How to Make Corn Muffins with Bacon, Cheese and Onion

How to Make Corn Muffins with Bacon, Cheese and Onion is the best homemade corn muffin recipe, with or without jalapenos, mini or regular.

The best way to improve already delicious corn muffins is to add bacon, onions, jalapenos and cheese. These inarguably exceptional treats are very easy to make and they are so good, you’ll want to make several batches at a time. Both mini and regular sized.

I’m not even kidding.

If you have a five-pound bag of cornmeal sitting in your pantry and you aren’t sure what to do with it, read on for this fantastic corn muffins recipe. Not only are they the easiest homemade corn muffins to make they taste amazing and freeze so well.

You’ll likely always make a double batch, just like I do.

You can add a little more or less onion, cheese, jalapenos or bacon. Heck, even skip them altogether and still end up enjoying the best corn muffin recipe. Now what could be better than that?

Corn muffins are the perfect snack or side dish. My son even makes small sandwiches with them for work or when looking for a quick bite to eat. He loves these homemade corn muffins (especially when I make him jalapeno corn muffins!) and wished I could make them into a loaf!

Mini Corn Muffins

Not likely I will be making a corn muffin loaf anytime soon but I do make mini corn muffins too. The only problem with making the mini corn muffins is they’re so easy to eat.

One right after the other.

Before you know it you will amaze yourself at how many you manage to consume. Especially when they’re warm. Oh are these mini corn muffins ever good. Right out of the oven. They’re too good for words and I kid you not.

Just wait until you try one of these mini muffins for the very first time. I’ve eaten a lot of different homemade corn muffins in my life and after trying these, never looked back. This is the only homemade corn muffin recipe that I use and the only one you’ll ever need. 

For both regular and mini corn muffins.

I figure that you shouldn’t mess with perfection. My husband says why try and fix it if it’s not broken. Basically what I’m trying to stress here is that you have found the ultimate homemade corn muffin recipe, in our opinion, and I can’t wait to hear what you think.

Homemade Corn Muffins

Years ago we made homemade corn muffins and boy oh boy were they a lot of work. Then, corn muffin mixes became popular and I joined in on that craze. I loved every moment.

Now I only make these. This is the BEST corn muffin recipe.

A corn muffin just isn’t a corn muffin if it isn’t one of these little works of art. I told my husband I was going to call them that and I just did! I know that’s a little dramatic but it’s true.

If you try the best homemade corn muffin recipe you will see what I mean. 

These homemade corn muffins have the best result out of all that I have tried and I really can’t wait to hear what you think of them.

I want to hear if you’re like my son and choose to use jalapenos. I’m also dying to know if you prefer the regular of mini corn muffins. Oh heck, I just want to hear what you think. I can’t be the only one who loves the best corn muffin recipe. Can I?

Jalapeno Corn Muffins

Those of you that follow this blog are likely aware how much my son enjoys and insists upon adding heat to food. I can’t think of any savory food that he doesn’t add some sort of hot sauce, sriracha, or jalapeno or serrano peppers too.

I kid you not.

He LOVES making jalapeno corn muffins with cheese, bacon and onions too. Sometimes he uses serrano peppers but more often than not he uses jalapenos.

The jalapeno corn muffins always turn out great, no matter what you add to them frankly. As my son and I were laughing about that you could just hear from the other room from my husband saying, “not chocolate.”

My son and I both disagree. 😉

All kidding aside, these jalapeno corn muffins are definitely worth a try. My son says to be sure and add everything else too (bacon, onions, and cheese) if you can. You’ll be glad you did.

The Difference Between Corn Bread and Corn Muffins

Usually, cornbread is served as a side dish while homemade corn muffins, due to their sweetness are traditionally seen as more of a desert. These corn muffins are very savory and work best as a side dish or even a complete snack (jalapeno corn muffin anyone?).

A cornbread muffin is simply cornbread that is shaped like a muffin, which is closer to what this recipe is. In terms of ingredients, cornbread and corn muffins are virtually the same although recipes can differ.

The primary difference is in the perception of the dish and how you plan to incorporate it into a meal.

How to Avoid Dry Corn Muffins

The thing that makes cornbread so great can also be its downfall. Cornmeal doesn’t have the gluten content to hold corn muffins together, so flour is needed to help it combine with the other ingredients.

This recipe calls for all-purpose flour, which is easy to find and usually a safe bet. If the homemade corn muffin batter is not thick enough it will need more flour to allow the ingredients to bond better and produce less crumbly cornbread.

Corn Flour vs. Cornmeal

What’s corn flour? It’s the same thing in the sense that espresso is the same as a drip coffee. The basic ingredient is dried corn.

Much like coffee beans are ground at different levels from coarse to fine, the corn that is milled into cornmeal, when milled further eventually becomes fine flour.

Even though it is the same thing, essentially. The coarseness of cornmeal is necessary for the end result of delicious corn muffins. Corn flour on the other hand is used similarly to any other variety of flour.

Although corn starch is also fine, it is not the same thing as corn flour either. Corn starch is specifically made from the starchy part of the kernel. So, corn flour is not used the same way as corn starch to thicken soups and sauces.

This recipe calls for fine-ground, whole-grain yellow cornmeal used in baking with its finer texture, just in case there is any confusion.

How to Store Cornmeal

One of the great things about cornmeal is how well it keeps. Chances are, you have some in your pantry. If you do, chances are that it is still good. Cornmeal stays in its best condition for a very long time, even surpassing the “best by” date by at least a year.

The way to know if your cornmeal is still good is by the look and smell of it. If it has an unusual odor, it’s time to throw it out. Luckily, with this recipe, there is something you can do with it before that happens.

The best way to store cornmeal in order to preserve it for the longest amount of time is to keep it in a cool, dry, and dark place. The opposites: warm, wet, and bright are very bad for the degradation of cornmeal.

Keeping cornmeal in warm locations like next to a refrigerator, dishwasher or stove can lead to mold or the appearance of insects whose eggs hatch in such conditions.

To avoid such a fate, store in cooler dryer locations and keep cornmeal sealed in an airtight bag. Since cornmeal comes in five-pound bags, you may wish to keep it fresh for several years, which is possible if stored in an airtight container and kept in the freezer.

Why You Shouldn’t Over Mix Corn Muffin Batter

You may notice with this and other recipes that I caution you in the instructions not to overmix your batter. Sometimes you really want that batter smooth for a certain recipe and other times you want to blend it just enough.

The reason is that the amount that you mix batter achieves different results. If you want delicious homemade corn muffins as the outcome, you must be careful not to over mix.

One reason for this is that you can aerate the batter which causes tunnels to form while the muffin is baking. The trapped air makes the consistency of the muffin more like a cake instead of the dense bread that is supposed to form.

Another reason to avoid overmixing is that this is another culprit of dry crumbly cornbread. Only in this case, it’s the activation of gluten in the cornmeal that does it. This sounds counterintuitive, but the clumping effect caused by overmixing makes the batter unstable as it bakes.

How to Distribute Your Batter

When you have mixed the wet and dry ingredients and finished making your batter with the bacon, onion, jalapenos and whatever else you’re going to include, it’s time to get it in the pan. Unlike other muffin batters, homemade corn muffins are thick.

Usually, the batter would still be pourable, but with all of the added ingredients and textures, you may have difficulty doing this. There are a couple of ways to get the batter into a muffin tin.

The best way is the way I provide in the recipe for these corn muffins. It involves using an ice cream scoop, the perfect size for this sort of dish. If you don’t have an ice cream scoop, you can use a large spoon, but that’s not as easy.

The alternative is to pipe the batter into the muffin tin using a plastic bag with a corner snipped off. In order to fill the bag, prop it up in a vase or a pitcher. Fold the top over the rim of the vessel and pour, scraping whatever is left from the bowl into the bag.

This is a good method but takes a little more time and effort than you actually need to.

Why Do You Need to Rotate?

While you are baking, you need to interrupt the process just once to rotate the tin. The reason it’s important to do this is that although it all seems the same temperature, ovens have hot spots and the heat is not as evenly distributed as you might hope.

To help the best corn muffin recipe stay consistent during baking, rotate them so that each muffin in the tin gets equal heat exposure. When you do this the variance in oven temperature is accounted for and your homemade corn muffins will come out more uniform.

Cheesy Bacon Corn Muffins

• cheddar cheese
• bacon
• green onions
• jalapenos, if desired
• salt
• pepper
• flour
• fine-ground, whole-grain yellow cornmeal
• baking powder
• baking soda
• eggs
• sugar
• unsalted melted butter 
• sour cream
• milk
• cooking spray

Preheat oven and prepare muffin pan.

Fry bacon until crisp, add green onions, a pinch of salt and pepper, and stir for less than a minute. Allow mixture to cool on a plate. 

Get your muffins ready. This isn’t just a good recipe, it’s a great one!

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.

In a medium bowl grab a fork and scramble your eggs.

Add sugar to eggs and whisk until thickens.

Slowly add butter, stirring after each addition. 

Add half the sour cream and milk. Whisk until combined. Add remaining sour cream and milk. Keep whisking until blended. 

Add cheddar cheese, bacon mixture, jalapenos, if using, to your wet ingredients.

Next, add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and combine using a spatula. Do not over mix.

With a large spoon, ice cream scoop or whatever you prefer, divide batter amongst the muffin cups, regular or mini. They will form uneven looking mounds, if you will.

Do not flatten the mounds at all. Just gently place cheese on top of each raw corn muffin, as much as will fit. 

Place corn muffins until a gorgeous golden brown color and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, between 17 and 19 minutes for regular muffins or 10-12 for mini corn muffins.

Remember to rotate baking sheet midway through baking. 

Allow muffins to cool in muffin pan for 5 minutes before placing on top of a rack for another few minutes to cool.

Serve warm if possible and enjoy every bite!

Other great recipes to try

• How to Make Homemade Cornbread
• Easy Cheesy Sweet Corn Casserole
• Crispy Fried Red or Green Tomatoes