Soft, chewy, and sweet Cornmeal Cookies with honey! These cookies have gorgeous crisp edges and are studded with white chocolate chips. 

A batch of freshly baked cornmeal cookies, each one topped with white chocolate chips, delicious and flavor-packed.
chelsea

author’s note

Crumbl Cookies Who? These Cookies Win!

Love honey-soaked cornbread and soft cornbread muffins? Same. I tried Crumbl’s Cornbread Cookie one afternoon and that was it.

I drove home thinking about that sweet corn flavor and grabbed my mixer. So, I mixed cornmeal into my go-to cookie dough, added a little honey, and baked a test tray. The house smelled like warm corn and butter.

By batch three, I knew I had it. Soft middles, crisp edges, a tiny cornmeal crunch. Cornbread flavor in cookie form.

signature
Mixing wet ingredients, including butter, sugar, and honey, until smooth.

Ingredients

  • Unsalted Butter: Let it cool before adding sugar—hot butter makes greasy cookies.
  • Brown & White Sugar: Stir until totally smooth to avoid grainy cookies.
  • Honey: Measure honey in a greased spoon so it slides out easier.
  • Egg: Use a room-temperature egg so it mixes in more evenly.
  • Vanilla Extract: A little goes a long way—don’t skip it!
  • Cornstarch, Baking Soda, Baking Powder: Mix these in well to avoid uneven texture.
  • Flour: Spoon and level it—don’t scoop straight from the bag.
  • Cornmeal: Use fine yellow cornmeal for the best texture.
  • White Chocolate Chips: Press a few extras on top of each cookie after baking for a bakery-style look.
Adding dry ingredients over wet, rolling dough into balls, and baking to complete the cornmeal cookie recipe.

How To Make Cornmeal Cookies

  1. Melt and Cool Butter.
  2. Mix: Combine butter, sugars, honey, egg, and vanilla.
  3. Add Dry Ingredients: Incorporate cornstarch, leaveners, salt, cornmeal, flour, and chocolate chips. Chill dough for at least an hour.
  4. Shape and Re-chill: Form 2-tablespoon balls, chill for 20-30 minutes.
  5. Bake: At 325°F for 8-12 minutes. Press edges, add chips, let stand 5 minutes.
A freshly baked cornmeal cookie, rounded by using the back of a spoon while still warm, ready to be enjoyed as a delicious treat.

Storage

  • Freezing Baked Cornmeal Cookies: Cool, freeze on a sheet, then store in bags with parchment layers for up to 3 months. Note: slight texture loss.
  • Freezing Dough Balls: Freeze on a pan, then store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
  • Baking from Frozen: Bake dough balls directly from the freezer, adding 1-3 minutes to the cooking time.

5 from 3 votes

Cornmeal Cookies

These Cornmeal Cookies are soft, chewy, and sweet with a hint of honey! Crisp edges, melty white chocolate chips—pure cookie bliss!
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Chilling Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
Servings: 16 cookies

Video

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour see note 1
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal I use Alber’s Yellow Corn Meal
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions 

  • Melt the butter in a very large, microwave-safe bowl. Once melted, set aside to cool at room temperature for 5 minutes. Hot butter will melt the sugar and make the cookies greasy.
  • Once butter is cooled to room temperature, add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and honey. Stir until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.
  • Add cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cornmeal. Again, stir until smooth. Add in the correctly measured (see note 1) flour and mix until just combined. Don’t overmix. Gently stir in white chocolate chips.
  • Cover the bowl tightly and chill for 1 hour.
  • Line a sheet pan with a silicone liner or parchment paper and set aside. Roll dough balls (exactly 2 tablespoons (45g) in size) into tall (not wide) cylindrical balls (see picture in post for shape and size). Place the rolled cookie dough balls back in the fridge for 20–30 minutes; they should be very cold going into the oven.
  • Preheat oven to 325°F. Place 6 cookie balls on the prepared sheet pan to give the cookies plenty of room to spread (they spread a lot). Bake for 8–12 minutes, erring on the side of underbaking; this keeps them soft and chewy (I like mine right at 10 minutes). The cookies will “bake” a little more out of the oven, so take them out as soon as the edges start to lightly brown and the tops no longer look glossy.
  • Remove from the oven and, working quickly, immediately press the edges of each cookie slightly inward with the back of a spoon. If desired, press a few extra white chocolate chips into the tops of each cookie. Allow cookies to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Cookies are best enjoyed within 1–2 days.

Recipe Notes

Note 1: If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour, you will pack in way too much flour; use a spoon to scoop it into a measuring cup, then level the top with the back of a table knife.
Storage: I don’t recommend freezing baked cookies as they lose texture, but I recommend freezing the cookie dough balls. Drop the dough balls on a large sheet pan and freeze until solid. Once solid, transfer into an airtight container/bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake straight from the freezer, adding 1–3 minutes to the baking time.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 323kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 178mg | Potassium: 108mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 206IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Meet Chelsea


Hello, and welcome to Chelsea’s Messy Apron! I’m Chelsea, the recipe developer, food photographer, and writer behind the site. I’m passionate about creating simple, reliable, and delicious recipes that anyone can make.

Thanks for stopping by—I hope you find something delicious to make!

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5 from 3 votes

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10 Comments

  1. KB says:

    I am salivating over these! Is it possible to omit the chips? Thank you in advance ! (Everything from the recipes themselves, to your thorough instructions has been the go-to in our house!)

    1. Chelsea says:

      You are so sweet! You can definitely omit the chocolate chips! I hope you enjoy! 🙂

  2. Mary Beth says:

    5 stars
    As one of my luncheon guests commented, “These cookies are like crack!” The texture is dense and chewy with a crisp outer shell. The cornmeal adds body with a unique texture. My husband calls them a “man’s cookie”. The flavor sweet and buttery and finishes with a dash of salt that I love.

    I made as directed except I used Quaker cornmeal because it was on hand and it was fine. I baked on parchment paper and cooked them an extra minute or two, probably the dough was refrigerated overnight. I didn’t fuss with them when they came out of the oven and they still looked just like the photos, I printed the recipe and will definitely be making them again because my family has demanded I do so!

    1. Chelsea Lords says:

      That is so fun to hear, yay!! So glad these were a hit 🙂 Thanks for the comment and review 🙂

  3. Mikayla Johnson says:

    5 stars
    I am a cornbread lover through and through. I love this recipe for combining that sweet bready flavor I adore with the deliciousness of a chocolate chip cookie! Also, I love the details Chelsea adds like squishing the edges with a spoon and pressing extra chips in the top to give it a beautiful aesthetic. Her instructions are on point every time 🙂

    1. Chelsea Lords says:

      You made my day!! Thank you so much for the kind comment, I am so thrilled you enjoyed these cookies 🙂

  4. Chelsea says:

    Also, I’m a different Chelsea. Not the blog Chelsea. I promise.

    1. Chelsea Lords says:

      Hahaha, thanks Chelsea! 🙂

  5. Chelsea says:

    5 stars
    Made these last night, and they’re awesome. That’s the whole review.

    1. Chelsea Lords says:

      I am so happy to hear this! 🙂