These gluten free Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins were not only the best gluten free ones I’ve ever had, but they beat anything that I made before going gluten free as well!
After making a hearty pot of our Favourite Beef Chili, I knew I wanted to have cornbread muffins to eat with it. Any previous gluten free recipes that I’ve baked had flours that I did not have on hand that day, so I decided to find a recipe, and convert it to gluten free.
And let me tell you, I am so glad that I did! These gluten free Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins were not only the best gluten free ones I’ve ever had, but they beat anything that I made before going gluten free as well! Yes, THAT good!
They are a bit on the sweet side, which I liked since our chili was a little on the warm side, but you can cut back on the sugar without a problem if you don’t want your cornbread sweet.
Whether you’re slathering them with butter and eating with a bowl of chili, or drizzling them with runny honey, I think you’ll love these gluten free Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins too.
These dishes are just begging to be served with these gluten free Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins:
- Gluten Free Turkey Lasagna Soup
- Ham Cheddar Chowder
- Crowd Pleasing Instant Pot Pulled Pork with Dry Rub
- Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs
- Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken
- The Best Baked Beans
Gluten Free Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins
These gluten free Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins were not only the best gluten free ones I've ever had, but they beat anything that I made before going gluten free as well!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup white sugar (can use as little as 1/2 cup if you don't want a sweet muffin)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1/3 cup brown rice flour
- 1/3 cup sorghum flour
- 1/3 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
Instructions
The images were updated March 2018.
Carolyn - What Life Dishes Out says
I am making these the next time I make my veggie chili!!! They look absolutely YUMMY!!!
singh from dominos india says
What a gorgeous n exotic looking Muffins dear..great color n flavors!
Jenn/CinnamonQuill says
These seriously look perfect. Do you think I could swap corn flour for corn meal? I just don't like all the little bits. I know, it's not really cornbread without those…but still, I'm dying to make these. Nice work!
Jeanine says
@Carolyn – What Life Dishes Out Thanks, Caroline. 🙂
Jeanine says
@singh from dominos india Thank you!
Jeanine says
@Jenn/CinnamonQuill Thanks, Jenn! I'm not sure if that would require more liquid? Worth a try though (I love the bits) 🙂
Kim-Cook it Allergy Free says
Jeanine, these look fabulous! I love buttermilk cornbread. It is the only kind I make! I also use it for my stuffing at Thanksgiving all of the time! Your photo is beautiful, by the way!! 😉
Carol, Simply...Gluten-free says
Beautiful photos and there is nothing better with chili than corn muffins!
laurie says
Great blog! I live in Winnipeg and am wondering where you purchase superfine brown rice flour. I would love to try some of your recipes. Thanks
Jeanine says
@Kim-Cook it Allergy Free Thanks, Kim! We've never ever tried cornbread for stuffing, maybe we will have to try that next time. 🙂
Jeanine says
@Carol, Simply…Gluten-free Thank you so much, Carol. HUGE compliment coming from you, I love your work!
Jeanine says
@laurie Hi Laurie! So nice to see a local here. 🙂 There aren't many (at least not many that speak up).
I've never had a problem with using brown rice flour from Bulk Barn. Seriously. I'm not sure what the texture of superfine flour is, because I've never really had a bad experience (due to the flours).
Have you been to Meyers Drugs? They have a LOT of GF foods (premade, frozen, convenience, etc), cereals, flours, etc.
betty r says
Cornbread muffins..I love 'em. I should make my own, once in awhile I have that treat at Montana's.
Jeanine says
@betty r Oh, I LOVED Montana's cornbread before going GF. So good!
laurie says
@Jeanine Thanks for the info :). I haven't been to Meyers but hear it is good. I will give it a look.
Jeanine says
@laurie No problem! If you know of any great GF finds in Wpg, please let me know. 🙂
laurie says
@Jeanine Can do! I'm pretty new to gf. I was diagnosed with wheat, flax, and oat intolerance/allergy and can't ignore the symptoms any longer. Sooo..gf it is. Love, love, love, that you are local too! (I've been lurking for a few months!)
Jeanine says
@laurie Glad you finally came out of lurking. 🙂 If there is anything I can help you with, just drop me an email jeanine(at)thebakingbeauties.com and I'll see what I can do to help!
laurie says
@Jeanine Thanks, I will. Have a great day! 🙂
Jeanine says
@laurie Thanks, same to you! Keep warm! 😛
bluebirdjohnson7 says
I made cornbread with this recipe, not muffins (used my own flour blend of brown rice, sorghum, buckwheat flours, tapioca starch and potato starch) and doubled it for my large family. I almost forgot the cornmeal and had to pull the pan out of the oven to add the cornmeal. I was hoping it would work okay, it had only been in the oven about 5 minutes. I also reduced the sugar slightly (only 1 cup total). Even after all this it was still the best cornbread I have ever made! It was moist and sweet, just how we like it. I served it with Southwestern Chicken Stew. I might add a couple of cans of drained corn next time because we like that too. Thank you so much for the recipe! My family thanks you too. 🙂
Kristina says
It’s silly to get all worked up over a cornbread muffin, I told myself. Just be glad that going gluten free is going to help you, I told myself. And still, sitting at lunch every day this week, my first week of being gluten-free, I wanted to cry over my stew. I brought a delicious southwest pork stew, but no crackers. No pretzel sticks. No cornbread, no hot roll. It wasn’t the same. Oh I just wish there was actually a GOOD gluten free product I could trust.
I can’t afford to buy all these loaves and hate them. I’ve got to learn to bake in a whole new way. I can whip up baked goods with flour with the best of them. Yeast never scared me. But gluten free? Oh god, all these new ingredients. I shant make it, I’ll perish.
But, I took out a small loan, pawned all my jewels, and bought a variety of gluten free flours, gums, starches and other concoctions, and carefully set them up in my new GF pantry. Called a local college student and gave her all my wheat based foods (to her delight). And then shrugged my shoulders and said eventually I’d learn to bake GF and until then, just eat your soup and suck it up.
That was yesterday.
Today I found this recipe and I’m so pleased. It looks easy. It isn’t unusual. It’s short. It doesn’t look mysterious and intimidating. You say it’s light and fluffy and you have based this on both pre and post GF. I am assured! Yay! I have those ingredients, I still have 2 quarts of that darn soup left to eat, and by golly, tomorrow, I’ll have your muffins to go with it.
I won’t perish. I won’t!!!
Christy Smith says
Thanks for sharing! The chili sounds yummy too. Can you share that recipe? Thanks!
Dee Johnson says
I had to tell you… I have been making this recipe since April of last year a few times a month, with some slight modifications. I double it (always, we have 10 people in our home), I reduce the sugar to 1 cup, and I use 1/2 cup apple sauce (instead of doubling the butter to 1 cup), I also sometimes add dried minced onion and onion powder. I bake it in a large glass baking dish. Tonight I decided to try something a little different. I made a double batch like I normally do, then I poured about 3/4 of the batter into a 9 x 13 glass pan (to bake). In the left over batter I added more cornmeal to make a stiff batter. Then I fried the dough in hot oil for hush puppies. They were so good! They were not dry like most I have had, they were actually moist! I didn’t make the dough too dry, It was like a stiff cookie batter (like drop cookies). I scooped some batter with a spoon and pushed the batter into the hot oil with my finger. I don’t know exactly how much more cornmeal I added (maybe 3/4 to 1 cup), I just eyeballed it. I’m now thinking of doing this again, but with more sugar/sweetener and adding whole kernel corn for corn nuggets! Oh, how I’ve missed corn nuggets. 🙂 Thanks so much for this great recipe!
Jeanine says
That is awesome, Dee! I’ve never had a hush puppy, but now you’ve got me intrigued.
Cameron says
Made this tonite for my GF daughter (and us) to have with Black Bean soup. OMG! TERRIFIC! Best muffins ever, GF or not! Wonderful recipe, followed it precisely. Our whole family loved it! Thank you!
Jeanine says
That is awesome, Cameron! They are my favorite cornbread muffin too, and you can even cut the sugar back by half and they are still fantastic. Glad to hear that it was a hit!
Lindsay Burnett says
I made these tonight to go with a black bean/sweet potato chili, and they were excellent! I’ve been gluten free for 9 years and do lots of cooking and baking, and these are the BEST cornbread muffins I’ve ever had. Taste and texture are perfect! Added bonus – a way to use up that extra buttermilk that I never know what to do with. 🙂 I used a rounded 1/3 c. sugar and found that to be great. They were sweet enough to eat on there own that way. Anyway, great recipe!! I just added it to my collection – which is only the cream of the crop, so that’s saying something. 🙂 Thanks again!!
Jeanine says
Yeah!! So happy to hear that, Lindsay! Happy to have made “the cut” for the cream of the crop recipes. 🙂
Alison says
Just made this— delish! I put all the ingredients in my bread maker and set it to ‘rapid white,’ which is the shortest baking setting. It came out wonderfully moist and sweet. Thanks for the great recipe.
Carol says
Best corn muffins I’ve made since going gluten free 7 years ago. Family loved them. Used Domata all purpose gf flour which contains xanthan gum & reduced sugar to 1/4 cup. Thanks!
Jeanine says
Awesome! Glad to hear that, Carol! Thanks for letting me know that the flour blend works for you!
Sue says
Due to limited cornmeal I supplemented with corn flour (half and half)…..I also cut the xanthan gum in half and they turned out great! (My husband (not gluten-free) could still taste the xanthan gum, so I will try to reduce it more, next time. I loved them!
Jeanine says
Hmm…your husband could taste the 1/4 tsp xanthan? Really? You ‘could’ try baking these without any xanthan. Using corn flour will work, just give you a different texture than all cornmeal would. 🙂
Dawn says
Thank you so much for this recipe…I made it tonight to go along with chili and I am pretty sure this was the best cornbread I’ve ever made. It was so moist, usually cornbread is dry and crumbly it seems but this was just perfect. My husband, who does not get that excited about food (it’s just something you have to have to live), and who does not like cornbread, said “wow, this is really good” and then wished he wouldn’t have eaten that peanut butter sandwich with his chili and had the cornbread instead. If HE thinks it’s really good, then it is amazing!
I used an all purpose gluten free flour by C. C. Dolch Bakery, and didn’t check to see if it had xanthan gum already, so next time I will probably omit the xanthan gum called for in the recipe. I also didn’t have buttermilk so had to do the old vinegar-in-milk trick, but wow wow wow it was soooo good!! I’m sharing this recipe on my blog and linking to you, thanks so much!
Jeanine Friesen says
That just makes me smile, Dawn! Glad to hear that it was a hit with everyone. 🙂
Kate says
Does the superfine brown rice flour make it less gritty than regular brown rice (or white rice flour) flour?? Where do you buy your cheapest brown rice superfine??
Thanks!
Kate
PS. I’m really loving Sorghum Flour in my baking…..do you know if it’s more nutritious than all of the ‘whiter’ types? I often feel like I’m loading my body with all sorts of “whites” and it all turns to sugar in the system, just like eating white bread when I could eat WHEAT.
Jeanine Friesen says
Hi Kate,
I use Bob’s Red Mill brown rice flour, which I don’t find to be gritty. I try to use brown rice flour instead of white, just for the reasons you mentioned. I also like to add millet and sorghum to new recipes that I am developing too, just because they are a bit more healthier, and not rice.
Karalee says
This is hands down the BEST cornbread I have ever tasted, even before I went gluten-free! The texture is amazing — light and fluffy without any crumbling. My family loved them, too. Thank you so much for the great recipe!
Jeanine Friesen says
Yeah!! So glad to hear that, Karalee! 🙂
Mrs.T says
I have made these 3 times now and we love them. Just served them to company with a hearty soup, on Monday night. I had what I thought was a good gluten free cornbread recipe, but now we prefer these muffins. I should add that I cut the sugar down to 1/3 cup — and instead of the 1/2 cup butter I use 1/3 cup canola oil. I keep a bag of these in the freezer and heat as needed. Wonderful!
Jeanine Friesen says
Glad to hear that, Mrs. T! Sounds like a great staple to keep in the freezer!
Jill says
Hmm, one of my favorite recipes is a Jalepeno Cheddar Cornmeal muffin. I will try your recipe and combine with my favorite to make a delicious GF version. Thanks for the inspiration, and I’ll let you know how they turned out!
Jill says
My Cheddar, Jalepeno & Bacon version are in the oven! I’ll let you know hoe they turn out!
Jeanine Friesen says
And??? Those sound great, and I think it should work without a problem. Waiting to hear back. 🙂
Jill says
Wow, funny little girl I am forgetting to reply back Jeanine. They were superb as all your recipes are! I only came back to re-familiarize myself with this recipe and what I added in it way back then. About to do the same again tonight with bacon, jalapeño and cheddar. I’m sure they will be scrumptious once again. Can’t believe I’ve been visiting and learning from your site since 2013! Crazy! Jill
Jennifer says
I made this on Sunday to take to a friend’s home, she was serving chili. They were amazing, and I’m picky about my corn bread! As good as any non-GF corn muffin I’ve made. I reduced the sugar by about 1/4 cup. I doubled the recipe and baked in silicone baking cups. I also added about 1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup corn kernels (frozen). This is my go-to recipe for corn muffins now.
Sandy says
I made these for supper tonight with hubby’s turkey chilli and I almost died! The best gf cornbread recipe I’ve tried (and I’ve tried a lot)! No that I’ve discovered your website, I can’t wait to try more recipes!
Jamie says
I just made this great recipe. The muffins are beautiful, with the perfect texture, moisture, and weight. You weren’t kidding about them being on the sweet side, though! I reduced the sugar by 1/2, and they were still a little sugary for my preferences! Will definitely use this as a go-to corn muffin recipe in the future. Thanks!
Jill says
Sorry, forgot to post back my findings. Bacon, jalapeño, and a little bit of cheddar. Just delish! Moist as well. I am doing the same version tonight but doubled and cooked in my new cast iron skillet. I’ve never owned a cast iron before so I am looking forward to trying this and many other dishes in the new cookware! Thanks Jeanie
Becca says
Wow, I just came across your site a few weeks ago and have already made a number of your recipes with great success!!! I did use a vinegar in soymilk substitute for the buttermilk, and had a bit of leftover pureed butternut squash which I used in place of the oil. Also reduced sugar to 1/2 cup. Thought I’d post so your readers know that this is possible and tastes amazing! I made this for my two little celiac toddlers. 🙂
Kerri says
Every recipe I try of yours turns to gold! Thank you for this cornbread muffin recipe. I absolutely could not tell these were gluten free. My whole family loved them.
Jeanine says
So glad to hear that, Kerri! 🙂 Yeah! 🙂
CathyAnn says
Thank you for this recipe. I made them for the first time yesterday and added 1 cup of corn niblets. They were delicious! Next time I’m going to try using regular milk. This will be my ‘go to’ recipe for corn muffins from now on.
Jeanine says
Corn niblets – I’ve never added them to cornbread before, but I think I will next time. Sounds great, CathyAnn.
lizzi b. says
these muffins sound amazing!!!! I have been going gluten free since right before thanksgiving two years ago. I have had a hard time finding cornbread that I really like. I found one a few months ago, and liked it, but its really dry and crumbly. I can’t wait to try these with navy beans tonight!!!!
Lenore says
Excellent web site you have here.. It’s difficult to find good quality writing like yours these
days. I really appreciate people like you! Take care!!
Jackie says
thabk you for these! I expirement with gf baking all the time and it’s always a 50/50 chance that they are actually edible. Such a relief when they turn out great, this is definitely a new go to recipe!
I try to limit dairy and sugar so I subbed buttermilk with cashew milk and a tablespoon of vinegar. And in place of sugar I used 1/4 cup of raw honey. And I only had corn flour on hand so I used that in place of cornmeal, and didn’t use any xantham gum. I use Bobs red mill gluten free all purpose baking flour. With so many substitutions I was not confident these would turn out but they are SO good!!
Eileen J says
These are the best cornmeal muffins. You have a wonderful website Jeanine that I have recommended to my gluten free friends. I’ve been here frequently over the last 3 years and have not had a failure yet!! Keep up the great work as we readers really appreciate it.
Jeanine says
yeah!! So glad to read that, Eileen! Thank you so much! <3
Katie says
I’m excited to try these. I have been GF about a year. I love baking (or I should probably say that I love eating baked goods) and that has been the hardest part of being GF. I have Andrea’s Cup for Cup GF flour blend and Namaste Cup for Cup at home. Do you think I could use one of these (and leave out the xanthan gum in your recipe) since these flours already have the xanthan gum in them? I will have to try your flour blend but I get overwhelmed by making a big batch like that:) It’s a busy week with Christmas so I’m hoping to try something new but not too much work:) Thanks for the help.
Judith Weinstoxk says
Such an easy recipe and such delicious muffins. I made twelve for 4 of us and they were all gone in about 20 minutes. Thanks so much
Ellen says
Hi Jeanine – I made your Buttermilk Cornmeal Muffins today and I loved them. I’ve made lots of GF corn muffins over the last few years but none match these in taste, texture and ease of making. Thank you very much for all you do. You’re my hero!
ROY FENDER says
DO YOU HAVE THE NUTRITION FACTS AVAILABLE. THESE FACTS HELP IN MYDIET.