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.
Hi, can I make batter the night before and store in fridge? Thank-you!
Hi Kathy, it’s not a good idea and probably won’t rise if you do that.
I’ve made these as muffins with fresh corn and they were incredible. I want to know if you have ever made this as a cornbread cake, though? Maybe using a 7×11 pan?
Hi Bradley, these muffins are based on our regular vegan cornbread recipe (that can be made in a 9×5 loaf pan or a 9×9 square pan).
Perfect combination of sweet, savoury and BUTTERY 🙂
Thanks so much Pat!
Awesome recipe!!! Have made a few times. Today I had to substitute the milk with coconut milk, rice vinegar instead of apple cider, and use olive oil instead of vegan butter (which I never have) and they turned out delicious!!!!
So happy they still turned out great!
These are by far the BEST corn muffins I have ever made. I made them to go along with my vegan chili. I left out the corn kernels and used oat milk. (I am eating on as I type😄)
Awesome Nancy! I’m so happy to hear that!
Hi! I’d like to try creamed corn instead of whole kernel corn (worried about my toddler choking). But would creamed corn throw off the recipe because it adds more liquid? Any other adjustments I should make or do you recommend just leaving the corn out? Thank you! I’m excited to try this recipe!
Hi Rose, I think creamed corn may throw out the ratios, you can absolutely leave it out though, with no issues! All the best! 🙂
Thank you! So I gave it a whirl and you are right! Haha. I divided the batter into thirds and tried it without the corn, with whole kernel and with creamed corn. The creamed corn made it more dense and seem underdone but the whole kernel was perfect! (I used 1/2 cup whole kernel corn, from your recipe since it was a third of the batter, and I used a little less creamed corn, 1/3 cup).
Overall, I LOVE this recipe! My kiddo has egg and dairy allergies so I was excited to find this recipe and it was a hit! My hubby said he likes it just as good as the non-vegan cornbread cake I used to make, if not better. I personally like this vegan one better!
I used coconut milk since that’s what I had on hand and my hubby accidentally bought corn flour instead of corn meal so I used the corn flour instead and decreased the baking time by a few minutes. Still worked great but will make it with cornmeal next time for more of the traditional texture. Thanks for the recipe!!
Thanks so much for the update, so happy to hear they came out great! 🙂
OMG! These cornbread muffins were so amazing! So soft and fluffy! The only changes I made were using 6 tbsp of honey instead of the sugar/maple syrup and omitting the corn. Perfectly sweetened just how we like them with these changes. So decadent with more vegan butter and honey on top! Thank you so much! This will be our go to recipe from now on!
So happy they came out amazing! Thanks so much for the awesome review Lily!
Hi, can I make this without the corn kernels.
Yes you can! 🙂
Hi Alison, I’m looking forward to trying this recipe.
Could I use wholemeal flour? And if so would I use the same amount?
Hi Joanne, you can definitely try it but it may result in a more dense texture.
Can I leave out the syrup?
You can if you want to. Or substitute it for a different syrup.
Sorry, forgot the rating in my previous comment.
Thanks so much Elena!
I have just made these delicious, yes they really are…, muffins; with only one tablespoon of sugar and rice syrup they came up just perfect. Next time, I may add a pinch of chilli powder to make them really savoury. As they are, I may have the next one with a cup of hot chocolate!!! And, as I had made your vegan butter recipe last week, that went into the muffins. I love and try many of your recipes. Thanks, Alison.
Hi!! Would it work with gluten free flour? 🙂
You can definitely try it with a gluten-free all purpose flour blend.
Thanks. I’ll give it a go.