The fact that I get to share Grandpa Clarence’s cornbread recipe with you is kind of a big deal! He’s usually pretty secretive with his recipes – he takes a great deal of pride in tinkering with & perfecting a recipe.

& Grandpa’s cornbread recipe is just that – perfect.

You’ll love this cornbread muffin recipe because…

• IT HAS CRAVEABLE TEXTURE. The cornbread itself is super light, fluffy, & flavorful. Grandpa’s recipe calls for a lot cornmeal, which creates the best texture & adds so much flavor to these easy cornbread muffins.
• IS SUPER FESTIVE. To make them especially festive & fun to serve during the holiday season, I add whole cranberry sauce straight into the cornbread mix. The result? Each muffin is swirled not once, but twice, to ensure they’re filled with cranberry goodness in every single bite.
• & IS SO FLAVORFUL & VERSATILE. These muffins are gorgeous, moist, tender, & perfectly savory-sweet. They’re easy to make, a wonderful addition to your Thanksgiving or Christmas line-up, & a delicious fall breakfast option, too.

The cast of characters includes…

• All-purpose flour – For gluten-free muffins, feel free to swap out the AP flour with your favorite 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
• Cornmeal – Be sure to grab cornmeal for this cornbread recipe, not corn flour. While both cornmeal & corn flour are made from corn, their textures are drastically different. Corn flour is very finely ground, while cornmeal has a coarse texture.
• Baking powder & baking soda – For rise. Using both BP & BS is key!
• Sugar – For sweetness.
• Eggs – To bind everything together.
• Milk – For moist muffins! I typically use whole milk in this muffin recipe, but use your favorite milk variety – dairy or non-dairy.
• Unsalted butter – For ultra buttery muffins!
• Whole berry cranberry sauce – Many of the cranberry cornbread recipes I’ve seen call for dried cranberries, but I much prefer using whole cranberry sauce. It’s so pretty swirled throughout the muffins, & the flavor from the sauce is much richer than from dried cranberries. Plus, whole cranberry sauce is readily available at the store this time of year!

That’s it! Pretty simple, right?

Fun Fact!

Grandpa Clarence’s classic cornbread recipe does call for one super secret ingredient that you won’t find in my recipe, only because I’ve tested these cranberry cornbread muffins with & without it & I honestly don’t find it to be necessary. (Sorry, Grandpa!!)

The key steps include:

• Mix the dry ingredients: Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl, whisking to combine.
• Mix the batter: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring to combine. Try not to overmix the batter! Overmixing activates the proteins in the flour, which makes muffins tough. Mix the wet into the dry, just until combined.
• Swirl the batter: Line a muffin pan with paper liners, then add a little bit of batter to each of the cups. I like to use a 2-tablespoon scoop to keep everything uniform. Add some cranberry sauce over top. Use a toothpick to swirl the cranberry sauce into the batter. Repeat the layers once more, creating the most perfectly swirled muffins.
• Bake! Bake the cranberry cornbread muffins until the tops are set & a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Can I Make A Cornbread Loaf Instead of Muffins?

Yes! To bake this cornbread recipe as a loaf instead of individual muffins: Add the batter to a greased 9×13 baking dish, then swirl the cranberry sauce throughout it. Bake for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.