Honey Cornbread Muffins
- By Amy Dong
- Updated Feb. 15, 2024
These Honey Cornbread Muffins are tender, soft, and completely refined sugar-free! We love serving these with a big bowl of hearty chili or enjoying them as a healthy make-ahead breakfast.
In This Article
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Video: Watch Us Make This Recipe
Why This Recipe Stands Out
We love serving sweet, tender cornbread with all our favorite soups and stews. For a portable and healthy cornbread option, these Honey Cornbread Muffins always win. Here’s why:
- Texture: This recipe uses butter, sour cream, and whole milk to ensure super moist, tender muffins; not at all grainy or dry.
- Healthy: We love that these Honey Cornbread Muffins are refined sugar-free (only sweetened with pure honey).
- Extra Corn: Not only do we use cornmeal in these muffins, we also add whole corn kernels which add that extra burst of natural sweetness that we love.
- Quick and Easy: From start to finish, these cornbread muffins are part of our 30 minute recipe collection and they’re super easy to make.
- Make Ahead: These muffins freeze wonderfully, making them are one of our go-to meal-prep recipes when we have a busy week ahead.
Key Ingredients
- Cornmeal – For best results with this recipe, use fine ground, whole grain yellow cornmeal.
- Honey – Pure honey sweetens these cornbread muffins perfectly, adding that bright, floral flavor that pairs wonderfully with the corn.
- Butter – Butter helps keep these muffins super moist and adds loads of flavor.
- Sour Cream – Whole sour cream makes these cornbread muffins extremely tender and balances the sweeter flavors perfectly.
- Whole Milk – We highly recommend whole milk for this recipe, as the fat content helps keep the muffins from getting dry and grainy.
- Corn Kernels – Frozen corn kernels are mixed into the batter for even more flavor and natural sweetness.
Substitutions And Variations
One of the things we love about cornbread is how versatile it is. Check out some of our favorite flavor spins with this recipe:
- Flour: If you want to make these Honey Cornbread Muffins even healthier, try swapping the all-purpose flour for whole wheat. You can also easily make these gluten-free by substituting 1:1 GF Baking Flour.
- Mix-Ins: Try mixing in blueberries or raspberries for an added burst of sweetness and antioxidants. You could also go the savory route by reducing the honey and mixing in jalapeños and cheddar cheese.
- Fall Flavors: Check out our recipes for Sweet Potato Cornbread and Pumpkin Cornbread if you are craving those spiced fall flavors.
- Toppings: We love spreading tons of honey butter on these! Even just drizzling on a bit of extra honey takes these to the next level.
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl to combine well.
- Whisk eggs in another bowl until well combined. Then, add honey and whisk until incorporated. Add melted butter, whisking to combine well. Add sour cream and milk, whisking to fully incorporate.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Gently fold in frozen corn kernels. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
- Bake about 17-19 minutes, rotating tin halfway through baking time. Muffins will be golden and toothpick should come out mostly clean. Serve warm.
For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below.
How To Prep Ahead
One of the many reasons we love muffin recipes is that they’re so easy to make in advance and enjoy throughout the week. Take a look at these prep-ahead tips for Honey Cornbread Muffins:
- Dry Ingredients: Feel free to mix the dry ingredients ahead of time. Just store them in an airtight container on the counter until you’re ready to bake.
- Freeze: Wait for these muffins to completely cool, before storing them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Simply reheat them for a snack, breakfast, or a super easy side dish.
- Refrigerate: You can also keep these in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
What To Serve With Honey Cornbread Muffins
Soups
- Of course, these muffins go perfectly with any chili recipe. We especially love this nourishing Butternut Squash Chili and this super Easy Crockpot Chili.
- We also can’t get enough of this healthy Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes and this 30-Minute Nacho Chicken Soup with these muffins.
Protein
- Check out these recipes for Brined and Roasted Turkey and Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken. They pair amazingly with cornbread muffins!
- We also love pairing these muffins with this Slow Cooker Pork Loin with Gravy and this bursting-with-flavor Smoked Pork Butt.
- Meatloaf is another great main dish to serve with Honey Cornbread Muffins. Check out this recipe for The Best Meatloaf or this super flavorful Teriyaki Meatloaf.
Veggies
- Looking for a fresh, crunchy salad? Try this vibrant Strawberry Salad with Asparagus or this Perfect Broccoli Apple Salad.
- For a cooked veggie side, we love these 15-Minute Honey Glazed Carrots and this super healthy Grilled Zucchini.
Commonly Asked Questions
We like using paper muffin tin liners to keep our cornbread muffins from sticking, but you could also just spray your muffins tin with non-stick spray. To really ensure they don’t stick, you could both use the liners and spray them.
Pretty much! Really the only difference between cornbread and cornbread muffins is how they’re cooked. Otherwise, the two taste exactly the same.
There are a few key strategies to ensure super moist and tender cornbread muffins. First, make sure not to over-mix the batter. Just barely combine the wet and dry ingredients. Second, don’t overbake them. We like using a toothpick to test these muffins. When it comes out mostly clean (still with a few crumbs), they’re perfect. Lastly, we use ingredients like sour cream and whole milk to keep our batter moist and soft.
Fill each muffin tin to about 2/3 full. This recipe makes the perfect amount of batter for 12 muffins. So, we just divide it evenly among the tins.
This cornbread muffin recipe is NOT gluten-free. Cornmeal by itself is, but we also use all purpose flour. However, they can easily be made gluten free by just substituting 1:1 GF Baking Flour for the all purpose flour.
Store these muffins in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Did you make this?
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Honey Cornbread Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour, unbleached
- 1 cup whole grain yellow cornmeal, fine ground
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp table salt
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup pure honey
- 8 TB regular butter, melted
- ¾ cup whole sour cream
- ⅓ cup whole milk
- 1 ½ cups corn kernels, frozen
- Optional: Soft honey butter for topping
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Heat oven to 375F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl to combine well. Set aside.
- Whisk eggs in second bowl until well combined and pale light yellow (about 20 seconds). Add honey and whisk until homogenous (about 30 seconds). Add melted butter, whisking to combine well. Add sour cream and milk, whisking to fully incorporate.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients together, mixing gently with rubber spatula until batter is just combined and evenly moistened; do not over mix. Gently fold in frozen corn kernels.
- Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter evenly among muffin cups, dropping to form mounds. Do not level or flatten tops of mounds.
- Bake until muffins are light golden and toothpick comes out almost clean (a few tender crumbs are perfect.) Bake about 17-19 minutes, rotating tin halfway through baking time. Actual baking time varies with each oven, but watch closely not to over bake.
- Cool muffins in tin for a bit. (If desired, spread some honey butter on top of hot muffins, so it melts into the muffin.) Serve warm.
- Leftovers keep well in airtight container and can be reheated in microwave or oven.
Notes
- Top muffins with Honey Butter or an extra drizzle of honey and serve warm.
- For a full meal, try serving Honey Cornbread Muffins with this Butternut Squash Chili or this Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes.
- For a classic cornbread, check out our simple and delicious Sweet Honey Cornbread.
- If you enjoyed this recipe, come back and give it a rating. We ❤️ hearing from you!
Nutrition (per serving)
More To Bake And Eat
- Sweet Potato Cornbread – This recipe is the perfect fall spin on your classic cornbread recipe. It’s soft, tender, and packed with nutritious ingredients!
- Sweet Honey Cornbread – This cornbread is baked in a cast iron skillet, meaning it has an extremely moist and tender center, with a slightly crisp exterior. We love serving this with chili.
- Best Blueberry Muffins – These blueberry muffins will remind you of the perfectly moist, sweet, and fresh treats you get at a bakery. They also boast a buttery streusel topping!
- Snickerdoodle Muffins – If you love snickerdoodle cookies, these muffins are for you! They’re the perfect cinnamon-sugar treat for breakfast or dessert.