There are few things better than cornbread in the morning with breakfast or as a side for nearly any dinner recipe, but sometimes you don’t have time to hit the store. This Copycat Jiffy Cornbread Mix is perfect in a pinch. Use this recipe for any of the jiffy cornbread recipes (or muffins!)
Chef Jessica Approved ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
America’s favorite cornbread mix, but homemade- what’s not to love!
- Doctor it up – Make this mix and doctor it up as you see fit or leave it plain and garnish it with a pat of butter for a snack. Turn it into biscuits, delicious muffins, a dessert, a cornbread crust for pizza or anything else you can come up with!
- Make in a pinch – This is made with simple pantry ingredients and great for when you realize you’re out of the store bought mix.
What You’ll Need
These basic ingredients and pantry staples are used to make the jiffy cornbread mix only. You will also need the wet ingredients to make actual cornbread. A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Flour – We need something to hold these muffins together, and all purpose flour will do just that. I would steer clear of whole wheat flour.
- Yellow corn meal – You can’t have a homemade cornbread mix without cornmeal! It gives it that delicious, grainy texture. The brand of cornmeal can make this mix different hues of yellow. White corn meal can also be used!
- Sugar – Perfect for the sweet cornbread lover, this mix needs an element of sweet besides the corn. This adds just the right amount of sweetness to make these from scratch muffins taste delicious.
- Baking powder – This will act as our leavening agent and help to make this homemade version of a box of jiffy mix to achieve it’s delicious grainy consistency.
- Salt – To help balance out the flavors, we need just a touch of salt. I like to use fine sea salt.
Of course you can store this in the pantry for later use, but to make this mix into actual cornbread or a delicious muffin, you’ll need oil or butter and milk. Whole milk will give the richest and moistest results. Use a natural oil or a good quality butter. Bright yellow European butters will yield more golden muffins or bread (as pictured).
Let’s Make It
Remember, this homemade mix only consists of the dry ingredients. You will need to follow the steps below to make the actual corn bread.
- Make batter. To dry mixture, add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or melted butter, 1/3 cup milk and 1 egg. Mix well. For lumpier muffins, reduce milk to 1/4 cup.
- Add to liners. Spoon into 6 lined muffin tins and bake. If tops start to brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil.
- Or loaf pans. To make two mini loaves: Split batter between two ceramic loaf pans sprayed with non-stick spray.
- Bake. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes.
Make the Cornbread
The Jiffy cornbread recipe is just as simple, but only makes a small pan. Those boxes are tiny!
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease an 8×8 baking dish or 10-inch cast iron skillet.
- Make Batter. Combine 1/3 vegetable oil or melted butter, 1/3 cup milk and 2 eggs with DOUBLE this recipe (or two boxes of Jiffy cornbread muffin mix). Mix until no dry spots remain- mixture will be a little lumpy, do not overmix.
- Bake. Bake for 18 – 23 minutes or until golden brown.
- Rest. Cool 10 minutes.
5S Philosophy 👩🏻
- Salt – I already use fine sea salt to season this jiffy cornbread mix. It helps to bring out the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Seasonings – Try adding 1-2 tablespoons of chopped fresh jalapenos or jarred jalapenos. Think poblano, habanero or ghost peppers if you really want to sweat. Nothings pairs better than chewy, salty little bits of bacon. Use 1/2 cup in the batter to jazz it up. Chop up a few fresh herbs from the garden and add them in! Sage, thyme, rosemary, dill, cilantro and parsley all work. Add one packet of dry ranch seasoning for a fun flavor.
- Sauces – A southern staple and classic, add a dollop of sour cream on top of your slice. Looking for a sweet cornbread? Try adding 1-2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, honey or agave nectar to the batter. You can also drizzle or baste this on top after it comes out of the oven. Kind of like a simple syrup basting onto butter cake. For sweet and spicy, try hot honey. While the muffins are still hot, baste with maple butter, molasses butter or honey butter.
- Swaps – Swap out the milk for buttermilk or half and half for richer bread with a tang. Swap out 2 tablespoons of milk for the juice in a jar of jalapenos.
- Senses – Golden, warm, and irresistibly fluffy, Jiffy cornbread fills the air with the comforting aroma of sweet corn and butter. Each bite is a perfect balance of lightly crisp edges and a soft, tender crumb that melts in your mouth. The subtle sweetness pairs beautifully with its rich, buttery flavor, while the slightly grainy texture adds a rustic charm.
Perfect Pairings
A lot of people serve this easy peasy jiffy cornbread mix recipe as a great side dish alongside a bowl of some sort of chili dish. However, it tastes great with breakfast or all on its own too. Here are my favorite serving suggestions.
Soups and stews are an obvious choice. Cabbage soup, broccoli cheddar soup and chicken noodle soup are among my favorites. As is white chicken chili and Skyline Chili, although it typically is served with white bread and not cornbread.
But it can also pair nicely with nearly any meal like our famous Marry Me Chicken Recipe, Mississippi Pot Roast or Baked Chicken Thighs. Serve it with your next holiday meal.
Sometimes I make the cornbread the entree and serve it with several other sides. Creamed onions, broccolini and creamed spinach are favorites. Of course, alongside a salad. Or I’ll do you one better- use our Cornbread Salad Recipe! You can always make cornbread desserts too!
Storage and Freezing
How to Store
This jiffy cornbread mix will be shelf stable for up to a year. Store in an airtight container at room temperature until you are ready to make the cornbread.
Cooked into bread or muffins, store in an airtight container or plastic bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. Wrap in a damp paper towel and reheat in the microwave for 10-15 seconds at 50% power.
Can I Freeze Jiffy Cornbread Mix?
You can also store this mix in the freezer. This helps to preserve the flavor longer. Place into a plastic freezer bag, squeezing as much air out as possible and then freeze for up to a year.
Jiffy Cornbread Mix FAQs
Using enough liquid and also something with a little fat will help cornbread stay moist. And of course, not overcooking.
It is likely there isn’t enough binder or it was overcooked and dried out. The recipe on the box is meant to be crumbly. If you want a more bread-like cornbread, add 1-2 tablespoons of sour cream, plain greek yogurt or even ¼ cup of freshly shredded cheese.
More Cornbread Recipes
Cornbread is a great side dish and even a base for other dishes. Here are more of our best cornbread recipes.
Copycat Jiffy Corn Bread Muffin Mix
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup flour
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Sift or whisk together together the 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Store in a plastic airtight container, make into muffins or into bread. See notes/post for cooking instructions.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
Video
Notes
Variations: Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese, corn, green chiles, jalapenos bacon or tomatoes. Spoon into 6 lined muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees. If tops start to brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil. To make two mini loaves: Split batter between two 5×3” ceramic loaf pans sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Tested and image submitted by one of our readers, Penny. Thank you!
Nutrition
I am excited to try this recipe! I LOVE Jiffy Cornbread but have been living out of the country for a long time. A lot of the tastes we take for granted aren’t available. I am going to make it tomorrow! First time in 5 years or so for real chili and cornbread. I am already drooling in anticipation.
Yay! Let us know how it goes. I think the thing that throws most folks off is that while everything else in this world seems to have gotten larger… Jiffy cornbread boxes stayed the same tiny size. So pay attention to the servings and adjust accordingly. 🙂
At the top of the recipe, by “SERVINGS”, it says 12, but in the notes/instructions for making these into muffins, it says to “spoon into 6 lined muffin tins”. Does this mean that a serving is 1/2 of a muffin, or that the SERVINGS should say 6?
Servings should be 6- thanks for pointing that out, we will make the changes.
Thanks so much for this recipe! I dislike package mixes with all of their unpronouncable added ingredients, but the hubby is a true Alabama boy raised on cornbread! 1st recipe he can’t tell the difference between yours & jiffy’s. Tonight cornbread & chili 😋
I just wanted to say that the last time I looked at the ingredient list on the Jiffy cornbread box, it listed LARD. That is not vegetarian friendly, or kosher. Thank you for a recipe that I can make for my vegetarian family! You don’t know how happy this recipe makes me! Thank you!!
I’m so glad we could accommodate! I wasn’t even aware of this, but glad we can meet your needs. <3
Hi, i would like to make this into a big batch but am curious if you know how much mix for 1 recipe? So if i have 10 cups of mix, how much for 1 mi. 1 cup? 1 1/2 cups?
Hi Terry- this makes as much as 1 box, which is generally 1 1/2 cups of dry mix.
OMG, thank you! I’ve been looking for a small batch corn muffin recipe and this is perfect. I added dark chocolate chips and these are amazing!
For years now, I have made my own take on Jiffy boxed Cornbread/muffins. I just use 1 box of Jiffy yellow cake mix to 2 boxes Jiffy Cornbread. This produces a 9X13 pan of easy, sweet No-crumble Cornbread. Just follow the directions for each boxed mix & bake until dender & a cake tester comes out dry in center. Delicious!
Yay! Thank you for letting us know!
Thank you for sharing this! I’m trying a recipe that calls for a Jiffy cornbread crust and I can’t find the mix in any of my local grocery stores. (I live in Canada so maybe it’s no longer available here)
I guess it is the same? I’ve never heard of a specific cornbread crust either?
Jiffy has a recipe for a jiffy corn pie crust on their website, is that what you are looking for? https://site.jiffymix.com/recipe/jiffy-corn-pie-crust/
Dear Jessica
Sincere thanks for this recipe.
Back in the US, I used the Jiffy cornbread often to make a cake out of it. I had found this cake recipe online and found that the Jiffy mix makes the easiest and best cake that you can actually mix with fruit in or at he bottom of the cake.
Unfortunately, I moved to Quebec, Canada and the Jiffy mix is nowhere to be found. Your copy cat recipe just saved me and I will go on making my cakes. You should try it one of these days. It is wonderful!
Yay!!!! This type of review makes my heart happy, Monique. Happy baking!
I swapped the all purpose flour for almond flour, sugar for monk fruit sweetener but kept everything else the same. They turned out great.
Fabulous! Thanks for letting us know!
Has anyone tried making these in the little loaf pans (5 x 3?). For 6 muffins, I’m thinking 2 of those mini loaf pans?
I have not, hoping someone else will answer?
Thank you for responding. I may as well give it a shot. It I do, I’ll report back. Happy Easter!
Happy Easter!
So, as promised….I made a batch and split between 2 of the mini ceramic loaf pans. Baked at 400 for 20 minutes and they came out perfect! I wish I could upload a picture.
Yay!!!! If you email it to me, I’ll add it to the post with credit to you! savoryexperiments@gmail.com
Just made this in a square pan versus muffins. I doubled the recipe and Extended the cook time to 25 min. It browned on top, but when I took it out, cooled slightly and cut it, it was still wet on the inside. I put it back in at a lower temperature. Not sure what happened.
Lisa, the recipe is meant for muffins and one batch, the cooking time is going to vary greatly if you put it in a larger pan and double the recipe. ALso, whether you used a light or dark pan or nonstick will make a difference in cook time.