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These classic gluten free corn muffins make a perfect side for soup or chili, and toast up just right for breakfast with some jam and butter.
Even better, you can make this dry gf corn muffin mix ahead of time, and add eggs and milk in minutes. Just like the little blue Jiffy box, but gluten free!
Why this recipe works
This recipe is just as versatile and forgiving as the little blue box you remember. I've made muffins from this mix with and without cupcake liners (muffins and cupcakes always bake more evenly with muffin tin liners), with and without added corn kernels, and at different temperatures, too. It all works out perfectly!
This mix is so versatile, and can be used in so many different ways. My personal favorite is the kind you see just below: baked in muffin liners, with frozen corn kernels mixed in and baked at 350°F for 15 minutes.
Keep in mind that this recipe makes 17 ounces of the dry mix, double the traditional 8.5-ounce Jiffy box. You can of course always cut the mix in half straight down the middle of every ingredient.
How to make gluten free corn muffins
Like most muffins, the dry ingredients are whisked together first, and then the wet ingredients are mixed in to create a smooth muffin batter. You can stop after the addition of the shortening, though, and create a dry mix like Jiffy corn muffin mix that you can use right away or store for later.
Make the dry mix
- In a large mixing bowl, place one of my recommended all purpose gluten free flour blends, with xanthan gum, plus coarsely ground yellow cornmeal, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine fully.
- Add shortening to the dry ingredients and “cut” it into the dry ingredients with either the tines of a fork or a pastry cutter which has long metal strips about 1/4-inch apart from one another. This is designed to break up the shortening into very small pieces and mix them throughout the flour and cornmeal mixture, so it’s evenly distributed but still solid, not melted.
- You can stop here and store the mix in a cool, dry place and use it another time to make muffins—or anywhere else you might use a box of Jiffy.
Make muffins
- You can whisk together the milk and eggs, and pour them into the dry ingredients, or you can create a well with your mixing spoon in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk and beaten eggs separately. Mix the batter together. It should be thick but soft, not stiff.
- If you’d like to add kernels of corn, add them here and mix them until they’re evenly distributed throughout the muffin batter, like you would mix-ins like chocolate chips or nuts. Let the batter rest briefly.
- Fill the wells of a muffin tin with the corn muffin batter. If you’re making 9 muffins and have 3 wells of a 12-cup muffin tin empty, fill the empty wells with water so the muffins bake evenly.
- Bake at 350°F for lighter, less crispy muffins or 375°F for firmer muffins until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.
- At 350°F, the muffins are done after about 20 minutes; at 375°F it takes about 18 minutes.
- Allow the muffins to cool for about 10 minutes in the muffin tin before carefully removing them from the tin and placing them on a wire rack to finish cooling.
Expert tips
Don't overwork the batter (and let it rest)
Corn has its own protein, like wheat flour has gluten, and it can be overworked similar to wheat flour gluten protein. Mix the gluten free corn muffin batter only as much as necessary to moisten all the dry ingredients, no more.
Whisk wet ingredients separately
Make sure your wet ingredients, which here are just eggs and milk, are both at room temperature, and are whisked together really vigorously first. That way, when you add them to the dry ingredients, you won't be tempted to overmix just to get a proper corn muffin batter.
Don't defrost frozen corn
If you're adding the 1 cup of optional corn kernels to your corn muffins, and your kernels are frozen, don't defrost them before mixing them in the batter! They'll be weepy and soft if you defrost them.
Change the oven temp to change the texture
Bake muffins at 375°F, and they not only bake faster, but they come out crustier, more like a skillet gluten free cornbread. Bake them at 350°F for a more tender, less crusty muffin.
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
As written, this recipe is nearly dairy-free. If you use a plant-based milk in place of cow's milk, it's dairy-free. My favorite is unsweetened almond milk.
Egg free
I think this recipe would work well with 2 “chia eggs.” That would call for 2 tablespoons ground white chia seeds mixed with 2 tablespoons lukewarm water, then allowed to gel before adding it to the milk and mixing it into the dry mix.
Cornmeal
Corn, a gluten-free grain, is made into cornmeal by simply grinding yellow corn into a coarse or fine grind. Be sure your cornmeal is safe from cross-contamination in processing.
This recipe works best with coarsely-ground yellow cornmeal, which gives these muffins some bite and texture. I believe that, in the U.K., cornmeal is usually sold as “polenta.” Please correct me if I'm wrong, but be sure not to use “corn flour,” which in the U.K. is just the starch that we call cornstarch in the U.S.
If you can't have corn, you might try replacing it with millet, but it's hard to make gf corn muffins without corn. You can always experiment!
Vegetable shortening
This recipe, like the actual Jiffy corn muffin mix, contains the fat the muffin recipe will need right there in the “dry mix.” The easiest shelf-stable fat that we can use that's solid at room temperature is vegetable shortening.
I use Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening (not the same as Crisco, but you could use Crisco). If you can't have shortening or don't want to use it, try virgin coconut oil in its place (the kind that's solid at room temperature).
To use butter, keep it cold and cut it in with the tines of the fork—but only right before using the mix. You can always make the mix without the fat ahead of time, and then add the butter right before you add the other wet ingredients, and bake.
Gluten Free Corn Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
For the muffin mix
- 1 ⅓ cups (187 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- 1 ¼ cups (165 g) coarsely ground yellow cornmeal
- 6 tablespoons (75 g) granulated sugar
- 4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup (48 g) nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening, (I use Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening)
To Make Muffins (See Recipe Notes)
- 12 ⅔ tablespoons (6 ⅓ fluid ounces) milk, at room temperature
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (140 g) frozen (or fresh) whole kernel corn, (optional)
- Coarse sugar for sprinkling, (optional)
Instructions
Make the dry mix.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt, and whisk to combine well.
- Add the shortening and, with the tines of a fork or a pastry cutter, cut the shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse sand. There will be some clumps.
- To make 9 muffins, this dry mix weighs 495 grams total.
- Store the dry mix in a sealed container in a cool, dry place until ready to use. For longer storage, place in the refrigerator or freezer and allow to come to room temperature before using.
To make muffins.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (for lighter, more delicate muffins) or 375°F (for darker, firmer muffins). Grease or line 9 cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin, and set the tin aside.
- Place the dry mix (495 grams for 9 muffins) in a large bowl. Loosen the mixture with a whisk and break up any large clumps.
- Place the milk and eggs in a 2 cup measuring cup or small bowl. Whisk until very well-combined.
- Pour the milk and egg mixture into the large bowl of dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. The mixture should be thick but soft.
- Add the (optional) corn and mix just until the corn is evenly distributed throughout. Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes.
- Using a large spring-loaded ice cream scoop, fill the 9 prepared wells of the muffin tin full of batter, leaving the rounded tops from the scoop, if possible. Sprinkle each muffin top lightly with a few of the optional coarse sugar crystals.
Bake the muffins.
- Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven, and pour the empty wells of the tin about 2/3 of the way full with tap water. Allow the muffins to bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (about 20 minutes in a 350°F oven; about 18 minutes in a 375°F oven).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
make ahead/leftovers
Storage instructions
The dry mix for these muffins, when made with shortening or coconut oil, can be stored in a sealed jar in a cool, dry pantry for at least a couple weeks.
The muffins themselves will stay fresh, covered well, at room temperature for about 2 days.
For longer storage, freeze completely cool baked muffins on a flat surface, in a single layer, then pile into a freezer-safe container. Defrost at room temperature, in the microwave, or in the toaster oven.
FAQs
This recipe calls for a mix of all purpose gluten free flour and coarsely ground yellow cornmeal. If you'd like to make naturally gluten free corn muffins with all cornmeal, follow the tips in our recipe for old fashioned gluten free cornbread.
You may have overmeasured your gluten free flour blend or cornmeal, or undermeasured your milk. If you didn't break up the shortening properly with a fork first, you might have ended up with some muffins with too much fat, and some with too little.
Make sure you're using a gluten free flour blend and cornmeal, and measuring both by weight. And make sure your ingredients are at the proper temperature, so they combine fully.
Yes! The dry mix for this recipe is designed for making ahead and having in your pantry, like you would Jiffy mix. One full recipe of the dry mix, which makes 9 muffins as described in the recipe card below, weighs 495 grams. If you'd like to multiply the recipe and store it together as scaled up, to make 9 muffins, just weigh out 495 grams of dry mix and proceed with the recipe as written!
Serving suggestions
- Slice a muffin in half, toast lightly, and serve with a dollop of jam or softened butter
- Serve corn muffins with a bowl of chili or cream of mushroom soup
- Drizzle a corn muffin with honey when it's still warm from the oven
- Make mini muffins and serve them with a big bowl of gluten free chili
We do not like sweet corn muffins. Plus my hubs is diabetic. Can I omit the sugar?
No, you can’t, Pam. I don’t think this recipe is for you, since sugar isn’t just for sweetness in baking. It’s also a tenderizer and can’t just be omitted from any recipe.
I try to follow your recipes exactly and they always turn out delicious, but “12 2/3 tbsp milk”? Seriously? Can you provide a weight for that, please?
I list the corresponding fluid ounces right next to the tablespoon measurement, Dawn. Please try to be understanding, as my recipe program won’t allow me to indicate two different volume measurements (like 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons), so I must use one or the other. I thought 12 2/3 tablespoons was more useful than 0.79 tablespoons, and the corresponding 6 1/3 fluid ounces should be useful as well. As much as you might assume I have control over everything, I don’t. I must work within constraints, like with most things.
I love winter, too! Definitely making these this week to go with a big pot of stew.
Perfect, Sandy!
Could I substitute Masa Harina for the cornmeal?
No, I’m afraid not, Marjorie. Masa harina is not the same as plain cornmeal at all. Please see my pupusas recipe for a full discussion of masa harina and how it differs from plain cornmeal.
My husband loved them. I used coconut oil in place of the vegetable oil. Still delicious!
Happy to hear it, Susan!
Printed out the recipe, adding it to my ‘mixes’ stash. I really missed that little blue box of corn muffin mix! Silly I guess, but when you’re in a hurry…I missed the second book. Does it have a lot of the same recipes etc as GFOAS Bakes bread or the cookbook with the popover on the front? I have those. I have to justify another cookbook to my husband…
It sounds delicious!! Could I use coconut oil in place of the shortening?
It should work, Sheri, but I haven’t tried it so you’ll have to experiment!
We love Chapter 8 of the Quick & Easy book! Linnea has won the Best Cookies award on the Cross Country team with the brownies, and we use many of the mix recipes on a regular basis. I was just looking at a recipe the other day that called for the Jiffy cornbread, so thanks for adding this one to the list of mix options.
Wow, Anneke, you’ve gotten a whole lot of mileage out of that chapter!
Am digging out my cast iron corn shaped pans and am making these as soon as I go upstairs. Many thanks. How about applesauce raisin muffins ???
You do not know how happy you have made me! My raised-in-the-south husband keeps asking me for these (they are NOT cornbread according to him), and I have no idea what they’re supposed to taste like (my mom never made these, and now that we both have to be GF, I am clueless if it has wheat and I didn’t eat it as a kid). So, long story short, I avoided the whole corn muffin mess. Until today. Every recipe of yours that I’ve tried has been great, so I guess I’m gonna have to make these now. My GF husband will be so happy, and this will probably guarantee I can sweet talk him into the fourth book! Thank you!!
The lighter blueberry corn muffins she posted last week are also amazing, as are the cake flour corn muffins, if you want to try some other options. I made the lighter blueberry corn ones with the fresh cranberry/orange variation she mentioned and they are really, really good.
I may try them. I’m not usually big on corn flour, but cranberry orange is always tempting, and they do look yummy. :)
That sounds like a win all around, Heather! Don’t you just love a big serving of nostalgia? ;)