Corn Muffins Recipe - Savory Simple (2024)

Homemade corn muffins are perfect for breakfast or as a side dish alongside your favorite chili! This recipe comes together in no time.

One of my favorite make ahead dinners on Savory Simple is my vegetarian chili recipe. It’s healthy, filling, and incredibly satisfying. Sometimes when I have extra time, I like to also prepare some type of bread to serve alongside the chili for dipping, and these corn muffins are always a great option.

The subtle sweetness of the corn muffins pairs perfectly with the savoriness of the chili!

How to Make Corn Muffins

These are so easy to prepare, but they have one step that might be slightly different than what you’re used to. I’ve adapted this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, and they use the microwave while preparing the batter. In their words:

“…in order to get extra liquid into the batter, we precooked a portion of the cornmeal with additional milk to make a polenta-like porridge. By hydrating and gelling the starch in the cornmeal, we trapped free water and produced a super-moist muffin.”

The results are definitely worth the extra step. Here’s what you do:

1. In medium-sized bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups cornmeal and the dry ingredients.
2. Combine the milk and remaining 1/2 cup cornmeal in large bowl. Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, then whisk and continue microwaving in 30 second increments, whisking, until thickened to a batter-like consistency, 1 to 3 minutes.
3. Whisk in the remaining wet ingredients followed by the eggs, then fold in dry ingredient mixture until evenly combined. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin. As you can see in the above photo, the cups will be pretty full.
4. Bake until tops are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Recipe Notes and Substitutions

The recipe I’ve adapted from is for savory corn muffins. To be honest, I didn’t like how savory they were, so I added back in some sugar on my second attempt. The original recipe calls for 3 tablespoons; I ultimately doubled it for 6 tablespoons (or 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons).

The results are not overly sweet, but they’re more of a traditional corn muffin flavor. If you’d prefer to try the savory version, reduce the sugar to 3 tablespoons total, or try somewhere in between 3 to 6 tablespoons for a happy medium.

More Muffin Recipes

If you love this recipe, be sure to check out more muffin recipes like my Banana Bread Muffins,Perfect Pumpkin Muffins andCranberry Pecan Muffins.