dish alongside this Roast Turkey and the best Turkey Gravy!
How to Store Cornbread Muffins
Store any leftover cornbread muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 days. You can also use them to make the best cornbread croutons.
How To Freeze Cornbread Muffins
Let the muffins cool completely then store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months. If you plan on freezing it for a while, I recommend also tightly wrapping each muffin in plastic wrap before putting it in an airtight container.
More Delicious Cornbread Recipes
If you love these homemade cornbread muffins, you’ll love these recipes:
- You’ll never buy a boxed mix again when you make this homemade cornbread.
- Cornbread croutons are the most perfect way to use up leftovers.
- This corn pudding is another “skip the mix” recipe made completely from scratch.
- For a different stuffing on Thanksgiving, make this cornbread dressing.
Cornbread Muffins Recipe FAQs
This recipe makes very moist muffins, if they turn out dry it’s likely that they were over-baked. Next time, shorten the baking time and be sure to use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is heating to the proper temperature. Also, make sure to measure the flour correctly.
This corn muffins recipe calls for yellow cornmeal, but white can be used as well it will just have a different color. Use finely ground or medium ground cornmeal for the best results.
Cornbread muffins are done when the tops are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
The most likely reason is that they’re underbaked or if the batter is over-mixed and too much air got in before baking.
Thoroughly grease each well of the muffin pan with cooking spray or butter, or use muffin liners. Let the muffins cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before carefully releasing the sides and removing them.
Warm individual muffins for 5-10 seconds in the microwave or cover them and reheat them in the oven. Adding a little butter before microwaving helps keep them moist,
Yes. You can make cornbread muffins a day before serving and store them in an airtight container. Reheat gently, covered, in the oven set to “warm” for the best texture.
Typically, yes. The terms corn muffins and cornbread muffins are often used interchangeably. Some corn muffin recipes are sweeter and more cake-like, while cornbread muffins are just cornbread batter baked in a muffin tin.
If you make and love my recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so I can see your creations!
Best Cornbread Muffins Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- ¾ cup yellow cornmeal
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup salted butter (melted)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup corn kernels (fresh, or frozen & thawed)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
- In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and sea salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter sugar and honey.
- Add, milk, sour cream and eggs and whisk until smooth.
- Add dry ingredients and stir/whisk until mixture is smooth.
- Fold in corn kernels.
- Put ¼ cup batter into each well of the prepared muffin tin.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the top is set, lightly golden-brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool slightly.
- Serve warm with butter, cinnamon butter.
Notes
- Yellow Cornmeal. I recommend using fine yellow cornmeal for the best texture. White cornmeal works well too, although the muffins will be lighter in color.
- All-Purpose Flour. Use gluten-free flour to make them gluten-free. Bread flour and cake flour also work well.
- Salted Butter. Unsalted butter can be used in place of salted butter.
- Whole Milk. I suggest half and half or heavy cream as the best substitutions.
- Sour Cream. Full-fat sour cream is one of the secrets to making these cornbread muffins super moist. Full-fat Greek yogurt is a great substitution.
- Granulated sugar and honey. I don’t recommend making substitution for the granulated sugar or honey. If you don’t love sweet cornbread muffins you can reduce the amount of sugar but that is all I would recommend.
- Corn. Feel free to use fresh corn (cooked) from the cob or frozen and thawed corn.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These were so good and moist! Even great the next day warmed up (even better really!)
these cornbread muffins are delicious. Easy to make. stick to recipe and cooling times