Sour Cream Cornbread Muffins Recipe

Moist sour cream cornbread muffins

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 25 mins
Servings: 12 servings
Yield: 12 muffins

The wonderful thing about cornbread muffins is that you can serve them with breakfast or with dinner; however, they are not so wonderful when they are dry and somewhat tasteless. These delicious cornbread muffins are slightly sweet and the butter, sour cream, and honey make them moist and rich. Served at brunch with butter and jam, or at lunch alongside chili and greens, or at the holiday dinner table, these tender and flavorful cornbread muffins will become the only cornbread recipe you will ever make.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 3/4 cup cornmeal

  • 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

  • 5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

  • 3 tablespoons sugar

  • 2 large eggs

  • 1/2 cup milk

  • 1/2 cup sour cream

  • 1 tablespoon honey

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

    Ingredients for moist sour cream cornbread muffin
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  2. Grease a 10- to 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.

    Muffin liners
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  3. In a bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir to blend thoroughly.

    Cornmeal
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  4. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar.

    Whisk together butter and sugar
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  5. Whisk in eggs until well blended. Add the milk and sour cream, along with the honey; whisk to blend. 

    Whisk in eggs
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga 
  6. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until well blended. 

    Add dry mixture
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  7. Scoop into the prepared muffin cups.

    Scoop into muffin cups
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  8. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until nicely browned.

    Bake
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  9. Let cool for about 10 minutes and then remove from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

    Let cool
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Tips

  • These muffins are slightly sweet. If you prefer a savory muffin, cut back on the sugar or omit completely. If you prefer a sweeter muffin, add another tablespoon or two of sugar.
  • When it comes to baking muffins, we are often cautioned not to overmix as this will cause the muffin to become tough and dense. Although this is true, it should not deter you from combining the ingredients completely to form a batter (about 12 stirs around the bowl once all of the ingredients are combined should do the trick). What you should not do is use an electric mixer when making muffins—this will almost guarantee you will end up with hockey pucks.
  • To ensure each muffin is relatively the same size, use an ice cream scoop or soup ladle to portion out the batter into the muffin pan. Filling about 1/3 full is often recommended. And, although this may seem a bit odd, once you remove the muffins from the tin, continue cooling them upside down on a towel; this will prevent the bottoms from becoming soggy.

Recipe Variations

  • Fold about 1/2 to 1 cup of dried blueberries, dried cranberries, or chopped nuts into the batter for extra flavor and texture.
  • If you would like to add fresh berries, toss 1 cup of berries with 1 tablespoon of flour; fold them into the batter. The flour helps keep the berries from sinking as the muffins bake.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
162 Calories
8g Fat
20g Carbs
3g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories 162
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 8g 10%
Saturated Fat 4g 22%
Cholesterol 50mg 17%
Sodium 246mg 11%
Total Carbohydrate 20g 7%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 0mg 1%
Calcium 70mg 5%
Iron 1mg 5%
Potassium 73mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)