This is it if you’re looking for the best corn muffin recipe. Savory corn muffins with bacon, cheese, and onion are perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
This homemade corn muffin recipe yields the most scrumptious muffins you’ll ever taste. With or without jalapenos, mini or regular, they’re a delight.
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.
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!
If you love easy muffin recipes like this, you need to check out Air Fryer Blueberry Muffins, and Coffee Doughnut Muffins.
These corn muffins pair very well with Tater Tot Breakfast Bake, and Loaded Egg Casserole. I like these together for brunch or a special occasion breakfast.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- This corn muffin recipe can easily be customized.
- The recipe comes together quickly.
- The whole family will love these corn muffins!
- It is a great grab-and-go breakfast.
- The hearty muffin is a meal in itself.
Ingredients for Savory Corn Muffins
Don’t be intimidated by the list of ingredients in this easy to make corn muffin recipe. You probably have a lot of the ingredients in your pantry already.
- cheddar cheese: Fresh grated cheese is always best.
- bacon: Use bacon that you enjoy. Maple bacon is a nice option.
- green onions
- jalapenos, if desired
- salt
- pepper
- flour
- fine-ground, whole-grain yellow cornmeal
- baking powder
- baking soda
- eggs: Large eggs are the standard for baking.
- sugar
- unsalted melted butter
- sour cream
- milk: Both 2% and whole milk work fine here.
- cooking spray
How to Make the Best Corn Muffins
Here are the step-by-step photos and instructions for making the best corn muffin recipe. A recipe card with complete instructions for making these savory corn muffins with bacon, cheese and onion is available at the bottom of the page.
- Preheat oven and prepare muffin pan.
2. 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.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
4. Get your muffins ready. This isn’t just a good recipe, it’s a great one!
5. In a medium bowl grab a fork and scramble your eggs.
6. Add sugar to eggs and whisk until thickens.
7. Slowly add butter, stirring after each addition.
8. Add half the sour cream and milk. Whisk until combined. Add remaining sour cream and milk. Keep whisking until blended.
9. Add cheddar cheese, bacon mixture, jalapenos, if using, to your wet ingredients.
10. Next, add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and combine using a spatula. Do not over mix.
11. 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.
13. 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.
14. Remember to rotate baking sheet midway through baking.
15. 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, then please leave a comment to let me know if you agree this is the best corn muffin recipe you’ve ever tried.
Substitutions
Don’t have the correct ingredients on hand? Or want to change something up? Here are some helpful tips for you to change this corn muffin recipe.
- If you prefer the tanginess of buttermilk, you can use it instead of the milk. Buttermilk also helps create a moist crumb.
- The recipe calls for Cheddar cheese, however you can substitute with any kind of cheese or cheese bland you like. Colby Jack and a Mexican Cheese Blend would both be great.
Variations
Want to personalize the best corn muffins recipe? Here are some of my tried and true tips for changing up this recipe.
- Spice things up! The corn muffin recipe calls for optional jalapenos, however you could also add some diced green chiles or a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes to the recipe. 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.
- Substitute the bacon for diced, cooked ham.
If you like recipes like this, you might also enjoy homemade dinner rolls.
Equipment
- Frying Pan
- Whisk
- Mixing Bowls
- Muffin Pan
Storage
- Refrigerator: Store these savory corn muffins in an airtight container or re-sealable bag. If you are making ahead of time, I recommend that you store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days and then take out and warm it slightly on the stovetop before serving.
- Freezer: Allow bacon and cheese corn muffins to cool down completely first and then wrap it in a layer of plastic covering the cornbread tightly before placing in freezer safe container. To thaw, place on counter for about 2 hours or until warm to touch.
- Reheat: To heat up, microwave the corn muffins for 30 seconds at a time until warm all the way through. Or you can reheat the muffins in the oven at 325 F degrees for a few minutes, just enough to warm up the cornbread. This should take about 5 to 10 minutes.
Tips
- Use freshly grated cheese. Pre-grated cheese contains preservatives that prevents it from melting well during cooking.
- 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?).
- How to prevent dry corn muffins. 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.
- To ensure moist, tender corn muffins be careful to not overmix the batter. Whisk and stir just until ingredients are combined.
- Use an ice cream scoop, to add the batter into the muffin pan. An ice cream scoop is the perfect size for a muffin tin. If you don’t have an ice cream scoop, you can use a large spoon, but that’s not as easy.
- Alternatively, 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.
- Rotate the muffin pan once during baking, to ensure the heat is evenly distributed, resulting in more uniform muffins.
FAQ
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 this delicious corn muffin recipe. On the other hand, corn flour is used similarly to any other variety of flour. This recipe calls for fine-ground, whole-grain yellow cornmeal used in baking with its finer texture, just in case there is any confusion.
Cornmeal keeps very well in the pantry. It is best stored in a cool, dry, and dark place. 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 is time to replace it.
Cornbread muffins are basically cornbread baked in the form of muffins. Corn muffins are a muffin recipe made with similar ingredients but a lot more sugar.
More Recipes Made with Corn Meal
If you specifically want more recipes that use cornmeal try this Homemade Cornbread, Easy Cheesy Sweet Corn Casserole, and Crispy Fried Red or Green Tomatoes.
Savory Corn Muffins with Bacon, Cheese and Onion
Ingredients
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
- 10 slices bacon, chopped into ½ inch pieces
- 1 cup green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole grain yellow cornmeal, fine ground
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup sugar
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter or 1 stick, melted
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ½ cup milk
- 1-2 jalapenos, diced, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prepare your muffin pan, mini or regular, with cooking spray. Get out all of your ingredients and get them measured.
- Fry bacon, over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Add green onions, pinch of salt, and pepper, and stir for less than a minute. Transfer mixture to platter to cool while getting your muffin batter ready.
- Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and remaining salt in medium bowl until combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk eggs until scrambled.
- Add sugar to eggs and whisk until thickened, less than a minute. Gradually add melted butter. A little at a time.
- Add half the sour cream and half the milk and whisk to combine. Add remaining sour cream and milk.
- Whisk until blended.
- Add 1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese, jalapenos, if using, and bacon mixture into batter.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir gently until combined with a rubber spatula.
- Do not over mix.
- Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter evenly among muffin cups, dropping in each to form mound of sorts. Divide remaining cheese on top of each mound. Do not press or flatten mounds.
- Place inside your oven and bake.
- Muffins must be a nice golden brown color and a toothpick inserted into center must come out clean. Between 17 and 19 minutes for regular corn muffins or 10-12 minutes for minis.
- Don't forget to turn your muffin an half way through baking.
- Allow muffins to cool inside pan for 5 minutes.
- Turn muffins onto wire rack and allow to cool for 5 more minutes.
- Serve warm and enjoy every bite.
Notes
- Use freshly grated cheese. Pre-grated cheese contains preservatives that prevents it from melting well during cooking.
- 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?).
- How to prevent dry corn muffins. 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.
- To ensure moist, tender corn muffins be careful to not overmix the batter. Whisk and stir just until ingredients are combined.
- Use an ice cream scoop, to add the batter into the muffin pan. An ice cream scoop is the perfect size for a muffin tin. If you don’t have an ice cream scoop, you can use a large spoon, but that’s not as easy.
- Alternatively, 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.
- Rotate the muffin pan once during baking, to ensure the heat is evenly distributed, resulting in more uniform muffins.
Nutrition
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