Maple Cornbread Muffins

Rosemary & maple make these easy cornbread muffins lightly sweet & cozy-tasting. I love to serve them at Thanksgiving or with a big bowl of chili.

Maple corn muffins

Move over, dinner rolls, and make way for… cornbread muffins! Maybe it’s my Midwestern background, but I love corn, especially in this sweet & savory corn muffin recipe.

Best cornbread muffin recipe ingredients rosemary maple corn muffin recipe

My Cornbread Muffin Recipe Ingredients

In my opinion, good cornbread should be golden & crumbly and walk the line between sweet and savory. These corn muffins do just that. Here’s what I use to make them healthy & delicious:

  • Maple syrup sweetens them naturally and adds depth of flavor to this corn muffin recipe.
  • Rosemary flecks them with green and brings its cozy, fresh wintry taste.
  • Canola oil or olive oil is a healthier substitute for butter.
  • Spelt flour gives them whole grain power.
  • And apple cider vinegar helps them rise and adds a nice tangy flavor.

With apple cider vinegar as a rising agent, almond milk instead of dairy milk, and oil instead of butter, this cornbread muffin recipe is actually vegan. If you have vegan skeptics in your house, don’t worry. These muffins are so good that they’ll never know if you don’t tell them.

Cornbread muffin recipe steps

What to Serve with Corn Muffins

I made this recipe to serve at my Thanksgiving dinner along with green beans, mashed potatoes, roasted beets, squash, and apple pie for dessert. Make a double batch, and use the extras to make poblano cornbread stuffing!

Cornbread muffins are also one of my favorite sides with a big bowl of soup. Of course, they’re great with chili, but I also like them with my lentil soup, butternut squash soup, red pepper soup, or many-veggie soup.

Cornbread muffins in a muffin tin

If you love these cornbread muffins…

Try my corn chowder, cornbread, or simple corn on the cob next!


4.9 from 16 reviews

Maple Cornbread Muffins

 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
I love serving these easy 10-ingredient cornbread muffins at Thanksgiving dinner or with a big bowl of chili. Made with almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and oil, they're secretly vegan!
Author:
Recipe type: Side dish, snack
Cuisine: American
Serves: 9-10
Ingredients
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup spelt flour (or regular all-purpose flour)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
  • ¾ cup unsweetened Almond Breeze Almond Milk
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • ½ cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
  3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and, using a wooden spoon, stir together until just combined. Don't overmix.
  5. Fill muffin cups ¾ of the way full, and bake 18-20 minutes.
  6. Let them cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, remove them, and let them finish cooling on a wire rack.

 

Oat flour or a gluten free blend will likely work in place of the spelt flour, I didn’t try it so I don’t know what the exact result would be.

I tried out a variety of types of cornmeal, and I like this one best for the muffin texture.

almondbreeze

63 comments

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  1. Jen
    02.20.2014

    Hi,
    I have made these twice and the family and I just LOVE the taste! But…they just crumble apart.

    What am I doing wrong? Cooking too long? Mixing too much? Thanks for the advise. Oh- should also add that I made them once with spelt flour and the other time with oat flour and they crumbled both times. Thanks!

    • jeanine
      02.21.2014

      hmm, I’m not sure, mine are always on the crumbly side but don’t completely fall apart… what kind of cornmeal are you using? (ie, I find I like Arrowhead Mill’s cornmeal better than Bob’s Red Mill which I find too coarse). Maybe a “flax egg” (flax + water) would help, I’ll try it next time and report back if it helps…

  2. Sylvie
    02.15.2014

    amazing muffins, they taste great! plus, it’s so easy to make.
    thank you for your recipes, x

  3. Holly
    12.22.2013

    I just ate one of these and they are fabulous! Thanks for the great recipe. I used Bob’s GF flour mix in place of the spelt flour, and I didn’t have any rosemary so I sprinkled in dried Italian seasoning. I added 1/8 tsp xanthan gum. They are so delish – can’t wait to share them with my family!

  4. Ashley from edibleperspective.com
    12.05.2013

    With all the cornbread I’ve made, how is it possible I’ve never added rosemary? Genius, my friend!

    • jeanine
      12.07.2013

      thanks Ashley 🙂

  5. Mandy Jean from mykitchenlately.blogspot.com
    12.03.2013

    Just pulled these out of the oven- the smell in my kitchen is divine! I may need to bake a batch everyday until Christmas, just so my house can smell like the holidays every morning 🙂

    • jeanine
      12.07.2013

      🙂 Hope they tasted as good as they smelled!

  6. Sofia
    11.28.2013

    Happy Thanksgiving from nord of Spain (Santander), and thanks for your blog, is very interesting. goodbye

  7. Kasey from turntablekitchen.com
    11.27.2013

    These look perfect! We’re tackling some challah pull-apart rolls, but now I wish they had some friends in the form of these muffins. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, lovely!

  8. Mandy Jean from mykitchenlately.blogspot.com
    11.27.2013

    Ooo these look great! Is the rosemary chopped or left whole?

    • jeanine
      11.27.2013

      finely chopped (thanks for asking! I just fixed that in the recipe)

  9. Ooooo, I love the rosemary and maple syrup – delicious. They look pretty too.

  10. Cammi
    11.26.2013

    These look beautiful, but is there any way I could make them gluten free? I would really appreciate it! Thanks so much!
    Cammi J.

    • jeanine
      11.27.2013

      Hi Cammi,

      Gluten free oat flour should substitute the best in place of the flour here.

  11. These are just lovely! I LOVE cornbread & the rosemary really makes them festive.

    You know, I have found that almond milk is a good substitute for soy or dairy milk in recipes–however, with gluten-free baking if there’s no oil or other fat, almond milk doesn’t quite have enough fat to keep things “bound” like full-fat soy milk does. Have you ever experienced this? I’ve found that soy milk is a better alternative in gluten-free baking, but that’s just me. Thoughts?

    • jeanine
      11.27.2013

      I’ve gotten away from processed soy products, so I couldn’t really say. But I also don’t ever bake without oil or some kind of fat. (I went through a fat free phase once, so now I fully appreciate a full fat muffin).

      I also go back and forth with gluten free baking – I’m not gluten intolerant and I find that my body sometimes has a harder time with some of the alternative flours. Spelt seems to agree with me the most, so it’s my go-to at the moment. (As un-popular as it may be…)

  12. dana from minimalistbaker.com
    11.26.2013

    Gorgeous! I love the maple rosemary spin. Will try these this winter with chili for sure!

  13. These look and sound delicious! Gorgeous photos as always

  14. I love corn muffins! I usually use honey to sweeten my cornbread, but I like the idea of using maple syrup. The rosemary sounds refreshing as well.

    • jeanine
      11.27.2013

      the maple is so good!

  15. Brandyn from southerndistinctions.com
    11.26.2013

    Being from the south cornbread muffins were a staple growing up. I love this fresh take on a traditional favorite.

    • jeanine
      11.27.2013

      thanks Marta! (so do you, I just love your blog) 🙂

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.