Corn muffins with a bite taken out of one of them.
Breakfast,  Desserts,  Easy,  Our Favorites,  Recipes,  Vegetarian

Sweet Corn Muffins

This easy, tender sweet corn muffin recipe is one of our favorites to bake! These muffins are great for breakfast, snack time, or dessert and freeze beautifully. Fun to bake with kids, too!

Sweet corn muffin with a bite taken out of it surrounded by more muffins.

Why we love these muffins

  • They’re not overly sweet.
  • The texture is nice and tender with a little bit of crunch on top.
  • Sweet corn muffins freeze well and reheat easily.
  • They’re versatile – great as breakfast, snack time, part of a meal, and just sweet enough for dessert.
Baking ingredients laid out to make sweet corn muffins.

These muffins have been a favorite in my house for many years now. They’re great by themselves and even better slathered with a little salted butter.

There aren’t a ton of ingredients to this muffin recipe, which makes them easy to pull together whenever the craving strikes.

Sweet corn muffins freeze beautifully, too, so you can make a batch (or even scale it to make a double batch!) and freeze some to enjoy later on.

🥣 Ingredient Spotlight: Baking Powder

Baking powder increases the volume of baked goods, creating a nice rise and light, fluffy texture.

In most cases, recipes that call for baking powder refer to double-acting baking powder, though there are some instances when single-acting baking powder is used.

Please note that many brands of baking powder contain aluminum, which can cause a metallic or bitter taste, especially when used in larger quantities.

I recommend using brands that are specifically marked aluminum-free. Some of my favorites are Rumford and Bob’s Red Mill.

Close-up of a sweet corn muffin with a bite taken out.

How to make this recipe

  1. Whisk together dry ingredients in one mixing bowl and wet ingredients in another.
  2. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
  3. Pour wet mixture into the well and gently stir, being sure not to overmix.
Whisking dry ingredients in a bowl for sweet corn muffin recipe.

Wet ingredients for sweet corn muffin recipe.
Bowls of wet and dry ingredients for sweet corn muffin recipe.
Pouring wet ingredients into dry ingredients for sweet corn muffins.

Wet and dry ingredients in a bowl with a spatula, ready to mix.

📝 Overmixing Muffin Batter

The texture of your muffins can easily turn from soft and tender to dense and chewy if you overmix your batter.

This can be avoided by mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately, then bringing them together and gently stirring until just mixed.

You want to be sure that all of the dry flour has been combined with the wet ingredients but stop as soon as any dry patches are gone.

Continuing to mix your muffin batter beyond this point won’t affect the flavor of your muffins, but it can crush the air bubbles and ruin the desired fluffy texture.

Bowl of sweet corn muffin batter with a spatula.
  1. Divide muffin batter evenly between the cups in your lined 12-cup muffin pan.
  2. Sprinkle the top of each sweet corn muffin with turbinado sugar or other toppings if desired.
  3. Bake, let cool briefly in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Scooping sweet corn muffin batter from a bowl.
Dishing out sweet corn muffin batter into a lined muffin tin.
Sprinkling turbinado sugar on top of sweet corn muffins.

🥣 Measuring Flour for Baking

When measuring flour for baking, I recommend using the “scoop and sweep” method to ensure proper measurements.

Use a spoon to scoop flour from your container into the measuring cups, being sure to overfill them a bit. Then, sweep across the top to level it off before adding to your recipe.

You can sweep with the back of a knife, the handle of a spoon or spatula, or even your finger (hey, clean hands are great kitchen tools!).

Try to avoid plunging the measuring cup into your container of flour and compressing it against the side of the container when measuring. This will pack more flour into each cup and could negatively impact the final texture of your baked goods.

This is a great recipe for kids to help bake. My son absolutely loves these sweet corn muffins.

I taught a great group of kids to make these muffins in one of my virtual cooking classes. If you missed out, you can check out the on-demand class here to make them with us on your own time!

We talked about being patient while things are baking and even played some silly games while the muffins baked to pass time.

Sweet corn muffins on top of muffin stands.

💡 Get creative with toppings!

These sweet corn muffins are great with a little crunch on top. My family loves a sprinkling of turbinado sugar up on top.

Feel free to mix things up! During our virtual cooking class, we experimented with adding some chopped walnuts to a few of our muffins and they turned out great!

It’s easy to add toppings to just a few of your muffins to find out which work best with any particular recipe.

Try these with your favorite chopped nuts, flaked coconut, sanding sugar, or even mini chocolate chips!

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FAQs about this recipe

How should I store corn muffins?

These muffins are best stored in an airtight container on the counter for a few days or in the refrigerator for about a week.

How to reheat corn muffins?

You can microwave them for about 15 seconds, or slice them in half and pop them in a toaster oven for a few minutes. They’re fantastic cooked in a little butter on a hot griddle, too.

Can I freeze sweet corn muffins?

Absolutely! Feel free to store these muffins in an airtight container in your freezer. Thaw in the fridge overnight or microwave for 30 seconds to thaw more quickly.

Print
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Corn muffins with a bite taken out of one of them.

Sweet Corn Muffins

  • Author: Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen – Ashley Covelli (adapted from Cooking Light)
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 18 minutes
  • Total Time: 23 minutes
  • Yield: 12 Muffins 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Description

Sweet corn muffins are a tender, delicious treat that are great for breakfast, snack time, or dessert. Great for baking with kids!


Ingredients

Scale

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line or grease a 12 cup muffin pan.

     

  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, melted butter, milk, and egg.

     

  3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour wet mixture into the well and stir together until just combined, being careful not to overmix.

     

  4. Divide the batter evenly among cups. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a little turbinado sugar or other toppings, if desired (see box in post above).

     

  5. Bake at 375° until a cake tester or wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Let muffins cool for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.



Notes

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light.

Try sprinkling chopped nuts on top before baking, along with the turbinado sugar, for extra crunch!

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 184
  • Sugar: 15.7 g
  • Sodium: 66.5 mg
  • Fat: 5 g
  • Saturated Fat: 2.9 g
  • Carbohydrates: 32.3 g
  • Fiber: 0.8 g
  • Protein: 3.2 g
  • Cholesterol: 27.5 mg

Keywords: baking, breakfast, kid-friendly recipe

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Ashley Covelli is a food photographer, recipe developer, and culinary instructor based in Ossining, New York. She loves helping people become enthusiastic and adventurous in the kitchen so that they can build skills and confidence to cook for themselves and their loved ones. She can almost always be found with at least 3 different beverages within arm's reach.

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