Cheese and bacon cornbread muffins

These cheese and bacon cornbread muffins have the chewy texture of a British crumpet, with the savoury taste of corn, bacon and cheese. They are oven-baked in a muffin tin and are delicious when split in half and served warm, spread with butter.

These cheese and bacon cornbread muffins have got to be my favourite muffin recipe to date (including these delicious blueberry muffins). They have the chewy taste of English crumpets (if you grew up in Yorkshire you'll know them as pikelets), and they are packed with the flavours of bacon, corn and cheese.

I wish I'd thought about this recipe when I lived in South Africa. We used to have competitions to see who could take the best 'mielie brood' (cornbread) to the barbeque. This recipe would have won first prize hands down!

Apart from serving with a barbeque, they are also delicious when served warm as an easy breakfast with perhaps a fried egg on the side!

And the best thing is how easy they are to make.

You simply combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, mix in the wet ingredients and then stir in the bacon, cheese and corn. Job done. Five minutes max!

OK, so you do have to fry the bacon first until it's nice and crispy, but if you're making bacon sandwiches for breakfast you can just fry up a few extra rashers at the same time and keep them aside until you're ready to make these cornbread muffins.

You will also need a few minutes to fill up the muffin tins with the batter!

Let me show you how to make them!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Tips for a successful outcome
• Variations
• Serving suggestions
• Equipment
• Storage
• Save for later
• Related recipes
• 📋The recipe

Ingredients

This recipe will make 12 cheese and bacon cornbread muffins.

• Flour - I used plain or all-purpose flour and added baking powder to give rise. If you use self-raising flour you won't need to add any extra baking powder.
• Salt - a small amount of salt helps enhance the flavour.
• Eggs - these help bind the ingredients together.
• Greek yoghurt - this is half of the liquid component and adds a slight tang to the muffins.
• Milk - this is the other half of the liquid component. I used whole milk but you can use semi-skimmed if you prefer.
• Bacon - the bacon should be cooked until crispy and then crumbled into small pieces.
• Cheese - mature cheddar cheese or equivalent is best. I would advise buying a block of cheese and grating it yourself rather than buying ready-grated cheese. Ready-grated cheese normally has 'anti-clumping' agents added to prevent it from sticking together.
• Creamed sweetcorn - if you can buy a can of creamed sweetcorn that would be perfect. I find that difficult to come by in the UK so I normally use frozen sweet corn that I defrost and blend in the food processor with a tablespoon of cream. You could also blend canned sweet corn kernels in the same way - just drain any liquid off first.

**You can find the exact ingredient measurements that you will need for making these cheesy bacon cornbread muffins on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

Instructions

There are 2 steps you should do before starting to mix the cornbread:

• Fry the bacon until cripsy and crumble it into pieces
• If you don't have any canned creamed sweetcorn, place your sweetcorn kernels into a food processor with a tablespoon of cream and blend until well combined.

Tips for a successful outcome

Here are my top tips to ensure your cheese and bacon cornbread muffins turn out perfectly every time

• Fry the bacon until crispy, allow it to cool and then crumble it into small pieces. You can use either a frying pan or an air fryer to do this.
• If you can buy a can of creamed sweetcorn this would be ideal. In the UK creamed sweetcorn is difficult to find (I've found a brand called Libby's that is sometimes available in the supermarkets). If you can't find it, use a cup of (defrosted) frozen corn kernels or a (drained) canned corn kernels and blitz it in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of single or pouring cream.
• If you are using canned creamed sweetcorn you may find you do not need all the milk stated in the recipe as canned sweetcorn can sometimes be rather runny. Use just enough milk to form a thick sticky dough.
• If you prefer not to line your muffin pan with baking parchment you should grease each hole lightly with butter or sunflower oil to prevent the muffins from sticking.
• The mixture will be sticky and it will not be possible to roll it with a rolling pin. Use a tablespoon to divide the muffin mixture evenly between the holes of a 12-hole muffin pan.

Variations

Here are some ideas to vary your cornbread muffins:

• Spicy - add a pinch of dried chilli pepper flakes to the mixture to provide a touch of heat.
• More cheesy - for even more cheese flavour, sprinkle the top of each muffin with extra grated cheese before baking.
• More flavour - change the flavour profile by adding a teaspoon of paprika or garlic granule to the batter.

Serving suggestions

I like to make these muffins for an easy breakfast. They are at their best when served warm and spread with butter. You can easily warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds or pop them in the air fryer at 180C / 360F for a minute or two.

However, that said, they are a great accompaniment to a barbeque (or braai) when smothered in tomato and onion sauce and served with barbequed meat or sausages.

They are also perfect for serving with your favourite soup. Why not try dipping them in this spicy butternut soup or my popular beef vegetable soup?

Equipment

This recipe will make 12 muffins if cooked in a 12-hole deep muffin pan. You could also make smaller muffins by using 2 x 12 hole jam tart tins. Please note that if you use the smaller jam tart tins the muffins will cook in a shorter time and the cooking time should be decreased by approximately 10 minutes.

You will also need a mixing bowl and a spatula to mix the batter.

For frying the bacon you will need a frying pan and if you need to make your own creamed corn you will need a food processor.

Storage

These muffins are definitely at their best when served fresh out of the oven while still warm.

However, they can be stored in a covered container in the kitchen and reheated for about 30 seconds each in the microwave or for 2 to 3 minutes in an air fryer.

I would recommend eating them warm and covered with butter.

The cooked muffins can be frozen in a suitable container for up to 3 months and defrosted on the counter. To serve, reheat them and split them in half. Spread with butter and serve warm.

Save for later

If you would like to make these cheese and bacon corn muffins why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click on the image below.

Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

Related recipes

Visit my sides and salad recipes page for other delicious ideas. Here are a few you might enjoy:

📋The recipe

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