Thick, chewy cornbread cookies are filled and coated with corn meal, packed with cornbread flavor, and topped with a generous spread of honey buttercream frosting, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
This copycat version of the popular Crumbl cornbread cookie has so much more flavor and tastes like sweet cornbread in cookie form!
Now, you may be asking why we're making a "savory" cornbread side dish into a dessert, but these cornmeal cookies are so incredibly delicious and I promise it's worth it! My husband (who loves cornbread) was hesitant to try them, but he was immediately sold and the leftovers quickly dwindled.
While the Crumbl version is tasty, they're expensive, a little too sweet, and they give you a weird, small dollop of frosting on top. Our version of the cookie spreads the honey butter frosting all over the cookie, drizzles it with extra honey, and tops it with flaky sea salt to bring the cornbread flavors home.
These cornbread cookies would be a fun addition to the Thanksgiving dessert table alongside some pumpkin cheesecake bars, caramel apple cider cookies, pumpkin pie bars, and salted caramel apple bars!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Texture - While these are thick, big cookies, they're crunchy on the outsides, and perfectly soft chewy on the insides (just like a slice of cornbread). It's actually a sugar cookie dough with cornmeal added in to replicate that nostalgic flavor. The unfrosted cookies are delicious as is, but the honey buttercream takes it over the top.
Salted honey buttercream - what's cornbread without a slab of butter? This buttercream leans into the butter flavor by reducing the powdered sugar and uses honey to add more sweetness. A honey drizzle on top goes a long way, and don't skip the flaky sea salt! It's crucial to bring all the flavors together.
Unique cookie recipe - sometimes it's worth it to go off the beaten path, and these cornbread cookies are no exception. We love something that's out of the ordinary and makes you eat something you wouldn't typically think to try! Bring these cookies to Thanksgiving dinner and you'll be the talk of the gathering!
Enjoy some more adventurous flavors like these chocolate chai cookies, baklava cookies, graham cracker cookies, cereal cookies, and eggnog oatmeal creme pies.
Ingredients
- Cornmeal. Coarse cornmeal gets mixed into the cookie dough for that distinct cornbread flavor, and the cookie dough balls get rolled in cornmeal before baking to produce some extra crunch on the outsides of the cookies.
- Cornstarch. A small amount of cornstarch is added to the cookie dough to keep the cookies tender. This is a nice trick to make your cookies chewy!
- Butter. Because butter is a key ingredient in the recipe, especially in the honey frosting, this is a great opportunity to splurge for a slightly higher quality butter so the flavor really shines through. For the frosting, we love to use Plugra or Kerrygold.
- Honey. This sweet nectar is found in the cookie dough, in the buttercream, and gets drizzled on top of each cookie. Let's just say you won't be missing out on that lovely floral flavor, which is also the star of our honey pie!
- Sugars. A combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar get mixed into the dough to give the cookies a chew and crunch. Powdered sugar is used (in addition to honey) in the buttercream for sweetness and structure.
- Flaky sea salt. Please don't omit the flaky salt from the final recipe! Eating the cookies with vs without the flaky salt is a night and day flavor difference. It doesn't make the cookies too salty. In fact, it perfectly balances out the sweetness.
See recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Use white cornmeal in place of yellow cornmeal. We chose to use yellow so that the cookies most closely resembled the traditional cornbread you're used to seeing, but white cornmeal will produce the same flavor.
- Omit the cinnamon in the buttercream, if desired.
- Add a few tablespoons of your favorite jam into the buttercream for a fruity, colorful option. Blackberry is our favorite!
- Brown the butter for the frosting and let it re-solidify to room temperature before making the frosting. This adds a nutty, caramelized note to the icing!
- Use a gluten-free flour blend or Bob's Red Mill 1-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour in place of all-purpose flour to make the cookies completely gluten-free.
How to Make This Recipe
One: Cream together the butter, honey, and sugars.
Two: Add the eggs and vanilla and beat to combine.
Three: Mix together the cornmeal and dry ingredients.
Four: Add the dry ingredients and mix until a thick cookie dough forms and no flour pockets remain.
Five: Make ~¼ cup balls of dough and roll them in your palms until smooth.
Six: Coat the cookie dough balls completely in cornstarch.
Seven: Gently flatten the cookies slightly.
Eight: Sprinkle on additional cornmeal for extra crunch, then bake and cool the cookies completely on the pan.
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Nine: Combine all ingredients for the honey butter frosting and beat until smooth and spreadable.
Ten: Frost each cookie, adding in some swoops for the honey to fall into. Cover each cookie with a drizzle of honey and flaky sea salt before serving.
Expert Tips
- Measure flour using a digital scale or follow the fluff, scoop, and level method. Adding too much flour to these cookies with prevent them from spreading and cooking evenly.
- Push down on the cookies to flatten the tops. This helps them spread and bake evenly.
- The cookies may still look wet in the center of the dough when they're done, this is normal and OK!
- It's better to underbake these cookies rather than overbake them. Because these cookies are so thick, we let them cool completely on the pan. The residual heat helps to slowly finish baking the cookie as it cools, leading to the perfect chewy cookie.
- Let the cookies cool completely before frosting them. If the cookies are still warm in any capacity, the icing will melt off.
- Add the honey and flaky sea salt to the tops of the cookies right before you plan to serve them. They can be frosted beforehand, though.
Recipe FAQs
This recipe has not been tested with Jiffy mix. Jiffy also contains flour and leavening agents, which would throw off the cookie recipe.
This is because too much flour was added to the recipe. For cookies in particular, it's very important to use a digital scale for accuracy, as even a few grams difference can throw off the recipe. If you don't have a digital scale, follow the fluff, scoop, and level method to measure flour with cups.
Yes! Making smaller cookies will produce a larger volume of cookies. You will also need to decrease the bake time. Visual signs of doneness include set edges, lightly browned bottom edges, and a slightly moist center.
Storage
Store the cookies covered at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Frosted cookies can be difficult to store. If you don't think you'll eat all of the cookies in one go, only frost the cookies you plan to eat so that the rest can be stacked during storage. Store frosted cookies in one layer or with parchment paper in between if you do need to layer them.
Freeze the unfrosted cookies in an airtight container for up to two months. Thaw the cookies completely at room temperature before enjoying them.
More Cookie Recipes You'll Love
What to Know When Cooking with The Cozy Plum
- All recipes are created with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, the least salty variety of kosher salt. If using Morton's, you'll need to cut the amount of salt in half as it's 2x as salty. This will be the same for sea salt. Please do not use table salt.
- Switch between Cups vs Metric using the toggle on the recipe card. Baking by weight using a digital scale will always produce the most accurate results.
- Scale the recipe using the '1X' '2X' '3X' buttons on the recipe card. Note that this does not make an adjustment for baking times, only quantities.
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📖Recipe
Cornbread Cookies with Honey Butter Frosting
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
- 3-tablespoon cookie scoop
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup cornmeal plus extra ⅓ cup for rolling
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Honey Buttercream
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon optional
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
Cookies
- Add ⅓ cup cornmeal to a bowl and set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the 1 cup of cornmeal, flour, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup cornmeal
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat together the butter, sugars, and honey for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup light brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup honey
- Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Use a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to drop heaping scoops (about ¼ cup) of dough onto the baking sheets, adding no more than 6 cookies per sheet.
- Roll the cookies through the cornmeal, the place them back onto the baking sheet. Press the cookie down gently with the bottom of a cup to flatten slightly.
- Bake for 11-14 minutes until the edges are set and the centers still look quite doughy, then smack the cookies on the counter a few times to help them fall.
- Note: Fight the urge to continue baking the cookies past the 14 minute mark.
- Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and cool the cookies on the baking sheet for the entire time until completely cool.
Honey Buttercream
- Beat together the butter, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, kosher salt, and half of the powdered sugar until a paste forms.½ cup unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons honey, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then increase the speed and whip for one minute until smooth. Add 1 teaspoon of water at a time to make it a smooth, spreadable consistency.
- Pipe or spread on top of each cookie, then drizzle with honey and finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt.Flaky sea salt
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