Cornbread Muffins
Small, golden cornbread muffins made with cornmeal and buttermilk-style milk. Makes 12 in 28 minutes.
Photograph credit: Tray homemade cornbread muffins paper · CC0 1.0 · Rawpixel
Making Cornbread Muffins Ahead
Keep in an airtight tin for up to 3 days. Freezes for up to 2 months; warm from frozen at 160°C for 10 minutes.
Making Cornbread Muffins
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Heat the oven to 210°C / 410°F (190°C / 375°F fan) and line a 12-hole muffin tin. Stir the cornmeal into the milk and leave for 10 minutes.
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Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Whisk the egg and oil into the cornmeal mixture.
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Fold the wet into the dry until just combined. Fill the cases three quarters full.
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Bake for 18 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes.
A Few Pointers
- Let the cornmeal soak in the milk to avoid grittiness.
- Fill the cases three quarters full only.
- Do not overmix the batter.
Some Background
Muffins bake faster than a tin of cornbread, so they suit a weeknight. They are done in 18 minutes and have more crust, which most people prefer.
Cornmeal needs a little time to soften. Stir it into the milk first and leave it for 10 minutes, while the oven heats. It absorbs some of the liquid and bakes tender instead of gritty.
Oil gives a moister crumb than butter, and works well here. Do not fill the cases more than three quarters, because the batter rises and spills over.
A hot oven, 210°C, gives the muffins a quick burst of lift and a domed top. Bake until golden and a skewer comes out clean. They are at their best warm, split and buttered. Muffins freeze well, and a few taken out in the morning are thawed by lunchtime. Warmed briefly in the oven, they taste almost as good as fresh, with a crisp outside and a tender inside.
Serving Ideas
Chili · Soup · Butter and honey · Scrambled eggs
Questions About Cornbread Muffins
How long does Cornbread Muffins take to make?
About 28 minutes in total — 10 minutes of preparation and 18 minutes of cooking. The recipe serves 12.
What are the key tips for making Cornbread Muffins?
Let the cornmeal soak in the milk to avoid grittiness. Fill the cases three quarters full only. Do not overmix the batter.
What should I serve with Cornbread Muffins?
Chili; Soup; Butter and honey; Scrambled eggs.
Can Cornbread Muffins be made ahead or frozen?
Keep in an airtight tin for up to 3 days. Freezes for up to 2 months; warm from frozen at 160°C for 10 minutes.
Is Cornbread Muffins suitable for a special diet?
This recipe is vegetarian. Those labels are checked against the ingredient list, so a dish is only marked when nothing in it contradicts the claim.
How many calories are in Cornbread Muffins?
About 158 kcal per serving, with 3 g protein, 23 g carbohydrate and 6 g fat. The figures are calculated from the ingredient list and are an estimate.
Cornbread Muffins Nutrition
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.
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Written and tested by Turab
One person, one kitchen — no test kitchen, no team. How every recipe on this site is checked before it goes up.
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