Simple Honey Cornbread Muffins
Honey cornbread muffins
Cozy soups and stews, the kind on repeat this time of year, I often find to be lacking without some sort of accompanying bread to dip or dunk or otherwise scoop up the saucy, soupy goodness with. Chunky vegetable soups with crusty sourdough. Fragrant, spicy curries with naan. Hearty chili with dense, crumbly cornbread. They belong together.
This past weekend, I made a big pot of white bean chili, with a batch of these honey cornbread muffins to serve alongside. Somewhere in the midst of dunking big crumbs of cornbread into the savory chili (and relishing in a certain northeastern team’s loss), I realized that in close to five years of blogging, I’ve yet to share with you a basic cornbread recipe.
Sure, we’ve baked up sweetly-spiced pumpkin cornbread muffins, which are wonderful in the Fall (and I honestly eat year round), but they’re sort of seasonal, right?
These honey cornbread muffins are super basic, in the best possible sense. Simple, flavorful and easily adaptable, they speak to the Jiffy cornbread nostalgia in all of us. The ingredients list is straight forward: cornmeal, flour, sugar, leavening, salt, butter, eggs, and milk. I add a bit of oil to keep things moist (as I do with most of my muffins), and honey for extra flavor. That’s it.
The batter whips up quickly and the resultant muffins come out of the oven golden-hued, with a dense, moist crumb and barely mounded tops. Perfect for dunking or dipping or simply devouring on their own with a pat of warm butter and a drizzle of honey or smear of jam. No tricks up my sleeve this time, just easy, paired down, classic corn muffin perfection. Happy baking!!
Easy Honey Cornbread Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 12 Muffins 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1–1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine-grain sea salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
- 2 Tbsp pure honey
- 1/3 cup pure cane sugar ¹
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400℉. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with butter or cooking spray, or line with paper muffin liners. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Melt the butter. Set aside to cool.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, honey, sugar, eggs, and milk until completely combined. Stir in the melted butter.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Use a spatula to gently fold the flour into the liquid mixture, until just combined. A few lumps throughout are okay.
- Use a cookie scoop to divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until gently puffed and golden, and a cake tester inserted into the center of each muffin comes out mostly clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the muffin tin for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack to cool completely. Serve warm or at room-temperature. Enjoy!!
Notes
¹ These cornbread muffins are not overly sweet; if you prefer a sweeter muffin, add up to a 1/2 cup of sugar.
For Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Muffins: After combining the wet and dry ingredients, add 2-3 minced jalapeños and 1 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese to the batter.
😱😊☺😉 During the quarantine I’ve made meals for several of my neighbors who weren’t able to leave their home. Included would be Honey Cornmeal Muffins or Mini Honey Cornmeal Breads. It’s been a Tremendous Hit! Thank You for sharing your recipe.
I love this so, so much! Thanks for sharing my recipe in such a kind way, Gail!
Perfect! I rarely deviate from my old Fannie Farmer cornbread recipe….but this one kicks it up and over the top. Hubby and I ate almost all 12….just this morning when they came out of the oven. I used an orange blossom honey, because it was the only variety I had handy that wasn’t crystallized. YUM! Thanks for this recipe! It now replaces the old standby!
Thanks so much, Laura! That’s so nice to hear, and the orange blossom honey sounds great! 🙂
Hi Laura! So funny, I also have a variation on honey cornbread on my blog, a gluten-free dairy-free one, but not a basic one with standard ingredients like milk and whole wheat pastry flour. I’ve been meaning to add one!
Hi Mary! Isn’t it funny how we often overlook the simplest “regular” recipes? You should add yours too! 🙂
These muffins look so good. I love corn muffins! Beautiful photos too!
Thanks so much, Kelly!!
I am a huge fan of corn muffins and these might be the best recipe ever. Simple, easy-to-follow, and the best part, quick to make.
Thanks for sharing. I am going to make these this week. Cheers!
Thanks so much, Aysegul!! xo
Usually we slather the honey on top, after the muffins are out of the oven. I love the idea of baking it in.
Thanks, Joan!!
I adore honey cornbread muffins! There’s something so spectacular about pairing butter, cornbread and honey together. These sound great!
Thanks, Katrina!!