Slightly sweet with a moist cake-like crumb, these flavorful Honey Cornbread Muffins are a heavenly side dish. Ready in just 30 minutes, these pair well with chilis, BBQ, salads, and so much more!
A Sweet & Easy Cornbread Recipe
Cornbread was not a way of life for our family when I was growing up. It would occasionally show up at a gathering, and I’d always try it. But I would never return for seconds, as it was always dry and rather flavorless. Then, as an adult, I discovered moist, sweet cornbread at a barbecue restaurant. I was in love!
This Honey Cornbread Muffins recipe is the result of my later-in-life discovery of my perfect cornbread. And now this is the only cornbread muffin recipe my family wants to eat. We love to serve the muffins with chili in the winter and with anything that comes off the grill in the summer!
Honey cornbread muffins get their rich flavor and moist crumb from buttermilk and butter. If you haven’t liked cornbread in the past, because all you’ve had was dry and crumbly and bland, I beg you to give this cornbread recipe a try. This moist, flavorful version is sure to win you over.
And the big bonus? These sweet cornbread muffins are super easy to make, with a simple ingredients list. From start to finish, this cornbread can be on your plate in 30 minutes!
What You’ll Need
I always keep yellow cornmeal on hand, so I can make these muffins any time I want!
- Yellow cornmeal – This cornbread muffin recipe incorporates equal parts all-purpose flour and yellow cornmeal (affiliate link). I love this 50/50 ratio that gives the muffins their tender, moist texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar – These muffins are just slightly sweet.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Buttermilk – Buttermilk helps create the moist crumb that prevents these cornbread muffins from being dry and bland.
- Butter – Melted butter also helps keep the muffins moist while also adding rich flavor.
- Eggs
- Honey – Honey adds just the right amount of additional sweetness and another layer of flavor to the muffins.
How to Make Honey Cornbread Muffins
These muffins are so easy to make. I can whip these up and pull them out of the oven, in just 30 minutes!
- Prepare the batter. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl whisk the remaining ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.
- Bake. Divide the batter into a greased muffin pan. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden. Enjoy warm.
Tips for Success
For soft, tender cornbread muffins keep these things in mind.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Once you combine the wet and dry ingredients, stir until just combined.
- How to tell when the muffins are done. The tops of the muffins should be golden and a toothpick inserted should come out with minimal crumbs. If there’s still wet batter attached to it, cook the muffins a bit longer.
- Don’t overbake the muffins. While you do want to ensure that the muffins are cooked through, you also don’t want to overbake them. Baking them too long will amount to dry muffins.
What to Eat with Cornbread Muffins?
We make these cornbread muffins most often when there’s a pot of chili waiting for us. This summer chicken chili is wonderful, incorporating fresh zucchini, yellow squash, sweet corn, and herbs. And this slow cooker chili has been a longtime family favorite.
Cornbread muffins are also great companions to anything slathered in barbecue sauce, and nearly anything that comes off the grill. Think beer can chicken, chipotle orange salmon, or chili lime pork tenderloin.
How to Store & Freeze
- How to store. You can store any leftover honey cornbread muffins at room temperature for up to 2 days. Store them in an airtight container or ziploc bag.
- Can I freeze cornbread muffins? Yes, you can freeze these muffins. Allow to cool completely then transfer to a freezer bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw on the counter – then reheat in the oven or microwave until warm, if desired.
More Side Dish Recipes:
- Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits with Candied Ginger
- Apple-Orange Cranberry Sauce
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Sourdough Popovers
Honey Cornbread Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow corn meal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Spray a standard muffin pan lightly with cooking spray, or line your pan with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, mix the corn meal, flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, butter, eggs, and honey. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.
- Divide the cornbread mixture into your prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove pan from oven and let muffins rest in pan for 5 minutes before placing on a rack to cool.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
This post was previously published in 2010, and then updated in 2018 and 2021.
I just made these to go with a Tx brisket chili I made. These are amazing!! They are the perfect balance with spicy food.
How I love to hear this. Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Would these freeze well?
They do!!
In my early years as a wife, I once made sweet cornbread for my elderly Southern uncle who immediately told me “this ain’t cornbread, cornbread ain’t sweet!” Talk about life changing! My parents were small town Southerners and as we moved to bigger cities, some of the culture was lost. I spent a very long time looking for the perfect unsweet recipe and finally found it at Birmingham’s Highland Restaurant and Grill. It is a perfect cornbread – best with a stone ground cornmeal. Give it a chance for those who prefer a savory fare. I will say the addition of butter and sorghum molasses makes a lovely touch for those who do need a bit of sweet. My mom used to crumble left over cold cornbread in a glass of milk for breakfast. A guilty pleasure for me now but I must revisist. Here is a link to the recipe.
http://thelocalpalate.com/recipes/highlands-cornbread/
Hello Marialice – thank you for your lovely comment. I’ve been told that a number of times, that “real” cornbread isn’t sweet. But this is really how I like it! I’d love to try the version you spoke of, though!
These do sound like the perfect muffin!
Kept looking for a pic showing the inside of the muffins?
Considering how I always put honey on my cornbread anyways….this recipe is perfection!!! :)
I would love to make these but just bought a pack of Martha White’s buttermilk cornbread mix. Would I be able to make this same recipe using this mix and just adding the sugar and honey, and the butter?? I’m not sure what to do! Thanks!
These came out very moist and tasty!
Wonderful to hear. Thanks, Rachel!
I love cornbread but could not find a recipe that I liked – it needed to be moist and slightly sweet. Since trying your recipe I have no need to try other recipes….. This one is just perfect. The only thing I did differntly was to bake it in a cast iron pan.
I’m so glad you liked this recipe. It’s one of my family’s favorites!
I made these last night with the 6-Hour Slow Cooker Chili recipe also from your blog. First time making the cornbread muffins, usually just make the chili (It really IS the best chili recipe we’ve ever had). These muffins are delicious! They have the perfect texture, flavor, and sweetness to accompany any chili. My picky husband is 2 for 2 for liking recipes I make from your website. Thanks for these delicious recipes and I look forward to finding more tasty treats on here!
That’s awesome to hear, Kendall. Thanks for letting me know. Those two recipes are some of our favorites! Happy New Year!
I must say, I made these muffins and they truely are the VERY BEST I’ve ever made or eaten for that matter, Farmgirl THANK YOU for an absolute KEEPER!!!!!
I’m so glad you liked them! Thanks for letting me know. :)
I made these last week and they were great. I added some blueberries into the batter for the last 4 muffins since I ended up making 16 muffins with the batter and they were good as a quick breakfast. Here’s my blog post
http://curiouscountrycook.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-weekend-cornbread-muffins.html
Just wanted to say I made these for a first date a while ago, and they were a huge help in getting a follow-up! Thanks for the help =)
Good to know! ;) So glad you liked them, and that my recipe is being used for so much good!!
I stumbled upon this last night via a recipe of yours on tasty kitchen.com. Made them tonight and Im happy to say I have finally found a homemade cornbread/muffin recipe that is perfectly moist, sweet but not too sweet and delicious. Thanks so much for sharing, this will be my go-to recipe from now on!
(I also plan on making your apple cake, looks amazing!)
Thank you so much for your comment, I really appreciate it. I’m so glad you liked these muffins. They are always a hit around here! I’d love to hear what you think of the apple cake, too. :)
Made your honey corn muffins tonight. YUM!!! I could eat them all!!
Yep – they were really yummy! I had to have one more after the meal was over just to make sure :)
Glad you liked them, too, Sarah! Wish I could have been there with everyone!
Yay! My mom’s cornbread blessing has been received! :-)
I haven’t had the chance to bake these myself, but Patsy baked them at the lake and I was happy to sample them when she offered one to me. Yummy!
Glad you perfected the recipe.
They look delish!