This recipe for Easy Homemade Corn Muffins is pure perfection! These simple muffins have a crusty exterior and a tender cornbread interior.
Serve the delicious muffins for breakfast or as a side with Chili Con Carne.
It’s hard to beat a light and fluffy cornbread muffin with a buttery, brown exterior. They can be enjoyed in so many ways – from breakfast to a side for Chili Con Carne.
Why This Recipe Works
- No special ingredients are needed – No buttermilk, or canned creamed corn – just simple, fine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, butter, milk, and eggs.
- It’s simple to prepare – no soaking the cornmeal or special equipment – just a bowl and a wooden spoon are needed for this recipe.
- Melted Butter adds flavor to this recipe instead of the usual vegetable oil most recipes call for. It’s also added to the pan to promote that beautifully browned exterior.
Should Corn Muffins Be Sweet?
This is a There is much debate on whether Corn Muffins should have sugar. Where you stand, usually depends on where in America you live.
These corn muffins can be made with or without sugar to suit your taste.
I make them semi-sweet, but you can adjust the recipe according to how you like your cornbread.
Test the sweetness of the batter by making a mini pancake in a frying pan and adjusting the sweetness as needed before baking the muffins.
What Cornmeal Is Best
For this recipe, I recommend fine cornmeal (known in some countries as ‘Polenta Flour’). Fine cornmeal makes a much more moist and tender muffin.
Getting A Crispy Exterior On Cornbread Muffins
The trick to the buttery, golden crust on these corn muffins is brushing a metal pan with melted butter and heating the pan in the oven before adding the batter.
It doesn’t take much butter, so I just add an extra teaspoon to the recipe. Dip a brush in the melted butter and brush it over the sections in the pan.
Place the buttered pan in the preheated oven while you mix the batter. Then add the batter to the heated, buttered pan.
How To Make Corn Muffins
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Form a well into the middle of the mixture.
Add the eggs, milk, melted butter, and oil into the well of dry ingredients.
Mix until combined.
Divide batter into the heated, buttered pan.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until light golden brown.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
These muffins are served warm with butter (and maybe a little honey or jam)
Tips For Best Results
- This recipe calls for fine cornmeal. Using coarse cornmeal may result in a dry muffin.
- Be sure not to over mix the batter. I recommend using a simple wooden spoon instead of an electric mixer as the overworked batter will result in a heavy, dense muffin.
- Lumps are fine. When making corn muffins, you want a few lumps in the batter. They’ll hydrate during baking give texture.
- Always check cornmeal for freshness. Cornmeal can go bad. Good cornmeal will have a sweet smell. Rancid cornmeal will smell stale and musty.
More Great Recipes
- Blueberry Muffins
- Crumb Cake
- Award Winning Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
- Easy Homemade Cornbread
Variations
- Bacon & Cheddar Corn Muffins: Add ¾ cup of grated cheddar and 1 cup of cooked, chopped bacon before adding to the pan.
- Honey Corn Muffins: Add 1 cup of honey to the batter when adding the other wet ingredients.
FAQs
Wrap well or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. If you want your corn muffins to stay fresh for longer, store it in the fridge for up to a week.
Yes, they freeze well. To freeze, add the cooled muffins to a freezer bag or freezer-safe airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to use, leave to thaw at room temperature for 1 hour.
This recipe uses fine cornmeal (the photo below) also known as Polenta flour in the UK and Europe. This results in a light, fluffy and moist texture. Using coarse cornmeal will result in a much drier muffin.
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Let’s Make Easy Homemade Corn Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups fine cornmeal
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar more or less depending on how sweet you like your muffins
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs beaten
- 2 cups milk
- 1 stick (plus 1 teaspoon) salted butter melted and cooled
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400°f/ 200°c Prepare a muffin pan by brushing a thin coating of melted butter over the sections in the pan. Place the buttered pan in the preheated oven while you mix the batter. Note: this step is optional and the recipe can be made using a greased, nonheated pan instead.
- Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl and form a well into the middle of the mixture.
- Mix egg, milk, melted butter, and oil in a large mixing bowl. Pour into the well of dry ingredients; mix well.
- If using a preheated pan, carefully remove the heated pan from the oven. Divide batter into the sections of the pan, filling them ¾ of the way. This makes a large muffin (20 to 24 muffins).
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until light golden brown.
Tips + Notes
What Cornmeal
This recipe uses fine cornmeal (the photo below) also known as Polenta flour in the UK and Europe. This results in a light, fluffy and moist texture. Using coarse cornmeal will result in a much drier muffin.Top Tips
- Be sure not to over mix the batter. I recommend using a simple wooden spoon instead of an electric mixer as the overworked batter will result in a heavy, dense muffin.
- Lumps are fine. When making corn muffins, you want a few lumps in the batter. They’ll hydrate during baking give texture.
-
Always check cornmeal for freshness. Cornmeal can go bad. Good cornmeal will have a sweet smell. Rancid cornmeal will smell stale and musty.
Nutrition Information:
Update Notes: This post was originally published in February of 2014, but was republished with an updated recipe, new photos, step by step instructions, tips, and FAQs in March of 2018.
Stormy says
I made this recipe for brunch today for myself, my husband and one of our grandchildren. We liked very much. I did add frozen fruit at the end of the mixing. Nice and moist and didn’t fall apart.
Erren Hart says
Thank you for trying our Corn Muffins recipe, Stormy! We’re glad you enjoyed it! Adding frozen fruit is a great way to customize the recipe to your own taste. We hope you’ll give it a try again soon.
Char says
I made these corn muffins and they are yummy! I halved the recipe and made 12 perfect muffins. I did need more liquid than what is called for. I used water probably 1/4 cup. Not sure why? Couple pinches of sugar is all.
Muffins were more crumbly than I like. Is there something I can do different? Less oil? More? Another egg? Will use recipe again for sure!
Erren Hart says
Hi Char, I suspect the cornmeal made them drier. Did you use fine cornmeal? Sometimes it can even be the brand of flour or cornmeal. Use the photos in the post as a guide, and add extra milk until it resembles the batter pictured. You can also add a tablespoon of vegetable oil for extra moisture, but I wouldn’t add any more than that as it can become greasy. I hope this helps.
Susan Roth says
I thought that by using 2% milk it might make the muffins dry, but they came out perfect and this is probably my go-to forever corn muffin recipe!
Erren Hart says
Thank you for the kind words! We’re so glad you enjoyed your experience and hope you’ll come back to try more recipes!
Grace Ann says
Just like I remember growing up! I love that they’re not too sweet! They were perfect with butter and Jam!
Erren Hart says
Thank you for the lovely review! We’re so glad you enjoyed your muffins and hope you’ll come back to bake with us again soon!
Suzy Mac says
Making a big pot of vegetable soup and was looking for a cornbread muffin recipe that did not call for sugar or honey. If I wanted a sweet muffin I’d use the boxed stuff. Yours is the 1st recipe that sounds like cornbread but in muffin form. Cannot wait to taste them alongside a steamy bowl of homemade vegetable soup.
Erren Hart says
Let me know how it goes, Suzy!
Kathleen Jones says
These are fabulous! I used coconut oil instead of the vegetable oil. These are the best corn muffins I’ve made.
Erren Hart says
Thank you so much for your kind words and for taking the time to write this review! We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Chef Joshua says
made this and it was an absolute hit!
Erren Hart says
I’m so pleased to hear it! 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to leave your feedback!
Cindy says
Love the flavor! They turned out very moist and I did butter the tins which helped them get a little crust on the outside even without heating the pan.
Also, I did add another 1/3 of a cup of sugar.
Erren Hart says
Thank you for trying our corn muffin recipe, Cindy! We’re so happy that you it! We hope you’ll continue to explore our site for more delicious recipes!
Christina says
These came out delicious! After reading some of the comments, I tweaked it just a little. I melted the butter and poured it equally among the muffin holes (?) (rather than adding to the batter), then put it in the oven a few minutes before it finished preheating. When the oven temp was right, the butter was sizzling but not smoking. I poured the batter in and popped the muffin pan back in to bake.
I also cut the recipe to fit the amount of cornmeal I had (only 3/4 cup, darn it!). This amount called for 1.5 eggs. I added one egg yolk to the batter, beat the eggwhite to soft peak, then folded it in just before pouring the batter into the pan.
Because I had to cut the recipe down to a 9-muffin size, and divided the butter and then the batter between 12 holes, they came out small but oh so tasty. Thanks for a great recipe!.
Erren Hart says
Thank you for trying out our recipe and for taking the time to leave a review! We’re so glad you enjoyed it and found a way to make it work for you. If there’s anything we can do to improve your experience with Erren’s Kitchen, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
Dianna Ellis says
Loved this. Easy and delicious. You can add to this basic recipe a can of diced green chili. Used Masa Harina as the “picture below” I could not find
Erren Hart says
Hi Dianna, Thank you for trying our recipe and for leaving such a positive review. We’re so glad you enjoyed it and found a way to make it work for you!
Bill Morissette says
Just super, straight to the point, easy to make and came out great!
I don’t like over sweet or salty foods with my meals (I’ll save that for desert). These have just the right amount of sweet and salt that allows the corn taste to pop (pun intended).
Erren Hart says
Well thank you for the review and the pun, Bill! 🙂 Glad to hear you enjoyed them!