This Sweet Cornbread Muffins recipe is a copycat of Famous Dave’s cornbread muffins that we all love so much.
Ben and I have an addiction for barbecue. One of our favorites (when you combine taste, price and availability of sweet tea) is Famous Dave’s. Although it’s a chain, we love it. Now that we have moved to the desert of California, the closest Famous Dave’s restaurant is about 45 minutes, as the natives here say, “down the hill.”
Not only do we love the BBQ from Famous Dave’s, but we also crave their cornbread muffins that are served with every dish. A little tip a friend gave me… when you are seated, ask if you can have your muffin right away. They’ll gladly bring you one, and then “surprise!” you’ll still get another with your meal. Bonus cornbread muffin = my kind of treat!
Now that I don’t have Famous Dave’s at the tip of my fingers, I set out to find a recipe I could make at home. I found one recipe floating many different forums and tried it out. Eeek! It was really gritty, yet the flavor was sufficient! I figured the rocks chipping my teeth were from the stone-ground cornmeal called for in the recipe. Ben even said “this is hurting my teeth!” Yikes!
Since the flavor was spot-on, I decided to just try the recipe again but using only regular yellow cornmeal and no stone-ground cornmeal. I also added half a can of whole kernel corn (will use a whole can next time). The result? Fabulous! And, our teeth didn’t hurt!
The trick to keeping these moist is to not over-bake them. Also, if it is just the two of you like it is in our household (well, two and a half) then you can freeze the leftovers in a freezer bag, then microwave later for 20 – 30 seconds per muffin.
Try these with my favorite slow cooker pulled pork recipe.
Sweet Cornbread Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups yellow cornmeal
- 1 9oz package yellow cake mix
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs beaten
- 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 Tablespoon miracle whip light
- 14 ounce can whole kernel corn well drained
Instructions
- Whisk together cornmeal, cake mix, baking powder, salt, and cayenne in a bowl, set aside. Combine milk, buttermilk, oil, eggs, brown sugar and honey in another bowl and mix well. Add to the cornmeal mixture and gently stir – there should be no lumps, but do not over mix. Fold in the miracle whip and canned corn.
- Let rest, covered, in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400˚F. Line cupcake pan with liners. Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean and the top is golden brown.
I don’t think I have ever seen a cornbread recipe with yellow cake mix in the ingredients! They look delicious!
My husband loves sweet cornbread! I can’t wait to try these!
My mom has been raving about famous Dave’s and their cornbread. I can’t wait to try this recipe to surprise her with at Thanksgiving. And I love cornbread recipes with actual corn kernels. Yum!
Oh, geesh. We love Famous Dave’s corn muffins. But, let me ask you – do we have to add the corn to the recipe? Do you think it will mess with the consistency? If so, do you think I could drain the corn and then stick it in the food processor to get it finer? I’m kind of on the fence about chunks of corn in my cornbread.
Have you seen that recipe floating around for the fluffy honey butter? MMM, that would take this over the top.
Also – I’ve made the Pioneer Woman’s onion strings, and they are good, but not like Famous Dave’s. If you see a recipe for those, please share! Those are our faveeeee!
Hi Beth! The original recipe does not call for the corn, so you can definitely leave it out. I just added it because I actually like it in the muffins. 🙂 These are super close to that of Famous Dave’s. I’m wondering if I found fine grind stone ground cornmeal, if it would then be exact. The only kind I could find in my grocery store was medium grind and I think that’s what made it gritty. bleh! But, my second try with substituting with all regular yellow cornmeal turned out fantastic!
-Nikki
Be still my heart!! I love Famous Dave’s corn muffins!!! So trying this recipe stat!! Those look so delicous it makes me want to have one right now:)
Thank you so much for the response! I might give it a try with the corn, and without – as I say, I’m on the fence about it, so sometimes I like it OK and sometimes I don’t. That’ll give me an excuse to make sweet cornbread twice, hahaha!
Yes, the fine stone ground might just be what it needs!
Thanks for the recipe!
Famous Daves is my absolute favorite barbeque place!!! I wish I was eating there right now. Have you ever tried their smoked salmon spread? If not, you have to try it next time you decide to drive those 45 minutes!! Their cornbread muffins are to die for! I always order an extra half dozen to take home with me. I tried that same recipe using the stone ground cornmeal and thought the exact same thing. Who wants a crunchy muffin? Not me. I will have to try it with all regular cornmeal.
These look so perfect! I’ve made an alarming amount of dry or boring corn bread. This looks great.
Does their recipe actually have Miracle Whip and Cake Mix in it? Their muffins are awesome.
Thanks.
I’m not totally sure, Margie, but this was the only “copycat” recipe for their muffins that I found. I wouldn’t be surprised if those two ingredients really are mixed in. 🙂
I tried Famous Dave’s for the first time two days ago. It actually wasn’t the place we were looking for, but couldn’t remember the name of the other place. Oh. My. Goodness. This may be my new favorite place! I got ribs and chicken. I wasn’t real impressed with the ribs, but everything else was amazing. I barely ate any of the meat. I was too consumed with the sides! I ordered half a dozen muffins to take home, since we live two hours away. (They are so much better heated up than cold.) I can’t stop raving about them. I’m so excited about this recipe! I’m going to a pig roast this weekend, and while I normally do cupcakes, I’m really thinking I’ll try these! Thank you so much! Muah!
Mine were dry & dense…..any ideas…baked for 15 min.
Since when did Famous Dave’s change their recipe? The ones that I have had did not have corn in it.
I love sweet cornbread. Famous Dave’s must be only in the South and I live in Washington and have never heard of them. Thank you for the recipe. I will be making it with Honey butter. .
We have Famous Dave’s in Kansas although I had never heard of them until we moved here from CA.
Actually, the original Famous Daves is/was in NW Wisconsin. There was a fire and has been rebuilt under Dave’s ownership but is now called Jimmy’s. So, there are numerous Famous Dave’s restaurants in the MIdwest and now throughout the states. My daughter and I even ran into him at another local restaurant and he provided a community meal when our community as struck by a tornado.
Is the Miracle Whip a necessity? Is there a substitution? I don’t ever have it around and hate to buy a jar for 1 tablespoon but the muffins sound delicious.
Hi Pat, try using Greek yogurt.
This is more cake than cornbread!