These Paleo Cornbread Muffins taste amazingly like traditional cornbread and are sweet and almost cake-like! They're great as a side or served as a dessert with coconut oil or butter and maple syrup.
Paleo Cornbread Muffins
Last week my sister-in-law Amanda made our family what I would consider the best cornbread I had ever eaten! She said it was her mom's sweet cornbread recipe.
She made it gluten-free by replacing the cup of all-purpose flour with almond flour and it turned out fantastic! It tasted like cornbread, but it was sweet and almost cake-like. I think that's why we loved it so much 🙂
And while her recipe could in no way be improved to taste better, I did adjust it so it would be Paleo-friendly while keeping the cornbread taste.
To do this I replaced the cup of cornmeal with 1/4 C of coconut flour because coconut flour can taste surprisingly like cornmeal.
Then, I added an egg, reduced the non-dairy milk by half, and replaced the 1/2 C of sugar with honey. ...other than that I didn't change anything, lol ?
Tips for the perfect cornbread
- Tip when using coconut flour: When using coconut flour a basic rule of thumb is to replace 1 C of flour with 1/4 C of coconut flour, add an egg, and slightly increase the wet ingredients. Then, I refine the recipe from there.
- All coconut flours are not made the same! Some are much more absorbent than others. I recommend using Bob's Red Mill or Arrowhead Mills because they are nice and absorbent. If you need to buy a different brand make sure the texture is soft and fluffy, not grainy. Otherwise, your muffins will turn out too wet.
- These are fairly sweet. If you like your cornbread more savory, you can reduce the honey to 2 Tbsp, but please don't omit it.
- I've tried replacing the honey with erythritol to make these keto-friendly, but unfortunately, it didn't work. If you're looking for a keto cornbread, please check out my Coconut Flour Keto Cornbread or my Keto Breads E-book!
- These are great eaten as a dessert with some butter (can use non-dairy) and pure maple syrup - YUM!
Looking for more Paleo Breads? Check these out!
I love these Grain-Free Tortillas, Paleo Hamburger Buns, and Almond Flour Pancakes. I make all of these recipes regularly and they are staples at my house!
And these Gluten-Free Stuffing Cups look delicious too! I'm unsure if this cornbread would work in the recipe in place of the bread. But if you give it a shot please come back and let me know how it went!
Or if Keto is more your thang, you might be interested in my new Keto Breads Cookbook and my Keto Cornbread & Stuffing Recipe!!
If you’ve tried these Paleo Cornbread Muffins or any other recipe on the blog please let me know in the comments below!
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Paleo Cornbread Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 C Blanched Almond Flour very finely ground
- 1/3 C Coconut Flour
- 4 Tsp. Grain Free Baking Powder* Note- many people say they prefer 2 tsp.
- 1 Tsp. Sea Salt
- 1/4 C Honey
- 3 Eggs room temperature
- 1/2 Cup Dairy Free Milk
- 2 Tbsp. Coconut Oil melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with 9 baking cups.
- Whisk the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, and sea salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the eggs, honey, and milk to another bowl and mix well.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well, then stir in the coconut oil (so it doesn't solidify)
- Evenly divide the batter between the baking cups.
- Bake 17 -19 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Cool completely to properly set up.
Notes
- All coconut flours are not made the same! Some are much more absorbent than others. I recommend using Bob's Red Mill or Arrowhead Mills because they are nice and absorbent. If you need to buy a different brand make sure the texture is soft and fluffy, not grainy - otherwise your muffins will turn out too wet.
- These are fairly sweet. If you like your cornbread more savory, you can reduce the honey to 2 Tbsp, but please don't omit it.
- I've tried replacing the honey with erythritol to make these keto-friendly, but unfortunately, it didn't work. If you're looking for a keto cornbread, please check out my Coconut Flour Keto Cornbread or my Keto Breads E-book!
- These are great eaten as a dessert with some butter (can use non-dairy) and pure maple syrup - YUM!
Nutritional information is approximate and may vary.
Looking for more information on the keto diet? Check out these resources:
These are so good! I actually froze some a pulled them out this week. I plastic wrapped each muffin and placed in a freezer bag. They are just as delicious 6 mos later. I tried the keto version but the texture was not the same. Glad I saved these. My family loves them too and can’t believe they are not cornmeal.
Made these sweet little cornbread muffins last night to go with chili. I totally faked out my brother-in-law and mom-in-law. They were none the wiser that these were Paleo. (: I used Barney blanched almond flour and 365 organic coconut flour, which worked wonderfully, just so you know that those two work as well.
Thank you!!! I'm so excited you liked them and they were good enough to fake your family out, lol 🙂 ...and thanks for letting me know about the flours - that's good to know!
-Cassidy
Love this recipe! I didn’t have cupcake tins so I did the whole batch in a cast iron pan and just sliced it and it turned out great! Going to top it with a berry compote and coconut whipped cream for dessert ?
Oh YAY Lisa!!! I'll have to try this recipe out in a cast-iron skillet with berries and whipped cream - sounds delish!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know what you thought and leave a review 🙂
-Cassidy
I can't seem to find the Honeyville brand in stores near me. Is there another brand you suggest?
Hi Valerie! Any very finely ground blanched almond flour should work 🙂
-Cassidy
Hello..
I am wondering if I can replace the coconut oil with melted butter instead. Can’t wait to make for thanksgiving!
Thanks
Hi Julie!
I've never tried using butter in this recipe so I can't say for sure, sorry! While butter and coconut oil are usually interchangeable, I have had recipes not turn out correctly when I interchanged them.
While I'd imagine it would work fine, I'd hate to steer you wrong! I'd suggest testing them with butter before Thanksgiving or using coconut oil just to be safe! Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
-Cassidy
Yes, you can substitute coconut oil for butter. That’s the only way I make it. It’s delicious. Everything else is pretty much the same - except I don’t use 4 tsp of baking powder. I use 2. I hope this isn’t too late.
Is there another flour to substitute for the almond flour if you are allergic to almond?
HI laura, sorry it took me so long to get back with you! You could try substituting sunflower seed flour, other than that, you would need to re-work the recipe to make it almond-free. I do have a nut-free Keto Cornbread recipe though! If you're not keto, feel free to replace the keto sweetener with any preferred granulated sweetener 🙂 You can find the recipe HERE. I hope this helps!
-Cassidy
I made these last night with minestrone soup. Me being from the South we are picky about our cornbread. My heavens this was awesome!!!! Making again tonight to go with leftovers.
YAY Carrie, I'm so happy you liked them!!! Thank you 🙂
-Cassidy
There is no cornmeal in this cornbread recipe. Am I missing something ???
Hi Susan. No, there's no cornmeal in this recipe. Corn isn't allowed on the Paleo diet, that's why cornbread is in quotes. It's a corn-free cornbread recipe that's Paleo compliant but still tastes remarkably like traditional cornbread. Hope this helps!
-Cassidy
Can you replace the eggs? What about the coconut flour for another flour?
Hi Jackie, unfortunately you can't replace the eggs or coconut flour in this recipe. They are both an integral part of the recipe, sorry about that!!!
-Cassidy
I baked the muffins for 19 minutes and they are moist. I baked 3 minutes longer and they are still mushy and gooey. Is this normal for this recipe? I'm not sure if I missed something. I went with every ingredient and followed directions. They seem too moist and wet.
Hi Ivette, I'm sorry they were too moist 🙁 This is probably due to the brand of coconut flour you are using. I recently switched brands and had the same issue with all my coconut flour recipes - it's SO frustrating!!! I prefer Arrowhead Mills or Bob's Red Mill, but if you can't find those brands make sure the flour is soft and fluffy and not gritty. Next time, if you add an additional 1 Tbsp (maybe 2 depending on how wet they were), it should do the trick and they should be the correct texture. So sorry about that!!!
-Cassidy
Can I sub the honey for maple syrup?
I'm sure you could, but maple syrup is a lot runnier than honey so you *may* need to add an additional Tbsp. of coconut flour - but I just can't say for sure without trying it for myself. Sorry I can't give you a definite answer. If you give it a shot let me know how they turn out!
-Cassidy
Can i use MCT oil in replace of the coconut oil?
HI liz!
I've never tried replacing coconut oil with MCT oil in baked goods so I can't say for sure, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it won't bake the same. MCT oil is quite a bit runnier than coconut oil, and they have different fat profiles which may effect how the muffins bake. Again though, I haven't tried it so I can't say for sure! If you give it a shot let me know how they turn out!!!
-Cassidy
These were amazing! My whole family loves them 🙂
YAY Lee, I'm so excited you and your family liked them so much!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
-Cassidy
Hi. These sound really tasty however I am following a keto diet. Can I use erythritol or another granualted swetener in place of the honey??
Hi Sarah! Unfortunately, I've tried replacing the honey with erythritol and it didn't turn out - sorry. I do have a keto cornbread recipe based on this one in my new Keto Breads Cookbook though if you want to check it out! Here's the link: Keto Breads Cookbook
Thanks so much!
-Cassidy
Hi again! I wanted to let you know that I went ahead and posted my Keto Cornbread from my cookbook! If you want to take a look, here's the recipe: Keto Cornbread
Have a great day!
-Cassidy
Do you know the Nutritional Content?
Hi Sue, I don't have the nutritional content at this time but many people have been requesting that I post it so after I finish my cookbook I'm planning on adding that feature to my site 🙂 Sorry I couldn't be of more help!!
-Cassidy
I never comment on these sites but after having these “cornbread” muffins I had to post that they are the best I’ve ever had!! My family loved them and though I was lying about them being Paleo. I’ve tried to make cornbread quite a bit and have found the ones I’ve made before we’re dry and tasteless, this recipe however is NOT and it’s a definite keeper. Thanks so much!!
What a great recipe! These turned out very tasty and moist! I did add a couple of tablespoons of mild, shredded cheddar and jalapeno pieces (so not quite so Paleo) and turned out great! This will definitely be my go-to muffin recipe. I can see a lot of variety to this recipe too - - more savory or sweeter. YUM! Thanks!
I'm doing whole30 and I love these! They taste so amazing and I'm wildly impressed!
Wondering about how many calories these are each?
Used Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour and divided amongst 8 cups instead of 9. Cooked an extra 5 minutes and these turned out beautifully! Moist, sweet and perfect compliment to the Paleo Taco Soup I made for dinner tonight!
THANK YOU!! These are absolutely delicious and the closest to healthy, gluten-free cornbread I have ever eaten!!! I did make a couple of substitutions. Here's why and how they worked: First, b/c I didn't have Bob's Redmill Coconut flour I cut the milk in half so that it wasn't too wet (this worked great!!). Next, I used goat butter (no cow's milk!) to minimize the coconut flavor. Finally, I did use the recommendation of only 2 tsp baking powder. They rose just fine... They came out absolutely perfect!!! My cooking time turned out to be 16 minutes. Thank you again...PERFECT!!
Oh awesome Deborah, I'm so happy you liked them!!!! And thanks for letting me know about your substitutions 🙂
-Cassidy