Mini Cornbread Muffins - Peas and Crayons Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you make cornbread muffins not stick to the pan? ›

You have two options to keep cornbread muffins from sticking to the pan: Line the wells of the muffin tin with paper liners, or grease the wells with cooking spray or butter. I much prefer greasing, as direct contact with the pan leaves the muffins with golden-brown sides that taste really good too.

Be sure to grease the pan well with butter or cooking spray to prevent the muffins from sticking. If you skip this step they will stick even if you are using a nonstick pan. Don't over-mix the batter. You need to gently fold the cornmeal into the batter at the end.

Oil & Butter: Oil produces a moist, tender muffin. Combine with melted butter for extra fat, moisture, and a little flavor. Milk: Milk adds plenty of moisture and lightens up the crumb. I usually use whole milk or buttermilk.

If muffins are left exposed, the moisture starts to leak from them and they dry out. To store muffins up to 4 days, line an airtight container or zip-lock bag with paper towel and store the muffins in a single layer. Place another layer of paper towel on top of the muffins as well.

Greasing Alternatives to Butter

There are many other ways to keep your muffins from getting stuck in the pan. If you prefer not to use butter, try one of these options: Cooking Spray - Vegetable oil sprays are a popular option for greasing baking pans and it will work with muffin tins as well.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cornbread comes out clean. Cool. Carefully transfer the skillet to a wire cooling rack and let the cornbread cool for at least 10 minutes. Then slice, serve, and enjoy!

The nonstick coating is a game-changer, especially for those muffin tops, but it's still a good idea to grease any baking pan for extra reassurance. You can opt either for a cooking spray (here's our favorite one for baking) or melted butter, applied with a pastry brush.

That slightly bitter, kinda “tinny” flavor you often experience when biting into a muffin, biscuit or scone is the result of using a baking powder in high quantities — as is needed for these quick-rise treats — with aluminum in it.

Baking powder acts as a leavener and helps your corn muffins rise. Just a bit of salt enhances the flavor of your corn muffins. A whole egg adds richness, moisture, and flavor. Also, it works with the flour to add structure.

She notes that Northern cornbread is sweeter, lighter, and more cake-like than Southern cornbread. Not surprisingly, it includes sugar (or molasses, in the earlier centuries), unlike traditional Southern cornbread.

What are the black specks in Jiffy cornbread mix? ›

The black specks are simply naturally dark pieces of the pericarp (skin) of the corn, where the tip of the kernel attaches to the cob. The color of the specks will vary by crop and year. They are the same as those commonly seen in hard taco shells, corn or tortilla chips, cornmeal, and natural whole corn products.

They are a dark part of the kernel that sometimes gets ground up with the rest of the corn. Nothing to be concerned about.

The Old Standby: Jiffy

Along with the included sugar, Shilpa says the lard is used to help keep this cornbread soft and tender. Lard is a traditional fat component of Southern cornbread, and it has less trans fats than shortening and less saturated fat than butter.

Add in some sour cream

Just like the buttermilk, sour cream can be added to help cornbread stay moist. Just like buttermilk is fermented milk left over from making butter, sour cream is fermented cream. It is actually thicker than buttermilk and has more tang to it.

Cornbread can be stored at room temperature as long as it's kept in a dark and dry place, like a cupboard. Make sure the cornbread has fully cooled down before you store it.

LiveStrong explains you can save your slightly overbaked treats by adding back in some moisture. All you have to do is brush the tops of your muffins with a bit of milk before they completely cool. If you really went too far, you can also try steaming your muffins when you're ready to eat them.

Store muffins at room temperature in an airtight container or a ziplock bag lined with paper towels. Place the muffins in a single layer inside so that they are surrounded on all sides by paper towels. This will absorb any excess moisture and prevent them from going soggy.