These cornbread biscuits are golden, buttery, and make the perfect side for so many meals. A touch of honey adds subtle sweetness, while cornmeal adds flavor, a lightly crisp texture, and beautiful golden color. Using cold butter and buttermilk helps promise wonderfully tender, sky-high layered biscuits. Make them plain, or try one of our flavorful variations: jalapeño cheddar or maple bacon.
What Are Cornbread Biscuits?
If you love classic buttermilk biscuits and sweet, buttery cornbread, today’s recipe brings the best of both quick breads together. These homemade cornmeal biscuits are tender, golden, and layered with buttery goodness, with just enough cornmeal and honey to add texture, flavor, and a subtle hint of sweetness. They bake up tall with crisp edges, soft centers, and irresistible homemade flavor.
Perfect served warm with honey butter or cinnamon butter, alongside barbecue, tucked next to a bowl of chili, or as part of a summertime dinner, these cornmeal biscuits are simple to make and endlessly versatile.
Or try them for breakfast, alongside eggs and maple chicken breakfast sausage!
Why You’ll Love These Cornbread Biscuits
- Extra flaky layers from cold butter and folding the dough
- Soft, tender interiors with lightly crisp edges
- Buttermilk keeps the biscuits flavorful and moist
- Cornmeal adds flavor and texture without making them dry
- Easy recipe with simple pantry ingredients
- Delicious savory or sweet—try our favorite variations or come up with your own!
One reader, Emily, commented: “What a great combo—cornbread and biscuits. Yum! Easy to make, great directions as usual, and very yummy. My family of 4 finished the whole batch except for 2 (and we are all eyeballing those leftovers, trust me!). Served them with the honey butter and some chili. Perfect combo. ★★★★★“
Another reader, Elizabeth, commented: “These cornbread biscuits were easier to make than I thought, and they came out amazing. Think flaky biscuit with a cornmeal crunch! So delicious. ★★★★★“
Another reader, Nikki, commented: “Goodness, these are so delicious! Easier to prepare than I expected. I had a 2.5-inch biscuit cutter and ended up with a perfect dozen. I made the regular version and now can’t wait to try the other two. We ate them as they came out of the oven, warm and soft, with pillowy layers and great flavor. Yum! ★★★★★“
Grab These Ingredients
You need just 8 basic ingredients. With so few ingredients, it’s important to reach for quality ingredients and avoid any substitutions.
- All-Purpose Flour: The structural base of these cornbread biscuits.
- Cornmeal: A small amount of fine or medium-ground yellow cornmeal gives these biscuits their signature flavor and texture.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: These leaveners work together for tall, fluffy biscuits with plenty of lift.
- Salt: Key for flavor.
- Butter: Cold butter is the secret to flaky biscuits. As the cold butter melts in the oven, it releases steam, lifting the biscuits up and creating all those beautiful layers. It’s the same principle that creates flaky layers in pie crust, scones, and other biscuit recipes.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk creates tender biscuits with rich flavor. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use a DIY buttermilk substitute in a pinch, but real buttermilk produces the best texture.
- Honey: The key to a lightly sweet cornbread biscuit is honey! But feel free to use maple syrup instead, especially if making the maple bacon cornbread biscuit variation detailed below.
Cornbread Biscuit Dough
Whisk the dry ingredients together, then add the cold cubed butter. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter, like when making pie crust or this savory quick bread, or pulse in a food processor. Cut/blend in the butter, then add the cold buttermilk and honey. Mix everything together until you have a shaggy dough, like this:
Pour it out onto a work surface and bring the dough together with your hands. It will be dry and shaggy with a few moist spots. That’s all perfectly normal:
Fold & Flatten the Dough
Flattening and folding biscuit dough creates multiple flaky layers, just as it does when we make homemade croissants, rough puff pastry, homemade cruffins, mille-feuille, and croissant bread. This step only takes a couple minutes, and it makes the biggest difference in how your biscuits turn out.
First, shape the dough into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Fold one side into the center, then fold the other side over top, like folding a business letter.
Turn the folded dough 90 degrees so it’s now horizontal, flatten to 3/4-inch thickness, and repeat that folding process 2 more times.
Use a biscuit cutter to shape into rounds. If you don’t have a biscuit cutter, you can cut into squares instead. Gather the scraps together, refold a few times, and cut more biscuits until you use up the remaining dough.
For the pictured cornbread biscuits, I used a 2-inch biscuit cutter, which gave me 15–18 smaller biscuits. If you have a larger biscuit cutter, that’s fine too. A 2.5-inch biscuit cutter should give you about 10–12 cornbread biscuits.
Arrange close together on either a lined baking sheet (I used a quarter sheet pan) or in a cast iron skillet. Again, make sure the biscuits are close together—or even touching—so they will rise up without toppling over.
Before baking, brush the biscuits with buttermilk to help the tops brown evenly.
When the cornbread biscuits come out of the oven, brush the tops with melted butter + honey and sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt. It’s a simple finishing touch that takes these cornbread biscuits from good to GREAT.
Serve your cornbread biscuits warm with butter and peach preserves, or homemade honey butter or cinnamon butter. You could also create delicious breakfast sandwiches with these breakfast sausage patties.
We loved them with BBQ and coleslaw!
Cornbread Biscuit Flavor Variations
This recipe is incredibly versatile. Feel free to fold in some flavorful add-ins. My team’s favorite versions are:
Jalapeño Cheddar: Deseed and dice one jalapeño pepper, and freshly shred some sharp cheddar cheese:
Maple Bacon: Replace the honey with pure maple syrup, and fold in some crumbled or chopped cooked and cooled bacon. We especially love these with eggs for breakfast!
Success Tips for the Best Cornbread Biscuits
After developing other biscuit recipes, let me share what I’ve learned along the way. I’ve made plenty of mistakes so you don’t have to. These tried-and-true tricks will turn your flat, dry biscuits into the best biscuits ever.
- Keep It Cold: About 15 minutes before I begin making biscuits, I take the butter out of the refrigerator, cut it into cubes, then place the butter cubes in the freezer until I need them. You can also refrigerate the shaped biscuits for a while before baking, for extra insurance that they will rise up tall instead of spreading out.
- Don’t Over-Mix: Never overwork biscuit dough. Overworking and over-handling biscuit dough will result in tough, hard, and flat biscuits. Mix the ingredients together *just* until combined. Dough will be crumbly, and that’s normal.
- Flatten & Fold Method: The most important step of all is folding the dough. Turn the shaggy dough out onto a work surface and flatten it with your hands. Fold, flatten, turn, and repeat.
- Don’t Twist the Biscuit Cutter: When cutting the dough with a biscuit cutter, do not twist the cutter. Press the cutter down into the dough firmly. Twisting it will seal off the biscuit edges, preventing the biscuits from rising.
- Bake Close Together: Biscuits rise up nice and tall when they are pressed snuggly against one another in the oven.
I bake biscuits often, and use the same process and success tips when making all of my favorite variations including cheddar biscuits, everything bagel biscuits, and zucchini biscuits. I also make biscuit-topped vegetable pot pie and biscuit breakfast casserole. And you can absolutely turn these into dessert with my recipes for biscuit-topped berry cobbler and homemade strawberry shortcake.
Cornbread Biscuits Tools
13-cup Food Processor
Homemade Cornbread Biscuits (3 Ways)
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
- Yield: 15-18 small biscuits
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These cornbread biscuits combine the buttery layers of classic homemade biscuits with the subtle sweetness and texture of cornbread. Made with buttermilk and cold butter, they bake up tall, tender, and golden brown with crisp edges and soft centers. Perfect for breakfast, dinner, or serving alongside soups, chili, and barbecue.
Ingredients
Biscuit Dough
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for hands and work surface
- 3/4 cup (105g) fine or medium-ground yellow cornmeal*
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, cubed and very cold*
- 3/4 cup (180ml/g) buttermilk, cold (plus more for brushing)
- 3 Tablespoons (63g) honey (or pure maple syrup, if making the maple bacon version)
Jalapeño Cheddar Version
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 cup (113g/4oz) freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Maple Bacon Version
- 6 slices bacon, cooked, cooled, and crumbled/chopped
Topping
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 Tablespoon (21g) honey (or pure maple syrup, if making the maple bacon version)
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Make the biscuits: Place the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl or in a large food processor. Whisk or pulse until combined. Add the cubed butter and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or by pulsing several times in the processor. Cut/pulse until coarse crumbs form.
- If you used a food processor, pour the mixture into a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Pour 3/4 cup (180ml/g) buttermilk into the well and drizzle honey (or maple syrup) on top. Using a large spoon or spatula, fold until it begins to come together. If making one of the flavor variations, fold in your chosen add-ins as well. Do not overwork the dough. The dough will be shaggy and crumbly with some wet spots.
- Pour the dough and any dough crumbles onto a floured work surface and gently bring together with generously floured hands. The dough will become sticky as you work with it. Have extra flour nearby and use it often to flour your hands and work surface as needed in this step. Using floured hands, flatten into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle as best you can. Fold one side into the center, then the other side on top. Turn the dough 90 degrees, so it’s now horizontal. Gently flatten into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle again. Repeat the folding again. Turn the dough horizontally one more time. Gently flatten into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle. Repeat the folding one last time. Flatten into the final 3/4-inch-thick rectangle.
- Cut into 2- or 2.5-inch circles with a biscuit cutter. (Tip: Do not twist the biscuit cutter when pressing down into the dough because this seals off the edges of the biscuit which prevents them from fully rising.) Gather and re-roll the scraps until all the dough is used. Arrange close together on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet (or in a cast iron skillet). Continue with step 6 or cover and refrigerate the biscuits until you’re ready to bake, for up to 24 hours.
- Brush the tops with remaining buttermilk. Bake for 18–20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
- For the topping: In a small bowl, whisk the melted butter and honey (or maple syrup) together. Using a pastry brush, brush the warm biscuits with honey butter topping. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- Cover leftovers tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked biscuits freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature, then warm to your liking before serving. You can also freeze the biscuit dough. Prepare the dough through step 4, wrap tightly in plastic wrap (best for freshness), and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 5. Alternatively, after step 4, wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before continuing with step 5.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Pastry Cutter or Food Processor | 2- or 2.5-inch Biscuit Cutter | Baking Sheet with Parchment Paper (or Cast Iron Skillet) | Pastry Brush | Flaky Sea Salt
- Cornmeal: For best texture, use fine or medium-ground yellow cornmeal. Avoid coarse cornmeal, which can make the biscuits gritty and prevent them from rising as tall.
- Butter: Cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Keep butter as cold as possible until you need it. I recommend placing the cubed butter in the freezer for about 15 minutes before you begin.
- Buttermilk: If you can’t find buttermilk at the store, you can make your own DIY buttermilk substitute. Add 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1 cup (240g/ml). (You need 3/4 cup in the recipe, plus some extra for brushing). Whisk together, then let sit for 5 minutes before using in the recipe. Whole milk is best for the DIY sour milk substitute, though lower-fat or nondairy milks work in a pinch.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Recipe is easy to follow and they taste great. I had to take them out out the oven at about 15 min though
These biscuits are light and flaky with a hint of extra texture from the corn meal. I made the basic recipe and the consensus was they could use a little more flavor. Next time I will try one of the variations to give it that extra flavor.
Love this recipe! It’s the perfect combo of cornbread and biscuits!
I seemed to run into problems with getting my the biscuits to rise properly. Think I might have had old baking powder. I liked the taste and will try again.
So easy to make and so delicious. I just made the regular ones and can’t wait to make the jalapeno cheddar version.
I made the Maple Bacon variation. They were amazing spread with some Trader Joe’s Maple Butter!
These turned out so delicious! The honey and salt topping is the “cherry on top”, it brings it all together.
These biscuits were a great accompaniment to pulled pork. We made open-faced sandwiches, topping them with some barbecue sauce. I plan to make them again this week!
I made the jalapeño cheddar biscuits, and they were fantastic! Thank you Sally!
These were really easy and will definitely make them again, I didn’t realize I was out of baking powder, so I only had about 3/4 of a tablespoon and they did not rise as tall as they could have, but, next time! I can’t wait to play around with different combinations.
Will recommend this recipe to everyone! It is a keeper! ❤️
If biscuits and cornbread had a baby, this would be it. They were easy to make and tasty. Be sure to keep an eye on your oven. Mine were done a few minutes early in the oven. Fun and easy challenge. Glad I did this one!
Wow! My first time making homemade biscuits and Sally made it so easy and less intimidating. I made the cheddar jalapeño.. they were a hit! Thank you Sally!
Biscuits were easy to make. I added the jalapeño and cheddar and they came out delicious.
The recipe is easy to follow and they taste delicious. I’m a beginner so still lots to learn but excited to continue trying!
These were so good and easy to make. Will definitely be trying the cheddar jalapeño version next!
I used this recipe for the top of my chili casserole. It was so yummy! Thank you for the good idea!!
Will this work with gluten-free flour, such as cup for cup?
Hi Deb, we haven’t tested it, but let us know if you do!
These were fun to make and flavorful!
Easy, so good, did not last long
Baked for Sally’s monthly baking challenge. Very easy to follow with minimal ingredients and overall, I think they have a nice taste. Mine didn’t feel as fluffy as I thought they would and not as sweet. I think I may have used the wrong corn meal which made it a bit a heavier. I recommend sticking to what Sally suggests to get the fluffy texture. I didn’t see as many layers on mine and I think it may be because the kitchen was a little warm when I was handling the mixture. My family loved them and they do taste great, but I couldn’t achieve the texture in the recipe pictures.
So easy to impress your guests with homemade biscuits! I’m at 7300’ in Colorado and didn’t have to make any adjustments to get perfectly flaky TALL biscuits!
It worked! The whole “don’t twist your biscuit cutter” might have been the key. Huge hit at our house and I see I’ll be adding buttermilk to grocery lists from now on.
Super easy to do to. Thanks Sally
these were delicious. I needed to make mine closer to the directions and make them 3/4 in with the cooking time. I made mine a little thin but great recipe and anxious to share with family
These were so good and so easy to make. We did a cheddar bacon combo and it was fantastic. I can’t wait to try them again in the Fall with chili.
Made the jalapeño and cheddar version! Were well liked and would make again. Came together very easily 🙂
This is the best of both worlds when it comes to cornbread and biscuits, and they were easy to make!
Super fun to make! We had these with Sally’s turkey chilli! Great meal!
The cornbread twist on a biscuit was successful and well executed. The standard version without the mix-ins needed a bit more flavor.
I must admit that I was a little apprehensive about these biscuits since I love my regular buttermilk biscuit so much. However, I was pleasantly surprised. They are so delicious, easy to make and the flakiness was amazing. I will be making these again and again and again!
I must admit I was a little apprehensive about these biscuits. The honey and cornmeal seemed so different since I love just a regular buttermilk biscuit. However, I was pleasantly surprised. They were so delicious, easy to make and the flakiness was amazing! I will definitely be making these again and again and again.