These vegan cornbread muffins are pure perfection. Savory and a little sweet, these are the best cornbread muffins you’ll ever make!
One of my favorite comedy shows ever is a British show called ‘Miranda’.
In one episode she bites into a muffin and spits it out immediately, horror all over her face, and says: ‘A savory muffin? Life is full of enough disappointments Gary, a savory muffin?’
And now I’ve gone and done it – made some savory muffins! These vegan cornbread muffins are savory. But oh my they are good. And since they are cornbread muffins they are also a little sweet.
And if you want to make them very sweet you can serve them with maple syrup. And if you want them less sweet you can reduce the sugar a little. They can go either way.
The recipe is adapted from our amazing vegan cornbread, and with just a few changes we have these beautiful muffins.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
Ingredient Notes
- Yellow cornmeal – this is called polenta in some countries like Australia and South Africa.
- Apple cider vinegar – can be replaced with distilled white vinegar.
- Whole sweet corn kernels – we used canned, drained sweet corn, though you can also use fresh corn or frozen corn.
- Vegan butter – any kind of vegan butter (tub style or sticks) will work great in this recipe as it’s melted first.
- Soy milk – or almond milk both work well in this recipe.
How To Make Vegan Cornbread Muffins
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the yellow cornmeal, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add apple cider vinegar to soy milk and set aside to curdle.
- Add the vegan butter to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals bringing it out to stir every 30-seconds until the butter is melted.
- Add the soy milk and apple cider vinegar mix and maple syrup to the melted butter.
- Whisk it together until well mixed.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix into a batter. Don’t overmix.
- Add in the canned whole sweet corn kernels (drained) and fold them into the batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin partitions of your muffin tray (sprayed with non-stick spray).
- Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes before removing them from the muffin tray and placing them onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
How To Serve Cornbread Muffins
These muffins are divine served alongside savory dishes like vegan chili, vegan stew, vegan minestrone or vegan black bean soup.
They’re also divine eaten alone for breakfast or a quick snack. Spread with vegan butter and drizzle with vegan honey to really take it up a few levels!
Storing and Freezing
Keep your corn muffins stored in a covered container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Let them cool completely before freezing and then add them to a freezer bag or freezer safe container and freeze.
More Vegan Muffins
- Vegan Apple Muffins
- Vegan Carrot Muffins
- Vegan Blackberry Muffins
- Vegan Chocolate Muffins
- Vegan Banana Muffins
- Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Cornbread Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups All Purpose Flour (156g)
- 1 cup Yellow Cornmeal (156g)
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar (100g)
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Soy Milk (240ml) or Almond Milk
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- ⅔ cup Vegan Butter (150g)
- 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 1 ½ cups Whole Sweet Corn Kernels Canned, Drained
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray a muffin tray with non-stick spray.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the yellow cornmeal, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add the apple cider vinegar to the soy milk and set aside to curdle.
- Add the vegan butter to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals bringing it out to stir every 30-seconds until the butter is melted.
- Add the soy milk and apple cider vinegar mix and maple syrup to the melted butter and whisk together.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix into a batter. Don't overmix.
- Add in the canned whole sweet corn kernels (drained) and fold them into the batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin partitions of your prepared muffin tray.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing them from the muffin tray and placing them onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Yellow cornmeal is also called Polenta in Australia/South Africa.
- Whole sweet corn kernels: We used canned, drained sweet corn, though you can also use fresh corn or frozen corn.
- Storing: Keep leftover corn muffins stored in a covered container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- Freezing: They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Let them cool completely before freezing and then add to a freezer bag or freezer safe container.
- This recipe was first published in June 2017. It has been updated with new photos and a slightly updated recipe.
These are so tasty but MUCH sweeter than I was expecting, and I already reduced the sugar by about 20% as I usually do. For my taste, they are definitely more of a dessert than a side dish. They are otherwise so good that I’ll definitely be making them again, but next time I’ll probably cut the sugar in half if I plan on serving it with the main dish!
This is my go to recipe! I’ve literally just finished a batch as requested by my son for his birthday breakfast. A wonderful recipe, well written instructions and simple to make. Thank you, they are loved in our house.
Wonderful! Thanks so much!
I didn’t have all the ingredients but was pining for vegan cornmeal muffins so took a chance using significant substitutions. They still turned out wonderfully!! I used applesauce instead of vegan butter. Half the sugar was brown but the rest was organic cane sugar. I had no corn whatsoever so left it out. The muffins were tender and delicious. Thank you.
So glad they worked out! Thanks for sharing Susan!
Can these muffins be frozen BTW they are absolutely lovely
So glad you like them Katherine, and yes they are freezer friendly!
As you know, I’m a huge fan of your cornbread, so naturally I had to make these, too. Everyone had two with dinner and I had to hide one for breakfast, so clearly they were another hit! They are just the best flavor and texture (not dry and crumbly and not wet and tacky anywhere either) and the recipe yielded twelve substantial sized muffins. Thanks for another keeper, Alison! These are worth all the separate steps and a must if you’re looking for the perfect foil to chili or a soup with more heat.
Yay! Thanks so much Denise!
These turned out perfectly. I used frozen sweetcorn (thoroughly defrosted and drained first) and halved the sweetness. I did laugh when I read your comment about “savoury muffins” in the Miranda TV show. I served these to the family with your lovely tomato soup and got some very worried/confused looks from the kids. I’m not sure if the Brits are quite ready for the concept of savoury muffins yet, but they were certainly delicious! Thank you.
Hahaha, I love that Satin! Thanks for the great comment and review!
This recipe sounds spot on so I am rating now as I have made similar before… I usually don’t do muffins but I want more crunch! Btw…I am using frozen corn, so it’s certainly not 450 or so grams, so I wonder if my 150 g is even a bit much. I’m about to find out!!
Hi Susan! It’s around 1 and 1/2 cups of corn, but you can definitely use less too! Hope they come out great! 🙂
Made per recipe except reduced the sugar and they were delicious!
Thanks for sharing and the great review Liz. 🙂
Hi Alison. Thanks for this recipe. I would love to try it, but I only have cornmeal flour. Can that work?
Hi Dorneika, as far as I know it’s not the same, the cornmeal flour is very finely ground, whereas yellow cornmeal is more coarsely ground. So I don’t think it would work the same.
What kind of vegan butter do you prefer?
Hi Melissa, I usually use the kind in a tub, but the more firm the better, the very soft vegan spreads are often too soft for things like frostings. For this recipe though it really doesn’t matter as you melt it first. 🙂
This is super tasty but I’m having an issue with the muffins staying together after being cooked. Has anyone had this problem? If so— how do you fix that issue?
Hi Aurora, are you substituting the all purpose flour with a different flour by any chance? Otherwise make sure they are cooked properly (toothpick must come out clean) and also let them cool before eating them.
These worked out great! You’d never know they were vegan. I’ll definitely make them to serve with my next soup or brunch.
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Thank you for putting the weights down….it turned out excellent on the first try. These are really very lovely. I didn’t sift – LOL – not a sifting kind of cook, and they are really some of the best muffins I’ve ever made and I’ve made a lot of muffins. I make my own vegan butter which is avocado and coconut oil and I used that. Will have to check out more of your recipes, my first time here.
Wonderful to hear! Thanks so much for the awesome review! 🙂
I just made these, and they were delicious. But they didn’t look anything like yours, mine were pale yellow, not a golden brown color. And the same was different, basically one mound with no lip. Maybe my oven was not hot enough. I’m going to try again and add jalapeño pieces or sun dried tomatoes bits. What do you think?
Hi Freddie, I don’t know why yours looked different, but the most important thing is that you say they were delicious! That’s awesome. It might have been that your oven isn’t as hot as mine, ovens do vary a lot which is why an oven thermometer can be quite helpful. I think your idea of adding jalapeño pieces or sundried tomatoes would be delicious! 🙂
Can I omit the can corn?
Yes, sure. 🙂
YUM! Looks delicious! I plan to try them out this weekend and am wondering if you think whole frozen corn might work instead of canned corn…or is the moisture from the can necessary?
You drain the can very well anyway so the moisture is not a factor so I think frozen would be fine.
Thank you for such a quick response! 🙂
I made these last night and they were FANTASTIC. Moist, full of flavor, great with my tofu chili. I am a little concerned about the saturated fat however. I think next time I will follow your recipe but substitute applesauce for the fats. Have you tried that?
Hi Lynne, so glad they came out great! I have not tried applesauce as a substitute for the fats, but it’s worth a try! Let me know how it turns out if you do it that way. Thanks for posting! 🙂
I made them subbing applesauce for the butter. No sugar or syrup. Frozen corn. They were great!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
What a treat!