These Cornbread Muffins are made with creamed corn so they truly taste of corn and are more moist than traditional Southern cornbread. A terrific side and great for snacking, these corn muffins keep for days. THESE are the muffins I make over and over and over again!
This Cornbread Muffin recipe was originally published in October 2014. Recipe slightly improved, rewrote post, new photos, recipe video added – it’s a total refresh!
While many people associate cornbread as a Southern staple, there’s actually two distinct types of cornbread in the States – Southern and Northern style cornbread.
Cornbread from the South is typically (and I use that word loosely!) more crumbly and less sweet, made with just cornmeal, no flour (or very little flour). It doesn’t keep well and is best served with saucy things to dunk it into (Baked Beans Chili), or plenty of butter.
Northern Style cornbread is more cake like, owing to the addition of flour. The crumb is more tender, it’s springy, it doesn’t crumble and it’s usually sweeter.
This Cornbread Muffin recipe is a Northern style cornbread. Except I’ve adapted it to my taste with the addition of creamed corn which you don’t usually find in either Southern or Northern cornbread. Stronger corn flavour, and makes it moister!
Cornbread muffins are the reason I ALWAYS have creamed corn!
It feels unnatural to say that cans of creamed corn are a staple in my pantry. But they are – and it’s because of these cornbread muffins (and this 15 minute Chinese Corn Soup!).
I make these Cornbread Muffins ALOT.
These are the muffins I take to BBQ’s when I’m asked to bring a side (or if I’m told not to bring anything at all 😂).
These are the muffins I can make as a side dish for a midweek dinner because they are terrifically quick to mix up.
And these are the muffins I would choose out of a Muffin Line Up alongside every sweet muffin in existence! (Not to undermine the fabulousness of sweet muffins – it’s just that I am a savoury gal).
Creamed corn substitute
If you can’t get canned creamed corn, use this as a substitute (we tried it and it’s near perfect): Use 1 can of corn kernels. Put all the corn + 1/3 of the liquid in the can + 1 tbsp flour into a bowl. Then blitz with hand blender (or use blender) until you can’t see whole corn kernels anymore but there are still corn chunks (don’t to puree). Measure out and use in place of canned creamed corn in this recipe
Cornmeal vs polenta
The key ingredient in Cornbread Muffins is yellow cornmeal. Cornmeal is ground dried corn kernels – it comes in fine, medium and coarse ground.
Confusingly, cornmeal is labelled as polenta here in Australia.
But actually, polenta is a porridge like Italian side dish (their mashed potato!) that is made from cornmeal.
Confused? Don’t blame you.
All you need to remember is this: If you’re in Australia, buy the yellow ground stuff labelled polenta. That’s cornmeal! Brands I use include Marco Polo and Il Molino (both sold at Woolworths). Do not get instant polenta.
How to make cornmeal muffins
One of those delightfully easy “mix wet, mix dry, mix wet and dry together” muffins!
Dry – Whisk the Dry ingredients in a bowl.
Wet – Whisk the Wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
Combine – Pour the Wet ingredients into the Dry ingredients.
Mix until just combined.
Fill a standard muffin tin (brush the holes with melted butter).
Bake for 20 minutes until the top is golden brown. Brush the tops with melted butter while hot, if desired. (I desire!)
How I eat cornbread muffins
These muffins are flavoured and moist enough to eat plain, especially when warm (fresh out of the oven or lightly reheated in the microwave). Having said that though, a little smear of softened salted butter will elevate it, then to take it over the top, add a little drizzle of honey. IT IS SO GOOD!
Then as a side dish, it is made for eating with southern and barbecue flavoured foods, such as:
A big pot of Southern Baked Beans
With these Cornbread Muffins being one of my personal favourite recipes and give that patience is not one of my greatest virtues, I first shared this recipe back when I started this website in 2014. I’ve been looking forward to updating this post with new photos and more importantly, adding a recipe video!
So to any Southerner reading this recipe – don’t judge me for using creamed corn in this! It might not be authentic but it’s darn tasty, with terrific corn flavour and these stay moist for days!!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Cornbread Muffins
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml / 115 g butter , melted unsalted
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup / 185 ml milk , any fat %
- 1 CUP canned creamed corn (NOT 1 CAN!!!)
Dry Ingredients
- 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal (sold in packets labelled "polenta" in Australia) (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 cups (225g) flour (plain/all purpose)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup (110g) white sugar (can reduce to 1/4 cup)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Baking:
- Extra melted butter for greasing and brushing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Brush a 12 hole standard muffin tin with melted butter.
- Combine Dry ingredients in a bowl and give them a quick stir to combine.
- Whisk Wet ingredients in a bowl until combined.
- Pour Wet into Dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Spoon the batter into the greased muffin tray – use it all up, fill the holes right up!
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
- Remove muffin tray from the oven. Optional: Brush tops with melted butter. Cool for 5 minutes then remove muffins onto a rack.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This Cornbread Muffin recipe was originally published in October 2014. Recipe slightly improved, rewrote post, new photos, recipe video added – it’s a total refresh!
Life of Dozer
It was raining today, so we went shopping (for ME!😂). I live in a VERY dog friendly neighbourhood!
I made this corn bread muffins, WOW, awesome. I was naughty and grated a bit of cheese in with the mix.
Yum.
Naughty? I’d say SMART 😂
I am a big fan of cornbread. Northern, southern, I love it all. As long as its cornbread. My mom used to make this cornbread (from a box) but she would always add a can of creamed corn it in and I loved it!
Here here Danielle! Give me all the corn bread!! 😂
Off topic comment!
I miss your inspiring and knowledgeable posts over at Food Bloggers Central. Do you have any plans to to release it works? http://www.foodbloggerscentral.com/proof-it-works-3-times/ I eagerly check for updates every few months.
Love,
A Struggling Blogger
Hi hun! How things change so swiftly! It’s been started and stopped several times. The challenge I face is that the landscape is changing so rapidly, I was finding it difficult to put pen to paper and give clear advice. There is nothing I hate more than false promises, and until I’m happy that I can clearly and confidently outline the steps, unfortunately I have this on pause. BUT – send me an email. Let’s have an offline chat! N x
Delicious! The kids loved it and several went up for seconds!
That’s great to hear!!! Especially that the kids loved it! N x
can you bake these as mini muffins or will they become too dry?
Oh no they will be LOVELY in mini muffin form!!!!
Writing from semi-rural Australia I find the interconnection in today’s world incredible: here a Japanese heritaged Australian talking about an American staple ! Nagi – I have used the polenta from supermarket shelves here forever and never ever thought of it as ‘cornmeal’ And have never had ‘creamed corn’ in the house ! But you have raised my curiosity with this beautiful dish and this will be taken further . . . . (Shush, Dozer – is she looking at ‘s’ or ‘m’ ?)
Gosh Eha, I have been making this since I first saw them on Food Safari about a decade ago 🙂 I became famous for these muffins! 😂
Gosh, Maeve O’Meara is still influencing our knowledge and cooking . . . am still following her . . .
Perfect! I am looking for a “feel good” snack. 😂 Will head to the store on Friday.
Hi Nagi,
It’s Great you’re having that “me” time. Hmmm …but I think Dozer is wondering about what he’s gonna wear 😂😂. Sooo adorable.
Happy Thursday! Hugs …😊
Don’t tempt me….. Hope you’ve had a great week Gail! Did you get up to anything exciting?? 🙂 N x
HA!HA!
I had an awesome week! Helped out two friends …one to move stuff to her new apt and the other to help her organize things before she leaves for the Netherlands (for a month) next week. Being a retiree is a fantastic thing 😂
Hello Nagi,
Over here in Spain I can’t get “canned creamed corn”. Could I just get a can of sweetcorn and zap it to death in a blender?
Hi Lincoln! I wish I could say yes 🙂 Creamed corn has some kind of binder as well as partially zapped corn. It has been on my list forever to make a homemade version and a few people have asked the same thing so it’s given me a boot up the butt to get moving on it! I make a few dishes around the holidays that uses creamed corn so it WOULD be nice to have a homemade version. Thanks for asking! N x
Lincoln, I was going to ask the exact same thing. In Greece we cannot get creamed corn either, only tinned corn kernels, but I would love to attempt this recipe. Hopefully someone will give some advice on what we should do.
Hi Emma! I would love to be able to help here but I’ve never tried it with homemade creamed corn. Homemade doesn’t quite have the same texture as canned creamed corn so I’m hesitate to give you a recipe for it and say that it will work with this muffin recipe. However, here is a corn muffin recipe made without creamed corn that I have made in the past – what I like to do is mix in corn kernels for extra corn flavour. While not quite as moist as mine, the flavour is absolutely fabulous and it was a huge hit with my friends! I hope to one day share a homemade creamed corn recipe that’s similar to the canned version 🙂 https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/corn-muffins-recipe-1948484
Thanks for getting back to me and thanks for the information.
Next time I have any corn left over I will experiment. I don’t like throwing food away, and if it doesn’t work out perfectly I have not lost anything as such.
With all this yummy food you have been making, you need a moist tender cornbread with it N!
I always have cans of creamed corn in my pantry too. When I made shepard’s pie I always use a can of creamed corn and a can of corn bc it’s creamier.
Dozer is thinking that you tricked him bc there’s no food in this store. 😂
Dozer wants to give you a big sloppy wet kiss for that meatball! 😂
Have a great day N! x
In Shepard’s Pie!!! Do you mean in the filling or in the potato topping??? N x
I put it in the filling and last time I made it I put sweet potatoes on top. So good N! x
Yuuuuuuummmm!!!
It’s hard to get tins of creamed corn here, can I blend a tin of corn kernels instead?
Hi Teresa! I wish I could say yes 🙂 Creamed corn has some kind of binder as well as partially zapped corn. It has been on my list forever to make a homemade version and a few people have asked the same thing so it’s given me a boot up the butt to get moving on it! I make a few dishes around the holidays that uses creamed corn so it WOULD be nice to have a homemade version. Thanks for asking! N x
Hallo, Nagi! Nice to see this recipe get a much deserved update. I may be branded a heretic for saying this, as a Southern Girl myself, but it is definitely a worthy accompaniment to all kinds of Southern dishes.
That said – What you say about ‘Southern’ cornbread is true – as far as it goes. The art of Southern cornbread is like the game of Go – conceptually simple, but difficult to truly master. It is true that Southern cornbread does not use flour – it has a much stiffer crumb than Northern and does tend to fall apart easily. It dries out very quickly, so you are correct that it does not keep well – it’s not really meant to.
But, fresh out of the oven, it’s plenty moist, and slathered with fresh, creamy butter, there’s nothing else quite like it. It’s ideal for soups and chilis because it’s so easy to crumble into them, but it’s great on its own as well.
The ingredients are as simple as it gets – a plain cornmeal batter with a touch of pepper and salt – but the Magic Ingredient is what really makes it work. Bacon Grease.
In the South, when you are taught to cook, the first rule you are given (at least in my family) is ‘Save all Bacon Grease – You will be instructed in its use later’. This is one of those uses. For the best cornbread, hot bacon grease is stirred into the batter, and then the batter is poured into a cast iron skillet that is well treated with more hot bacon grease before the whole thing is popped into the oven to bake. The fat in the batter adds flavour and helps bind the cornbread somewhat, while the grease in the skillet gives it a wonderful crust.
It’s not exactly the healthiest of sides, but it’s well worth the effort to master. (It’s also great to have for when you make a traditional cornbread dressing at Thanksgiving.)
Thanks again for all the recipes you share – I’ve enjoyed so many of them (and many from your Mom as well)!
Goddess bless.
“The art of Southern cornbread…” HOW RIGHT YOU ARE! RESPECT!!!! PS As for Save All Bacon Grease? Oh my you would be proud of the tub I am building in the fridge!!! N xx
Jaime, I am also a Southerner and, yes, we grew up using bacon grease. You never threw away bacon grease as it was always used for many types of Southern cooking. However, I don’t use it now, but it sure is good when making cornbread and seasoning vegetables! Growing up in “my neck of the woods” and in our family we NEVER put sugar in cornbread. That was like sacrilege. LOL! We would call cornbread with sugar “corn cake”. Also, I have an iron skillet that is ONLY used for making cornbread as it is seasoned to perfection and turns out perfect cornbread.
Nagi, your cornbread muffins look delicious, but I think I will leave out the sugar. I hope that won’t change the final product. I love all of your recipes. I also love Dozer. He is looking happy and healthy after his surgery.
Hi Naomi! Sounds like you made it the proper authentic way 🙂 Respect!!! 🙌🏻 N xx
I have never made cornbread from scratch, it is very difficult to find cornmeal in India 🙁 But there are some exotic stors, that sell these things. Trying this for sure!!
No polenta either?? In Australia, that’s what cornmeal is called 🙂 N x
I am a Southerner and my cornbread is not sweet. But no matter which type cornbread you make, creamed corn is a welcome addition. Hope to see you make Southern cornbread soon.
You want this Japanese-Aussie girl to share a real Southern Cornbread?? made the real proper way with bacon grease in a cast iron pan with white cornmeal??? No flour no sugar? 🙂 N x
My cornbread has a tablespoon of flour and uses any color meal. Bacon drippings are optional but pump up the flavor.
Your recipes are great!
Nancy
Oooh! that’s a GOOD idea, just a tiny amount of flour to help with structure!! I will try it! (Unless you care to share yours! I will credit of course 🙂 N x)
Cornbread has always been popular among Yankees too, but the Northern version is a bit different from those of our brethren South of the Mason-Dixon Line. It’s lighter, fluffier, sweeter, moister, and has a finer texture than the Southern version, and is baked in a cake pan or as muffins. In fact, the best Cornbread I’ve ever had in my life (and I’m not young) is to be found at the oldest restaurant in the US, The Union Oyster House, in Boston, Massachusetts. The recipe for it is requested so often, they hand out printed copies of a cornbread recipe on request–but it’s not their authentic recipe. I’ve never discovered a recipe for cornbread quite like it, though I’ve tried for many years. (And just found 3 more to try, claiming to be their recipe, too) They serve their cornbread with honey-butter and it’s truly divine! It’s almost cake-like, but with a cornbread flavor. Consequently, I’ve seen many recipes employing creamed corn as an ingredient, but have never made any of those. But, your corn muffins look like such great snack muffins, that I will be making your recipe! I’m a great fan of muffins!
Wynn! Thank you so much for that insight! I didn’t realise there were actually different versions of cornbread, I just thought I had amended a great southern classic to my taste! N xx
There are not as many types of regional cornbread as there are regional barbecue, but there is a great deal of contention about which is the best of both. It’s all a matter of personal preference, really, but most kids might prefer corn sticks over cornbread or muffins. I’d found them very appealing as a child…”corn sticks” baked in a form pan to resemble little ears of corn, what’s not to like about that? 🙂
I made these to go with your chilli con carne and they were delicious! I love that they were so much moister than traditional cornbread. I’m a Southern girl from the US that is now living in Australia and I’ve wanted to make cornbread before but didn’t know where to find cornmeal, so I was so glad to find out polenta was what I was after. I wonder if polenta would work for shrimp and grits? The grits I use would normally be white, so it might not be exactly the same thing.
Cayla, don’t know where you live but cornmeal can be found in any grocery store in the baking and spices section. It can also be ordered online at Amazon.com. Good luck
Hi Cayla! I don’t think it’s the same thing. I’m on that mission myself so will share a grits recipe once I’m happy with it! N x
Hi! I have just put the slow cooker on with your Shredded Beef Chilli, using Osso Bucco. Looking forward to it! I have a question re the Corn Muffins, do they need the sugar? Thanks
Hi Kathryn! You can reduce if you want 🙂 I’ve never cut it out!
Absolutely delicious! Made them using Woolworths gluten free flour and just a spoon (ordinary cutlery spoon) of honey instead of the sugar and it was perfect. Made them to go with your brisket and bbq sauce recipe which I’d added some dried chilli and tiniest bit of Tabasco too. We had them with and without the sauce and preferred them on their own, they are that delicious. The natural sweetness of the corn and small amount of honey I’d used meant they were more savoury than sweet but still sweet enough that it wasn’t like eating bland bread. Definitely making again and again!!
Love hearing that Chantal! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 Have a great weekend! N x
Hi Nagi,
I research recipes to make a rotating menu for child care centres. I am intrigued by these muffins. Would you think that some extra vegetables would go alright in these? I was thinking some red and green capsicum perhaps. Just to boost the required veggie intake for the day.
Also, so you think the ‘skillet cornbread would work better for us in terms of volume? We have 150 kiddo’s to feed afternoon tea to, so volume is key. Thanks Nagi and P.S. We are using your chicken and rice soup in our centres this winter!!
I love that idea Tiffany! I think capsicum would be a brilliant addition 🙂 And for ease of volume, yes I think the skillet cornbread would work better to feed lots of people! 🙂 N xx
Hello Nagi. I am Daniela, in Toronto, Canada.
Thank you for a lovely recipe. I’ve made the muffins twice in the last week. They are very delicious! I have sent your recipe to most of my friends to try and enjoy. 🙂
That’s wonderful to hear Daniela! Thanks for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed this! N xx
Hi, have you tried to substitute gluten free flour? Does it still work?
Thanks
I haven’t, sorry Rach!