Mary’s Traditional Homemade Cornbread Muffins with Nordic Ware™ Backyard Bugs Muffin Pan
Corn: It’s one of the most quintessential summer vegetables. Midwesterners love the stuff. There’s nothing better than a hot ear of fresh sweet corn, dripping with butter… besides maybe a hot corn muffin (also dripping with butter)! My buttermilk cornbread muffins are a delicious treat on their own, but I’m sharing them today because they make a wonderful side to almost any summer meal… and to be honest, I enjoy these all year round.
This cornbread muffin recipe is chocked full of tradition, community know-how, and drizzled with wildflower honey from local farms.
I put my recipe together after learning the secrets of cornbread from the expert community that helps us out on the farm. Cornbread is super popular in central Illinois, so we know what we’re talking about! My cornbread muffin recipe produces delicious corn muffins that are dense, moist, and absolutely perfect with a pat of butter and a drizzle of honey. I like unsalted Kerrygold butter and local Amish wildflower honey. Good clover honey is fine if you don’t have a local Amish community.
Bonus: you can serve these cornbread muffins all year round and for all of your holiday celebrations!
Usually, this is a treat I save for the farm. But when you make a lot of something—and it’s just so good—you can’t help bringing it home with you. I like to eat these muffins in place of regular bread at house meals or serve them up with barbeque or fish fry. They make a nice addition to the table at summer potlucks, as well as on Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas. Their crumbly texture and slightly sweet flavor make them perfect for pairing with seasonal soups and back-to-school chili too.
Here are just a few of my favorite meals to serve with cornbread muffins.
Oh, they’re just so good! I’m going to keep going because cornbread is so versatile that it really goes with everything. Try it with pork and roasted vegetables or greens like kale, collard greens, or sautéed spinach. Try it with my Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Pot Pie, Guinness Beef Stew Pot Pie, or my Hard Cider Pork Roast with Pink Lady Apples. We haven’t even gotten into soups yet! These would be lovely paired with my Maple Butternut Squash Bisque or Terri’s Wild Rice Corn Chowder. Of course, I had to add this homemade cornbread muffin recipe to my article where I feature my favorite fish fry recipes. You can even scoop some ice cream on top and make a dessert out of it… with honey, jam, caramel sauce… the list goes on forever!
Ok, let’s talk about my Nordic Ware™ backyard bug muffin pans for a minute or two.
So, now you know my homemade cornbread muffins are the best. As far as making them adorable goes, I love to use my decorative Nordic Ware™ muffin pans. Besides the butterflies you see in my photo, they also make other themed muffin tins like garden vegetables and my all-time favorite: backyard bugs which you can find on Willaims Sanoma’s website. Perfect for your next fish fry!
Choosing the right shape is a fun way to enjoy cornbread through the seasons and for various holidays (strawberry-shaped cornbread for summer or spring flowers for wedding shower luncheons)—and you don’t even have to make a mess cutting it up. I hope you love these sweet cornbread muffins as much as we do at my house!
Mary’s Homemade Cornbread Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon of Mary DiSomma's Cognac Barrel-aged Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup fine of medium yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan (or a muffin tin) or spray it with cooking spray.
- In a medium skillet, melt the butter. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Quickly add the eggs and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.
- In a measuring cup, combine the 1 cup of buttermilk and the baking soda. Mix until combined.
- Stir the buttermilk into the skillet mixture followed by the cornmeal, flour and salt. Mix to combine. A few lumps are okay.
- Transfer the batter to your prepared pan. For a 9x13-inch pan, bake 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For muffins, you’ll only need 12 to 15 minutes. Let your cornbread cool for 15 minutes before serving.
