Learn how to make your own homemade cornbread mix (Jiffy copycat) with 4 simple pantry ingredients. Make a few jars of this dry mix to keep on hand for quick batches of cornbread muffins to save time & money. You can also package this into a cute jar with a handwritten label + recipe card for an inexpensive homemade food gift!
One of my priorities lately has been to meal plan & prep ahead. I'm typically a what am I craving today kind of person, unless I'm thawing out a big piece of meat like a pork shoulder or chuck roast for dinner. This isn't conducive for evenings when I'm late, rushed, or too tired to cook.
To combat this, I'm focusing on batch cooking and prepping ingredients for specific dishes. Doing this a few times a month when I have the energy & motivation makes it SO much easier to throw together quick meals later on. My tired future self ALWAYS thanks me for thinking ahead!
Batch Cooking Soups + Prepping Cornbread Mix For Quick & Easy Meals
One of my favorite foods to batch cook is soups and stews because they freeze and reheat well, plus they're economical. And since we're gearing into the cool weather season, I'm envisioning beef & chorizo chili, white chicken chili, hamburger vegetable soup, and smoked sausage & vegetable soup.
All of these meals pair well with hot cornbread, so to save time and extra dishes, I've started making my own cornbread mix ahead of time. It's basically a copycat of the tiny blue Jiffy cornbread boxes.
Except the homemade version is much better because you control the ingredients. No hydrogenated oils or additives like the store-bought version. Just four simple pantry ingredients you likely keep on hand already.
TIP: Want to start making more homemade versions of foods you typically buy from the store? Check out my Kitchen Staples You Can Make at Home post for tons of ideas + well-rated recipes to try.
Ingredients For Homemade Cornbread Mix
- All-Purpose Flour: I've made this successfully with both unbleached all-purpose flour & all-purpose einkorn wheat flour. In theory, all-purpose gluten-free flour should work equally well, I just haven't tested it yet to know whether it needs a bit more moisture from the liquid ingredients.
- Yellow Cornmeal: I use the kind that is plain, enriched & degerminated (typically Martha White yellow cornmeal) to replicate what's used in the Jiffy box. You don't want stoneground cornmeal, as that is a much coarser texture and would likely need a different ratio of wet to dry ingredients to be moist enough. If you prefer a stronger corn flavor, you may be able to substitute part of the cornmeal with masa harina (corn flour), but I haven't recipe tested this yet as a Jiffy substitute. You can, however, try my skillet cornbread recipe which uses masa harina instead.
- Baking Powder: This is what makes the muffins (or cornbread) rise, so you want enough of it to make a difference. I use baking powder in my cornbread mix instead of baking soda because I don't always include an acidic ingredient (like buttermilk) in my cornbread, which is what you need to react to baking soda. So, if you go ahead and add baking powder now, it means in the future you can use whole milk or dairy-free milk to make your cornbread and it'll still rise. It's good to have options!
- Salt: This adds much-needed flavor to the mix, so don't skip it. I typically use Celtic sea salt, but kosher salt is another good option. You don't need a lot since my recipe for cornbread muffins calls for using melted salted butter.
Tips For Making Homemade Cornbread Mix
- Use Fresh Ingredients: Because you're making this to use in the future, your ingredients need to be fresher. Check the expiration dates on your flour & cornmeal. Make sure they're good for at least another year. If you're not in the habit of dating your baking powder container when you open it (so you know how fresh it is), grab a new one from the store just to be safe.
- Measure Correctly: Nobody wants dry cornbread, so it's important to measure correctly. I use the scoop & level method these days, and I recommend you do the same. Here's how to do it: use a big spoon to scoop the dry ingredient into a measuring cup until it's overflowing. Don't pack anything down. Then use the edge of a knife to scrape across the top of the measuring cup to remove the excess ingredient so it's flat. Easy peasy.
- Put Each Batch in a Separate Container: This mix is enough to make 6 normal-sized muffins, which is good when you only need a few for dinner. When you portion the mixes into separate containers, it's easy to dump a few together to make a double or triple batch if you are feeder a larger crowd. But if you make a large amount of the mix in one big jar, it's tougher to portion out enough for one batch without risking overmeasuring (unless you have a digital scale). Keep it easy, keep 'em separate. Just like Jiffy does with those small boxes.
Homemade Cornbread Mix
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup of all-purpose flour (I use this unbleached all-purpose flour or all-purpose einkorn wheat flour)
- 1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal (I use this plain, enriched & degerminated one)
- 1 tablespoon of aluminum-free baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt (sea salt or kosher)
Instructions
- Measure all ingredients into a bowl, mix together, and transfer to a tightly sealed container (I used a Weck jar with glass lid). Write the name, date & portion on the container for future reference. Keep in a cool, dry place until ready to use. Best if consumed within six months.
Notes:
Slightly adapted from Food.com's Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix Copycat
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