This is my very favorite cornbread recipe, because it’s the perfect balance of everything there is to love about this easy quick bread. Follow this recipe and you’ll be rewarded with soft, moist, buttery sweet cornbread with crisp-crumbly edges.
One reader, Lia, commented: “This is the best cornbread I’ve ever made. I go back to it over and over again. It has the approval of my husband and my hard to please 13yo son. It’s delicious. ★★★★★”
Have you ever had the experience of biting into a piece of cornbread, only to be disappointed by how it crumbles apart and tastes bland, sandy, and dry? I know I have.
Which is why I spent years testing and tweaking recipes in order to hit on the right ratio of ingredients to achieve perfection. Think: thick squares of buttery moist cornbread with a touch of sweetness, and just the right amount of crumbliness. It’s become such a popular recipe around here, that I use a variation of it to make my beloved cornbread stuffing.
Why You’ll Love This Cornbread
- Quick and easy to make
- No mixer required
- Slightly sweet, extra buttery flavor
- Crunchy-crisp edges
- Moist and tender, not too crumbly
One reader, EL, commented: “I am Southern. I have tried SO MANY cornbread recipes and none have tasted like home like this one. It’s now my go-to recipe and is always a hit!! ★★★★★”
What I Learned From Recipe Testing
Cornbread is like coconut macaroons. Random comparison I know, but hear me out. Both are very easy to make, but their success depends on the ratio of ingredients. When done wrong, cornbread (and macaroons!) can be dry, crumbly, and flavorless. But when done right, this quintessentially American quick bread is moist, tender, and flavorful.
While testing batch after batch, I played around with butter vs. oil, regular milk vs. buttermilk, the ratio of flour to cornmeal, and different sweeteners.
Here are the key ingredients you need:
- Butter: Butter is one of the main flavors here. While oil can make cakes and quick breads luxuriously tender, I find the cornbread lacks flavor if butter isn’t present. Because butter doesn’t make the bread as moist as oil does, I pair it with buttermilk.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk makes cakes, muffins, and breads extra moist. It also adds flavor, and you’ll notice that flavor in my no-yeast bread and biscuits recipes, too.
- Cornmeal & Flour: Equal parts fine cornmeal and all-purpose flour makes for the BEST cornbread. With 1 cup of cornmeal, you get lots of that delicious corn flavor, and those crisp-crunchy edges.
- Brown Sugar & Honey: There are two opposing camps when it comes to how cornbread should taste: sweet vs. not sweet. This particular recipe falls more towards the sweet end of the spectrum. While it’s not as sweet as cake, it does have some sugar and a hint of honey to balance out the savory buttermilk flavor, and enhance the natural sweetness of the cornmeal. Regular white sugar is fine to use here, but I especially love this made with flavorful, moist molasses-spiked brown sugar.
And the rest:
Baking cornbread is as easy as mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately, and then combining them into 1 thick batter.
Spread into a greased or lined square 9-inch baking pan. And try it in a cast iron skillet! My skillet cornbread is a forever favorite recipe, too.
What Is Cornmeal?
A lot of readers ask about cornmeal. What is cornmeal? Is cornmeal the same as cornstarch/cornflour? What about polenta and grits? It can certainly be confusing. Cornmeal is dried and ground corn. It’s typically found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores. If you’re curious, here’s an article I found about the differences between many dried corn products, including cornmeal, polenta, and cornstarch.
More Cornbread FAQs
I usually use fine cornmeal to make cornbread, but if medium-ground or coarse is all you can find, you can use that, too. Yellow cornmeal is the most common, but if you have white cornmeal, that’s also fine to use.
Baking cornbread in a skillet gives it an even heartier, crunchier crust. Bake this in a 9- or 10-inch oven-safe greased skillet at the same temperature for the same amount of time.
Feel free to stir in a little something extra if you wish! Try adding in 1 cup of corn or a can of creamed corn, 1 or 2 chopped jalapeño peppers, 1 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup each dried cranberries and walnuts, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, or 1/2 cup crumbled bacon.
Here is the same recipe baked as cornbread muffins!
What to Serve With Cornbread:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Chili
- Homemade Minestrone Soup
- Honey Chipotle Salmon
- Crab Cakes
- Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad
- Skillet Apple Cider Chicken
And here’s my cornbread muffin recipe—I love adding jalapeño for a little kick. You can also bake it directly on top of chili when you make cornbread chili casserole.
Cornbread Favorites
My Favorite Cornbread Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 9 servings
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
I was never a fan of cornbread until this recipe! After lots of recipe testing, I found the perfect ratio of ingredients for soft, moist, and buttery cornbread with crisp-crunchy edges. I guarantee this is the best cornbread recipe you’ll try!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120g) fine cornmeal
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) honey
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Grease and lightly flour a 9-inch square baking pan. Set aside.
- Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and honey together until completely smooth and thick. Then, whisk in the egg until combined. Finally, whisk in the buttermilk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Avoid over-mixing.
- Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top and the center is cooked through. Use a toothpick to test. Edges should be crispy at this point. Allow to slightly cool before slicing and serving. Serve cornbread with butter, honey, jam, or whatever you like.
- Wrap leftovers up tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze baked cornbread for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then warm the cornbread in the microwave or in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links):Â 9-inch Square Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is required for this recipe. If you don’t have any, you can make a DIY sour milk by adding 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk to make 1 cup total. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes before using. Whole milk is strongly recommended for moistest, richest texture, but you can use lower-fat or nondairy milk in a pinch.
- Optional Add-ins: 1 or 2 chopped jalapeño peppers; 1 cup blueberries; 1/2 cup each dried cranberries and walnuts; 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese; or 1/2 cup crumbled bacon
- Skillet Cornbread: Baking cornbread in a skillet gives it an even heartier, crunchier crust. Bake this cornbread in a 9-inch or 10-inch oven-safe greased skillet at the same temperature for the same amount of time.
- Cornbread Muffins: Here is the same recipe as cornbread muffins!
Hi Sally, Love your recipes! I live in Europe where semolina is a more popular ingredient and subbed the flour with it – fabulous texture! You should give it a try! 🙂
I made this recipe exactly, and it turned out beautifully. Moist, soft and buttery! Thank you Sally!
I used Bob’s Red Mill medium grind corn meal, and only 2 TB brown sugar. The milk + vinegar substitution for buttermilk worked fine. This was excellent!
I’d like to make this again using white whole wheat in place of the AP flour as another reviewer suggested. And I’d consider reducing the butter….subbing oil and/or apple butter for part of it. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Bob’s Red Mill medium grind cornmeal for more health (we keep it refrigerated because of the essential oils in it), unbleached flour instead of white flour, sea salt, Rumford’s baking powder for better health, and just 1 T. brown sugar plus the honey as you listed (not a fan of too sweet cornbread). I like your tips to also use to make corn muffins. Thank you.
This cornbread is so good! My teenager said it’s the best cornbread she’s ever had! I’ll definitely make this again.
Hi Sally, I cannot wait to try out this recipe! I’m making chili for dinner and feel this cornbread would be perfect. Would I be able to add some corn in as well, or would that totally ruin the recipe?? I’ve tried cornbread somewhere with corn in it and loved it. But if it isn’t recommended in this recipe, heck, I’m still making this!
You can add real corn – or try this recipe: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/honey-skillet-cornbread/
Truly, the best cornbread I’ve ever had. Tip: in my experience, you can sub white whole wheat flour for 100% of the all-purpose flour, with no difference in flavor. The only difference I’ve noticed is that the cornbread is slightly more crumbly right after it’s baked, but that goes away once it’s cooled.
Just made this cornbread! Fantastic!! Definitely my new go to recipe.
Wow sally! Your blog never disappoints me 🙂 I was searching for a good recipe but it’s hard to find THE best one… then I remembered there’s you and nothing that I ever made from this blog EVER turned out bad. And it keeps going that way! This is now my favorite cornbread recipe as well. It’s so moist, buttery, soft, the crust on top… just yummmm! Killed my craving big time. You’re awesome! Thanks for sharing your passion and your gems 🙂
This is my favorite cornbread recipe. It is moist and full of flavor. Thanks for the great recipe.
Hi Sally! I made this this morning for Easter brunch. I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9×13 pan. It worked out perfectly and got rave reviews!! Thank you!
Hi Sally,
I made cornbread following your recipe. It turned out really tasty but very very crumbly. Could you possibly tell what went wrong and the solution?
Thanks!
Hi Lisa! Do you think it was overbaked at all? That’s usually the reason. And/or did you change the ingredients at all?
Wow, super amazing! I’m not a huge cornbread fan, but this has changed my mind. Thanks to poster who asked about the creamed corn. My husband said it was really good but he’s a ‘purist’ (needs his corn kernels in it lol), so next time I will try the creamed corn addition. Of course his comment didn’t stop him from eating 1/3 of the skillet!
Love this cornbread. Â Made in 8″ iron skillet. Â My go to cornbread now. Â Thank you. Â Â
I pre measured the ingredients and left them on the counter and in the refrigerator for my 14 year old son to put together and bake before I got home. Â He did a great job and was so proud. Â It was moist and just the perfect amount of sweet. Â The texture was great. Â This will be our go to recipe now. Â We also love your monkey bread recipe. Â My sister in London and I (here in the States) both made it for our Christmas morning breakfasts. Â She posted hers on Instagram – giving you credit- as well. Â Our kids loved it! Â Thanks.Â
I made this cornbread tonight to go with our chili. It was so delicious and addicting! I ate probably half the pan! I think I turned the boyfriend into a cornbread lover.Â
I just made this cornbread and all I can say is –WOW!
I have tried many recipes and store bought mixes and they are never as good as my grandmother’s use to be. I will be making this often! Thank you! You’ve made a southern girl happy!
I made this cornbread to go with “My Favorite Slow Cooker Chicken Chili.” I added one small can (8.5 oz.) of cream style corn with most of its juice. WOW!! Thank you for a wonderful website full of recipes that have helped me to earn the title of best wife / mom / cook ever which just goes to show that it never hurts to have a little help from your friends! :o)
Can this be augmented for a 13×9 size pan?
Absolutely delicious! Went perfectly with your chicken chili recipe–which was super yummy as well. Â
I made this tonight, it was my first time ever baking cornbread! My husband has never been a fan and he said he would be slathering his in butter to make it bearable. He took a bite without buttering it and actually liked it! No butter necessary. It was the perfect side to have with our chili. I won’t need to try another cornbread recipe because this one was perfect!Â
Hi Sally,
I just made this corn bread last night (alongside some buffalo chicken chili) for the 3rd or 4th time. Â Just wanted to let you know how much i LOVE it!!!! Absolutely wonderful cornbread recipe & so easy to make! Â I always had some shredded cheddar to it because cheese. Â It paired VERY nicely with the spicy chili. Â Thanks for yet another fantastic recipe!!Â
FINALLY! My search for a great sweet cornbread recipe has ended. Thanks so much! I made two days in a row. Second time I made it in a cast iron pan. Delicious!!
Made this today, and it was delicious!!  Thanks for the great recipe 🙂
I’ve been on a cornbread kick and have tried 4 different recipes in the last week. This one was by far the best! I love the balance of corn, butter, sweetness, and texture – and the crust had such a nice crunch to it. They were so good I had to make another batch.Â
Ok I just made this (and ate a ton of it, I’m afraid). I wouldn’t have thought it possible for cornbread to be this amazing – hot damn, this stuff is unbelievable! No more just making my cornbread out of a mix!!Â
This was amazing!!! I made it and my 3 year old loved it as well as my entire family. The flavor and texture is perfect. I didn’t even need to put butter on it! Thanks Sally!
Oh My! My husband will be so excited. He LOVES cornbread but I never make it for him because I have never found a recipe good enough. I am relatively new to your site but everything I have tried has been a huge hit! Every time I put a batch of Sky High Apple Pie muffins in the oven I end up with a lineup of neighbourhood kids at the door. Â When I make your salted caramel my husband, kids and their friends will suddenly materialize in the kitchen with spoons and crazed grins. Thank You!
I made your cornbread recipe yesterday afternoon in time for my 3-year-old’s snack time and he loved it – he even cleaned up his crumbs! I split the recipe (half plain, half with chopped jalapenos and cheddar cheese). My husband had the plain cornbread for breakfast this morning and also cleaned his plate (he’s always been a sweet cornbread fan). I had the jalapeno cheddar cornbread yesterday and this morning, and the savory flavors definitely developed more overnight. Your recipe has the perfect combination of sweetness, moistness and buttery-ness. But I think next time I make a full recipe with jalapenos and cheddar cheese, I will follow your tip about reducing the brown sugar to 1/4 cup so the savory flavors can come through more. I won’t adjust the original plain cornbread recipe – it’s perfect the way it is! I’ve been in search of the perfect cornbread recipe since I had the best cornbread (and clam chowder) in Boston 11 years ago – my search is now over. Thanks Sally!