Easy Cornbread Muffins are just waiting for a perfect bowl of chili

You’ll love these easy cornbread muffins made with homemade Jiffy cornbread mix and a couple of extra ingredients. They take literally 1 minute to mix together and just 20 minutes to make.

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Come Fall it’s chili cookoff season, and I always think good soup of any kind deserves good bread. That’s why we love whole wheat dinner rolls, potato garlic knots, deli rye buns, homemade Hawaiian sweet rolls, sour cream biscuits and more to go along with soup in our house. But none of those recipes are as easy as this one.

With your homemade cornbread mix and an egg and some buttermilk, you can whip these muffins up in no time. Pop them out of the pan, and you’ve got hot, delicately crunchy cornbread with just the right amount of sweetness. Pass the butter–these cornbread muffins deserve a good slather!

Easy Cornbread Muffins

How these cornbread muffins will save your dinner plans

1. 1 minute to make: This is literally a mix and go recipe.
2. Versatile: you can add extra mix-ins like cheese and jalepenos or honey and blueberries for a simple custom cornbread that’s way more interesting with almost no extra work.
3. Buttermilk: These muffins use my favorite homemade cultured buttermilk which adds tang and a tenderness you will not get from regular milk. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand and can’t wait, be sure to see my tips for quick buttermilk in the recipe.
4. Make anytime: Cornbread muffins are just as at home among a bread basket for Thanksgiving as they are alongside a stout chili or in a breakfast sandwich.

Optional mix-ins to make your cornbread muffins more exciting

1. Corn: when corn is good and fresh, cut off the kernels from 1 ear and mix them into your batter to beef up the corn flavor.
2. Lemon blueberry: Add 1 tablespoon of lemon sugar and 1 cup frozen blueberries.
3. Maple or honey: Add 2 tablespoons of maple syrup for a little extra sweetness (take out 1-2 tablespoons of milk to adjust the consistency).
4. Butter: Add a little more richness by stirring in 2 tablespoons of melted butter into the batter. Brush the tops of finished muffins with extra butter.
5. Herby: Chop up some dill and green onions or parsley and some minced garlic.
6. Cheesy cornbread: Mix in most of 1 cup of grated cheese. Cheddar or pepper jack are great here, but use what you like. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the rest of the cheese.
7. Spicy cornbread: Chop a roasted chile of any kind. Poblano, and jalepeno are classic additions to cornbread, but choose a serrano for a little brighter heat if you like it. Chopped chipotle chiles or even canned green chiles are also good.

Tips for the best cornbread muffins

• Butter the tops: Do brush some melted butter on the tops of the muffins after they come out of the oven. This will keep them soft and add some extra flavor.
• Hold back some of the buttermilk: You want your batter to be about as thick as a thick pancake. Pour in most of the buttermilk and then add as much of the rest as you need to get to that thick pancake consistency.
• Add your mix-ins in with everything else: It’s always a good idea to add in any of your mix-ins with the other ingredients. This way you mix everything together at once, which will keep you from overmixing.
• Do not overbake: Cornmeal’s crunchiness makes it a little drier by nature. Leave it in the oven too long, and it’s going to be very hard to eat. Don’t throw away overbaked cornbread though; just know it’ll need a good soak in soup to be okay.

Where to take your cornbread muffins

1. Picnics: Fried chicken and some proper deviled eggs would go great with your cornbread.
2. Thanksgiving: Park this bread alongside some whole wheat dinner rolls or some deli rye buns. With all 3 you’ve got a good bread basket going for Turkey Day.
3. Chili cookoffs: Skip the Fritos; cornbread is just as good to go along with a bowl of Texas chili.
4. Brunch: there are no muffins that are easier to make. Spread on some butter and some raspberry jam, blueberry jam, or most excellent apple butter!

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