Cornbread Muffins
by Sommer Collier — on Jul 14, 2025 These fluffy, moist and tender corn muffins have just the right touch of honey for sweetness, and are quick and easy to make in one bowl. Hands-down, this the best and only cornbread muffins recipe you’ll ever need!
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
Being the good Southern woman that I am, you know I have more than a fair share of cornbread recipes! Take, for example, my classic sweet cornbread, broccoli cornbread, and jalapeno cornbread recipes, which are all baked in a pan and great to serve at gatherings. But for perfect individual portions to feed a hungry family, nothing beats these handy and delicious corn muffins!
When my kids ask for cornbread muffins, this recipe is exactly what they’re asking for: A classic cornbread muffin recipe with extra flavor from adding honey directly to the batter as well as a good dose of cinnamon for spicy kick. This combination makes the warm, soft muffins so rich and flavorful!
Why You’ll Love These Corn Muffins
- No refined sugar – This recipe uses the perfect amount of honey to complement the natural sweetness of cornmeal, without being overwhelmingly sweet.
- One bowl recipe – Whisk everything together in one mixing bowl for the easiest recipe with less cleanup!
- Carb-alicious side dish – Cornbread muffins are thick, dense yet fluffy, and pair well with any number of savory stews, soups, southern plates, and more!
They are so good, in fact, you might want to consider making a double batch of this rustic cornbread muffins recipe for your next Southern-style meal; it’s the perfect side dish!
Ingredients and Tips
- Yellow cornmeal – Use your choice of either medium-fine or fine cornmeal, depending on how toothsome you like your muffins. Just be sure not to use packaged cornbread mix!
- Etc. dry ingredients – You need just a few baking staples, including all-purpose flour, baking powder, sea salt, and cinnamon.
- Wet ingredients – To the dry ingredients, you’ll add eggs, honey, buttermilk (or use my quick and easy homemade buttermilk substitute), and melted unsalted butter.
Recipe Variations
- Gluten-free – Cornmeal itself is gluten-free, so just use your favorite all-purpose flour alternative to make this a GF-friendly honey corn muffins recipe.
Protein Pointer – To balance this carby side with protein, add ½ cup vanilla protein powder to the batter.
How to Make Honey Cornbread Muffins
Tip for Success – Take care not to over-mix the batter for the most tender and moist muffins! You want to whisk together the ingredients just until they’re all combined, and not a moment longer before placing the muffin batter in a muffin pan.
Find the full Corn Muffin recipe with detailed instructions, storage tips, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Storage Notes
- Storing Leftovers – Keep the muffins in an airtight container, and store at room temperature for up to 4-5 days.
- Freezing – Cornbread muffins freeze quite well! Wrap each individually in plastic wrap before storing them all together in a freezer-safe plastic ziploc bag. Squeeze out all of the air before sealing, and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Then you can grab however many you want from the bag, and let them sit on the counter for about 20 minutes to thaw.
Serving Suggestions
The light sweetness of honey corn muffins makes them great to pair with savory, super meaty and bold chili recipes. And that thick yet fluffy cornbread texture is perfect for scooping and sopping up every last drop of stew! Try them with some of our readers’ favorites, like:
- Chili Con Carne (without beans)
- Crockpot Chicken Chili
- Venison Chili
- Steak Chili with Beer
- Creamy White Chicken Chili
They’re also scrumptious with other saucy Southern dishes like spicy New Orleans-style gumbo or chicken and sausage gumbo, red beans and rice, and low country chicken bog.
But don’t be surprised when you find yourself craving these golden brown muffins for a snack morning-noon-and-night, warm with butter and homemade jam, preserves, whipped honey butter, or copycat Texas Roadhouse cinnamon butter. Yummmm!
Corn Muffin Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup plain yellow cornmeal not cornmeal mix
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 cup buttermilk low fat or full fat
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Grease your muffin pans, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Then whisk in the eggs, honey, and buttermilk. Mix the melted butter in last and whisk until the mixture is smooth.
- Use a 1/3-cup scoop to ladle the batter into the muffin pans, filling only 2/3 full. Bake the cornbread muffins for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cornbread muffins to cool for 2-3 minutes, then flip them out of the muffin pans before continuing to cool or serving warm.
Notes
- Storing Leftovers – Keep the muffins in an airtight container, and store at room temperature for up to 4-5 days.
- Freezing – Cornbread muffins freeze quite well! Wrap each individually in plastic wrap before storing them all together in a freezer-safe plastic ziploc bag. Squeeze out all of the air before sealing, and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Then you can grab however many you want from the bag, and let sit on the counter for about 20 minutes to thaw.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s super important not to overmix the batter and not to overbake the cornbread. Follow the step-by-step recipe instructions, and you’re sure to bake up the best, most moist and fluffy muffins ever!
Yes and no. Corn muffin mix can be used to make cornbread, just like cornbread mix can be used to make muffins. However, there is a big difference between using a boxed corn muffin mix and making fresh honey corn muffins from scratch! Mainly, because we are using only simple baking staples, many boxed mixes include all kinds of questionable additives.
Made these for a weekend BBQ and everyone raved about them! They’re buttery with just the right texture – crisp on the edges and soft inside. I’ll be making these on repeat all year long.
These muffins came out fluffy and full of flavor – just like a bakery! The recipe was super simple to follow, and they paired perfectly with our chili dinner. Definitely a keeper in my recipe box.
I’ve tried so many cornbread recipes over the years, but this one is hands-down the best. They’re moist, slightly sweet, and have a beautiful golden crust. My whole family asked me to make a second batch the same day!