Honey Cornbread Muffins

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Honey Cornbread Muffins โ€” Between the sour cream, coconut oil, and butter in the batter, it’s impossible to wind up with dry honey cornbread muffins! Serve these at Thanksgiving, or alongside your favorite soups, chilis, and stews. 

Honey Cornbread Muffins 

Honey Cornbread Muffins Recipe

Cornbread, like scones, can be horribly dry and tasteless. I promise these honey cornbread muffins are not.

I hadn’t had cornbread in ages and randomly it popped into my head. Actually, I had a craving for honey, and the muffins were the perfect excuse to satisfy my honey craving.

There’s honey in the batter to add sweetness and moisture, as well as drizzled on top. If you like sweet cornbread muffins, this is the recipe for you.

It’s an easy whisk-together recipe that follows standard muffin-making protocol. A bowl of dry ingredients, a bowl of wet ingredients, add wet to dry, fold, and bake. 

The milk I used was Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and I love it. It only has 30-calorie per 8 ounces, tastes great, and if I need a milk for baking, vegan or otherwise, it’s what I use most often. All Silk products are dairy-free and gluten-free and I like that Silk is committed to and believes in the benefits of a plant-based diet.

I combatted the dryness issue that often plagues cornbread by using a bit of coconut oil (you can’t taste it) and sour cream in addition to the melted butter in the batter. Between the oil, sour cream, and butter, there’s no excuse for dryness unless you over bake the cornbread muffins. Less is more with cornbread because it can become dried out and overdone quickly.

The muffins are soft, fluffy, light, and nicely sweetened from the honey. They’re like little sponges and soaked it right up, but you can omit the honey drizzle if you want to pair the muffins with chili, soup, or savory fare.

For me, the more honey, the merrier.

sweet Cornbread Muffins on countertop with 2 spoons

What’s in These Cornbread Muffins? 

To make these sweet cornbread muffins, you’ll need: 

  • All-purpose flour
  • Cornmeal
  • Granulated sugar
  • Baking powder 
  • Cinnamon
  • Salt
  • Unsalted butter
  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Honey
  • Coconut oil
  • Sour cream

Honey Cornbread Muffins next to mini cornbread loaf

How to Make Cornbread Muffins

To make this sweet cornbread muffin recipe, simply stir together the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another. Then, combine the two and spoon the cornbread muffin batter into your prepared muffin cups. 

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full, then top with a sprinkle of cornmeal. Bake at 400ยบF for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350ยบF and continue baking until the tops are domed, puffed, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the sweet cornbread muffins to cool for roughly 10 minutes before serving them. I like to eat mine with a pat of butter and a drizzle of honey on top, but enjoy these however you’d like! 

two sweet cornbread muffins stacked atop each other

Can I Make This Recipe as One Loaf of Cornbread? 

I haven’t tried making these cornbread muffins as regular honey cornbread, but I’m sure you could turn the batter into a 9×13-inch pan and bake it that way. I haven’t made it like that myself though, so I’m not sure how long you’d need to bake the cornbread for. 

Honey Cornbread Muffins - Finally cornbread that's not dry! Fluffy, moist and sweetened with honey! You'll love this sweet cornbread!

Can I Freeze Cornbread Muffins? 

Yes, but you’ll want to freeze them plain (i.e. without butter or honey on top). To freeze these sweet cornbread muffins, let them cool completely on your counter and then seal them in a freezer bag. To thaw the muffins, either reheat them in the microwave or set them on your counter. 

Honey Cornbread Muffins โ€” Between the sour cream, coconut oil, and butter in the batter, it's impossible to wind up with dry honey cornbread muffins! Serve these at Thanksgiving, or alongside your favorite soups, chilis, and stews. 

Tips for Making Honey Cornbread Muffins 

If you prefer less sweet muffins, you can scale back the amount of sugar you add to the batter. This cornbread muffin recipe calls for 3/4 cup sugar, but add 1/2 cup if you don’t want them to be as sweet. 

Also, make sure your eggs and milk are room temperature before whisking them into the wet ingredients. If the milk and eggs are still fridge cold, you’ll wind up solidifying some of the butter and coconut oil when you stir them together. 

Finally, this sweet cornbread muffin recipe makes about 14 muffins, but rather than dirtying another muffin pan after making 1 dozen, I used the remaining batter and made a mini cornbread loaf. I used my mini loaf pan and use my mini pans all the time for extra cupcake or muffin batter, or for mini cakes. Super handy.

Honey Cornbread Muffins โ€” Between the sour cream, coconut oil, and butter in the batter, it's impossible to wind up with dry honey cornbread muffins! Serve these at Thanksgiving, or alongside your favorite soups, chilis, and stews. 

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4.47 from 26 votes

Honey Cornbread Muffins

By Averie Sunshine
Between the sour cream, coconut oil, and butter in the batter, it's impossible to wind up with dry honey cornbread muffins! Serve these at Thanksgiving, or alongside your favorite soups, chilis, and stews.ย 
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 14 muffins
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Ingredients  

  • 1 ยฝ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup cornmeal, plus more for sprinkling
  • ยพ cup granulated sugar, reduce to 1/2 cup for less sweet muffins
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ยฝ teaspoon cinnamon
  • pinch salt, optional and to taste
  • ยฝ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, melted
  • 1 cup milk, I used Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • ยผ cup honey, plus more for drizzling
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, vegetable or canola oil may be substituted
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream, plain or vanilla Greek yogurt may be substituted

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan with floured cooking spray or grease and flour the pan; set aside. Recipe makes about 14 muffins but I made 12 muffins and used a mini loaf pan for the remaining batter rather than dirtying another muffin pan or discarding batter; do whatever is easiest.
  • In a large bowl, add the first 6 ingredients, through optional salt, and whisk to combine; set bowl aside.
  • In a medium microwave-safe bowl, add the butter and heat to melt, about 1 minute on high power. Allow butter to cool momentarily so you donโ€™t scramble the eggs.
  • Add add remaining ingredients to butter and whisk to combine and until smooth and no white streaks remain.
  • Pour wet mixture over dry ingredients and fold until combined; donโ€™t overmix.
  • Using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or spoon, fill each muffin cavity to a solid 3/4-full. Any less and you wonโ€™t get a domed top.
  • Add a generous pinch of cornmeal to the top of each muffin and loaf.
  • Bake at 400F for 10 minutes.
  • Reduce oven temp to 350F and bake muffins for about 5 to 7 minutes (about 15 to 17 minutes total), or until tops are domed, puffed, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs dangling, but no batter. Mini loaf will take a approximately 2 minutes longer than muffins. Be very careful not to overbake or cornbread will be dry.
  • Allow muffins and loaf to cool in pan for about 10 minutes before carefully removing.
  • Optionally, drizzle with honey and add a pat of butter before serving.

Notes

Cornbread is best warm and fresh, but will keep airtight at room temp for up to 3 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 239kcal, Carbohydrates: 34g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 47mg, Sodium: 138mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 16g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

More Thanksgiving Recipes: 

Skillet Cornbread โ€” Moist, fluffy, golden brown buttermilk cornbread prepared in a cast iron skillet for a crispy edge. Whether you make it for a weeknight family dinner or a holiday celebration, itโ€™s so EASY, ready in 30 minutes, and FOOLPROOF!

Classic Skillet Cornbread - Moist, fluffy, homemade cornbread prepared in a cast iron skillet for a crispy edge. The buttery subtle sweetness makes it a cross between a side dish and a stand-alone comforting snack. Whether you make it for a weeknight family dinner or a holiday celebration, it's so EASY, ready in 30 minutes, and FOOLPROOF!

Slow Cooker Sausage Stuffing โ€” This sausage stuffing is super easy to make since the slow cooker does all the hard work for you! Thereโ€™s no sauteing or browning required at all! 

Slow Cooker Sausage Stuffing

Sweet Potato Casserole with Butter Pecan Crumble Topping โ€” The sweet potatoes are so tender, creamy, and fluffy while the crumbly, streusel topping adds a buttery, brown sugary crunch thanks to the pecans.

Sweet Potato Casserole with Butter Pecan Crumble Topping

Cabernet Cranberry and Blueberry Sauce โ€” Move over boring cranberry sauce! Cranberries are so much better with blueberries and wine! Make your own sauce in 30 minutes, so EASY, and everyone LOVES it!!

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Classic Traditional Thanksgiving Stuffing โ€“ Nothing frilly or trendy. Classic, amazing, easy, homemade stuffing that everyone loves!

Classic Traditional Thanksgiving Stuffing

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

4.47 from 26 votes (22 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. Mine look PERFECT. I’m not even one to care what they look like, but dang! I’m impressed with myself.
    The day before you posted these, I was thinking “man, I could use some cornbread.”
    Mmmmmm

    Also, unrelated – apparently my husband wants some crispy cookies. Most of the ones I make (yours, duh) are nice and soft – any ideas for crispy ones?

    1. So glad you liked the muffins and they came out perfectly for you!

      Crispy cookies, well…you can overbake them, that’s one way to do that. And make smaller mounds of dough, make the dough flatter rather than domed balls before baking and/or don’t chill it so it spreads, and that will produce some crisper, firmer cookies. Anything where I’ve called for cornstarch, leave it out. And don’t make anything with pudding mix in it – those will never get crispy :) But in general I am a SOFT cookie girl so I don’t have recipes for crispy cookies in general, but there are ways to manipulate my recipes and turn them crisper by doing the things I just mentioned.

  2. I started drinking almond milk in my post run protein shakes. I never thought I’d bake with it, but one prograstinated trip to the grocery store changed that. Now I use it all the time and my family can’t even tell. Love your cornbread, Averie… that honey, yum!!!

  3. Cornbread is one of my favorite sides for a meal, but my husband hates it and says it’s always dry. I’m definitely trying this recipe and going to try and change his mind! These do look incredibly moist and your recipes always live up to everything you say about them :)

  4. i do not cook enough with cornmeal, these muffins look super moist and delicious. inspired now to create the recipe, thanks for sharing averie.

  5. They look wonderful Averie! I have had dry cornbread before but I have also had fluffy and soft cornbread – big difference! Love that I can recreate this at home!

  6. I’ve had really good cornbread ONCE ever. I wonder if I can add some jalapenos in this and make it a tad more savoury. Or maybe some a handful of craisins to make it sweeter. What do you think?

    1. I think you could go in either direction! I love both (many people despise both…ha!) but I think either would be great! I think the honey would balance the jalepenos and you can also maybe add a pinch of garlic/onion powder if you want and craisins with their tart/sweet would also be great with honey!

  7. I love a moist cornbread muffin and yours look perfect! Honey drizzle on top makes it beyond perfect. Definitely pinning these…

  8. Ooh I love cornbread and I like mine on the sweeter side, so the honey here sounds awesome :)

  9. i love cornbread, but it can be SO dry, these look simply heavenly and that honey…LOVE it

  10. Hi Averie! I LOVE cornbread!! Now that I’m a vegan the honey won’t due, but even before I changed my diet I put pure maple syrup in my cornbread. The rich maple flavor marries beautifully with the corn taste. It also helps make it moist. Your post has me craving my vegan chili and cornbread. Guess what I”m making this weekend!

  11. Oh my gosh, I will have to try this cornbread next time I make chili!! These would be the perfect addition of sweetness to it :)