“Better than Cracker Barrel” Cornbread Muffins

I have always been a huge fan of Cracker Barrel cornbread muffins and have been on the search for a similar recipe for many years. The first try was buying their cornbread mix from the Cracker Barrel store. Sorry–not comparable. Finally, I stumbled across a copycat Cracker Barrel recipe online and gave it a try. Close–too sweet though–but a place to begin. After tweaking and experimenting with the ingredients, I nailed it–or so I thought.
For the rest of the story…
The Kurr family has been doing a lot more eating in like most American families and we haven’t been to Cracker Barrel since February. But, because of my new muffin recipe, we’ve been enjoying “Cracker Barrel” cornbread muffins at home. Well last week, Jeff and I donned our masks and headed to our Cracker Barrel 20 miles down the road to give me a break from cooking. As always, I ordered cornbread muffins with my meal (no biscuits) and surprise! surprise! My muffins are better!
So here’s the recipe. Enjoy!
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Cuisine
Southern
Servings
12 muffins
Ingredients
- 3/4 c. yellow cornmeal (NOT MIX)*
- 1 1/4 c. self-rising flour*
- 1/4 t. salt**
- 1 egg
- 3 T sugar***
- 2 T honey***
- 1/2 c. sour cream****
- 1/4 c. milk****
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted**
* You can change the ratio of cornmeal to flour if you prefer a different texture. Ex. 1 1/2 c. self-rising flour and 1/2 c. cornmeal for a more cake like texture or 1 c. cornmeal and 1 c. self-rising for a more dense texture.
** Omit the salt if using salted butter
*** You can adjust the amount of sugar and/or honey up or down depending on whether you like a sweeter or less sweet cornbread muffin
**** The original recipe called for 3/4 c. of buttermilk (not low-fat), but I never seem to have buttermilk on hand and I’m not a fan of the milk/lemon juice substitute for buttermilk. A find that a better substitute is sour cream and milk. Since I always have sour cream on hand I use that combination in place of buttermilk. You can use buttermilk if you have on hand.
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Instructions
Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt (omit salt if using salted butter). Add egg, honey, sour cream, and milk. Gently stir into dry ingredients. Add slightly cooled melted butter and stir in but do not over stir. Divide batter (about 2 oz. ea.) between 12 greased muffin tins. Bake 350 for 20 minutes. I will often double the recipe and freeze the extras for later use.