Name: Cornbread Muffins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1/2 cup cornmeal; 1/3 cup all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons granulated sugar; 3/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder; 1/8 teaspoon baking soda; 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt; 1 large egg, beaten; 1/2 cup buttermilk; 2 tablespoons melted butter

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Cornbread muffins are light, fluffy and a perfect side dish to any cold weather dinner. This is a small batch recipe for just 6 corn muffins. You can double it for a larger batch and add any flavors you wish!

Cornbread muffins

With chili season upon us, we have a big need for a small batch of cornbread muffins. If you've wisely made my ground beef chili for two, these corn muffins are the perfect thing for dunking. They're also great alongside my instant pot taco soup or vegan black bean burrito bowls. And to be honest, I love a cornbread muffin dripping with butter for breakfast, and so do my kids--a fried egg with one of these is savory breakfast heaven!

Also, if you're making my Southern cornbread dressing as part of my Thanksgiving for two, this is the base for it!

This corn muffins recipe is special because you can use stone-ground cornmeal, if you prefer. Since the batter is cut with regular flour, it can handle some stone-ground cornmeal, but regular cornmeal is totally fine, too! I've even used blue corn meal with beautiful results.

Small batch cornbread ingredients:

Besides buttermilk, I always have the ingredients for this recipe on hand. You'll need:

cornmeal
all-purpose flour
granulated sugar
baking powder (make sure to use aluminum-free baking powder for baking)
baking soda
fine sea salt
one large egg
buttermilk (can substitute milk with a splash of vinegar)
melted butter

How to make corn muffins recipe:

First, whisk together the dry ingredients: the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Next, stir together the wet ingredients: the egg, buttermilk and melted butter.
Combine the ingredients, adding any additional flavor options (below) that you may like.
Line the muffin pan with liners, but also spray the inside of those liners with cooking spray--cornbread is sticky!
Bake in a 400-degrees F oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the muffins are done.

Variations of these corn muffins:

These corn muffins are great with these modifications:

-stir in some grated aged cheddar and ½ teaspoon chili powder

-stir in pickled jalapeño or fresh jalapeño slices (add up to 1 tablespoon of pickled jalapeño juice)

-leftover crumbled bacon is welcome (up to 2 tablespoons)

-fresh herbs like chives, cilantro or even thyme are great stirred in

Cornbread for two:

In our house, these 6 muffins happily feel like just enough cornbread for two, but in my single days, I would freeze half of the muffins for another night. If you freeze half, make sure you label them in a freezer-safe bag, because it's not fun finding random muffins in the freezer and not knowing if they're savory or sweet--been there, done that!

Cornbread is one of the many reasons I always keep buttermilk in my fridge. For ways to use up leftover buttermilk, try these recipes:

Yield: 6

Cornbread Muffins

Cornbread muffin recipe that makes a small batch of just 6 muffins.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

½ cup cornmeal
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 large egg, beaten
½ cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F and ensure a rack is placed in the center position.
Place 6 muffin cup liners in a muffin pan, and then spray the liners lightly with cooking spray--cornbread is sticky stuff!
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and melted butter.
Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, let set for one minute before scooping it into muffin cups and baking for 12-15 minutes. The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve immediately with extra butter.

Notes

1. You can use blue corn, white corn, or regular yellow cornmeal here. Stone ground cornmeal is welcome, too, since we're cutting it with flour.

2. My favorite buttermilk substitute is milk with a splash of vinegar. Use the same amount of milk as the recipe calls for, and splash in 1 teaspoon per cup of milk.

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