Name: Easy Cornbread Muffins (Instant Pot or Oven)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 large eggs; 1/4 cup Canola oil; 1/4 cup maple syrup; 1 cup buttermilk ((or kefir)); 1 cup all-purpose flour; 1 cup yellow cornmeal; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1.5 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; cooking oil spray

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These Easy Cornbread Muffins are light, soft, savoury, and lightly sweetened. They can be made in the oven or Instant Pot with very similar results. Perfect weeknight treat. Great to serve alongside a special Holiday Dinner!

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A few weeks ago I got obsessed with cornbread muffins and spent a few days testing them with different ingredients and different techniques. Now, three double batches of Easy Cornbread Muffins later, I am ready to share the recipe with all the tips!

Up until now I stayed away from non-fudgy cakes made in Instant Pot using Pot-in-Pot method since the cakes would basically be steaming and in turn would be quite dense. However, I’ve seen so many recipes online that had great success with Instant Pot Baking that I finally decided to give that technique a try.

I’ve tested different batches of these Easy Cornbread Muffins in oven and in Instant Pot and I am happy to report that they are very (very!!!) similar in texture. Not identical but very similar. In fact, I was very pleasantly surprised that Instant Pot Cornbread Muffins turned out also quite light and delicious, although a bit less crumbly than their oven counterparts.

So, today I present to you Cornbread Muffins that can be made in either Instant Pot or in the Oven. They are soft, savoury, and lightly sweetened. Perfect to accompany any meal. They’ll be great to go alongside Thanksgiving Turkey and Sweet Potatoes Pot Pie.

Ingredients to make Cornbread Muffins

Eggs
Buttermilk (I use Kefir)
Canola oil
Maple syrup
Yellow cornmeal
Flour
Cornstarch
Salt
Baking powder
Baking soda

Now, if you don’t want to buy a whole carton of buttermilk just to use 1 cup, don’t worry about it. I have a substitute for buttermilk that I tested with this recipe and it works great!

How to make Cornbread Muffin batter

Making batter for Cornbread Muffins is really easy.

In a medium size bowl whisk together all the wet ingredients until fully mixed.
In another large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a fork. I find that using a fork as opposed to a spoon or a spatula results in lighter batter. Make sure to not over-mix the batter. Mix just until the flour disappear and there are still lumps left.
Let the batter sit for about 5 minutes before spooning it into the baking form. It’ll thicken during that time.

How to make Cornbread Muffins in Instant Pot

I used Silicone Egg Bites moulds for both Instant Pot and Oven-baked Cornbread Muffins, just so that comparison between two techniques is easy to make.

I use Flytaker brand of egg bites moulds but it is only available on Canadian amazon. This Aozita brand on American amazon has a lot of positive reviews and looks very similar to what I have.

Important note: There are different sizes of moulds, some are smaller than others. You need to look at the description of the models that you buy to make sure that they are the correct size. You want the ones where each individual mould holds at least 60 ml.

Spray the egg bites moulds with cooking oil really well.
Evenly divide the batter between each mould.
Cover with foil.
Add 1 cup cold water inside Instant Pot, then place a trivet inside.

Place the foil-covered mould inside Instant Pot.
Cook on High Pressure for 10 minutes. It’ll take about 6 minutes to come to pressure.
Do a quick release.
Remove from Instant Pot. Let cool for a few minutes so that the moulds can be handled easily and unmould.

How to make Cornbread Muffins in the oven

I used the same Silicone Egg Bites Moulds to make cornbread muffins in the oven as I used for Instant Pot. You can use different baking forms like muffin tins, for example. However, baking time might need to be adjusted for metal container.

Spray the egg bites moulds with cooking oil really well.
Evenly divide the batter between each mould.
Bake in the oven preheated to 375F for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes so that the moulds can be handled easily and unmould.

More Egg Bites Moulds Recipes:

Comparison between Cornbread Muffins made Instant Pot and Oven

Time

Mixing the batter for the oven or Instant Pot versions should take the same amount of time, so I am not going to count it.

Baking in the oven is 15 minutes.

Time for Instant Pot to come to pressure, then cook, then release pressure is approximately 6+10+2=18 minutes.

So, it may seem that making Cornbread Muffins in the oven is faster, however, there’s also time that oven needs to fully preheat. Which means that if you decided to make muffins at 9 am, you can realistically have them ready by 9.30 am if you choose Instant Pot.

But if you decide to bake them, you might need to add another 20-30 minutes for the oven to fully preheat. My particular oven takes more than 30 minutes to preheat so I always need to plan accordingly.

Flavour

Flavour of both Instant Pot and Oven Cornbread Muffins was exactly the same with no difference.

Texture

Texture between these two different methods of making cornbread muffins was different. Oven muffins are a bit lighter and the texture is more crumbly.

Instant Pot Cornbread Muffins are a little bit more dense and less crumbly. You can easily slice them without getting crumbs. They aren’t heavy at all but not as light.

Verdict

If I don’t need to have muffins in 30 minutes and don’t mind heating up the oven (and the kitchen), then I prefer the oven version.

But if timing is of an essence or if it is summertime when turning on the oven is undesirable or if you don’t have enough space in the oven (like if you are making a Thanksgiving turkey for example) then I would definitely use Instant Pot to make these muffins.

Tips and variations for Cornbread Muffins

Buttermilk
- I use Kefir in place of buttermilk.
- If you don’t have buttermilk or kefir, mix 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes. Use in place of 1 cup of buttermilk. Note: the mixture will not really thicken, so don’t expect it to look similar to buttermilk. Also, because the mixture of milk and vinegar is different, the batter will be a bit thinner.
Maple syrup
- I like that these muffins are savoury yet lightly sweetened.
- If you prefer less sweet cornbread muffins then reduce the maple syrup by half. You may need to use 1-2 tablespoons less of flour/cornmeal mixture.
- If you prefer sweeter muffins, then add sugar. Adding more maple syrup may change the dry to wet ingredients ratio and make batter too wet.
- You can use liquid honey instead of maple syrup if you’d like.

Making two moulds in Instant Pot at the same time
- The recipe makes 14 cornbread muffins using 2 Egg Bites Moulds.
- If you want to make two of them at the same time, then you need to cover both of them in foil. Also, add mason jar rings under the second form to keep it from squishing the bottom form.
- You can see the mason jar rings tip in action at Tidbits Marci site.
- Cooking time for both moulds at the same time is still the same – 10 minutes at High Pressure. However, it’ll take a bit longer to come to pressure.
Amount
- You can easily halve the recipe if you only want to make one mould at a time. Or you can double the recipe if you need more cornbread muffins.

More Instant Pot Baking Recipes:

Instant Pot Cornbread with Real Crispy Crust (unusual technique that may not work for all Instant Pot models)
3 Ingredient Instant Pot Nutella Cake Bites
Flourless Instant Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Bites

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