With its full flavor, tender texture, and crunchy/honey/buttery edges, it’s easy for me to say that this is my favorite cornbread recipe!
Aka the cornbread of my dreams.
Let me explain.
Kevin and I had lunch at the cutest little cafe the other weekend in Philly. It was one of those few and far between weekends where you have no plans, the weather’s perfect, and the hardest decision to make all day is craft beer or wine with lunch?
????
Life is hard today.
The waitress brought out a basket with warm slices of raisin walnut oat-y bread and thick pieces of golden cornbread. Ordinarily I would choose the hearty looking raisin bread (c’mon, you know me), but the smell alone of that sweet cornbread had me reaching for a slice faster than you can say pinot noir, please.
Omg.
It was so full of flavor and texture. From the unmistakable corn flavor and the subtle notes of honey to the moist interior and slightly crunchy texture, this was a recipe I had to recreate at home. Cornbread isn’t usually my thing, but I am now converted FOREVER.
My cornbread is kind of like my recent coconut macaroon recipe. Both classics are extraordinarily simple, but it really depends on the ratio and combination of ingredients in order for the baked goods to impress. When done wrong, cornbread can be dry, blah (technical terms), and flavorless. When done right, this comfort food staple can be rich, tender, moist, flavorful, crunchy-edged, and buttery. In other words, this favorite cornbread is a side dish that will steal the show at your table.
I got to work in my kitchen and churned out 4 different batches of cornbread. I used my mom’s trusty recipe as the base and I played around with butter vs oil, the ratios of cornmeal to flour, regular milk or buttermilk, white or brown sugar, honey? no honey?, 1 egg, 2 eggs, and should I add more salt? Is that cornmeal in my hair? What?
My entire day was…that. Here’s what I learned.
Butter is key for flavor. While oil left the cornbread luxuriously tender, I found the bread was lacking flavor. Since melted butter won’t make the bread just as moist as oil, I paired it with buttermilk. It’s my little secret weapon in cakes, muffins, breads, and other baked goods. I found that my ideal cornbread texture comes from equal parts cornmeal and flour. Not more flour than cornmeal or vice versa. With this amount, you get so much corn flavor and little bites of crunch here and there. And don’t get me started on the slightly crunchy, honey buttery edges. (!!!!)
It should come as no surprise to you that I preferred the batch of cornbread made with brown sugar as opposed to the batch made with granulated sugar. Why use flavorless white when you can used molasses-spiked brown? That 1/3 cup of brown sugar adds a small touch of molasses in every piece. Likewise, a very scant 2 Tablespoons of honey adds even more flavor. I loooooove honey and cornbread.
Oh! And stay tuned for my cornbread muffin recipe!
Oooooh! And check out all of my optional add-ins listed in the recipe like cheese, jalapeño, cranberries, blueberries, and more. And the notes for SKILLET cornbread.
It’s dreamy.
Follow me on Instagram and tag #sallysbakingaddiction so I can see all the SBA recipes you make. ♥
My Favorite Cornbread
With its full flavor, tender texture, and crunchy/honey/buttery edges, it's easy for me to say that this is my favorite cornbread recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (120g) cornmeal1
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (measured correctly)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light brown sugar2
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) honey
- 1 large Eggland's Best egg, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk, at room temperature3
- optional add-ins: 1-2 chopped jalapeño peppers, 1 cup blueberries, 1 cup total dried cranberries and walnuts, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, or 1/2 cup bacon crumbles
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Grease and lightly flour an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan. Set aside.
- Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the cooled melted butter, brown sugar, and honey together until completely smooth and thick. There should be no brown sugar lumps. 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 overmixing.
- 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, whatever you like. Wrap leftovers up tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- Make ahead tip: For longer storage, freeze baked cornbread for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and heat up in the microwave or bake in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Recipe Notes:
- My preferred cornmeal is Indian Head Stone Ground Yellow Cornmeal.
- For less sweet cornbread, reduce brown sugar to 1/4 cup. You can use dark brown sugar instead, for a slightly stronger molasses background.
- Buttermilk is required for this recipe. If you do not keep it on hand, you can make a DIY version by adding 2-3 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to a large liquid measuring cup. Then add enough regular room temperature milk (whole, skim, 1%, 2%-- whole milk is strongly recommended for moistest, richest texture) to make 1 cup total. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes. This soured milk can be used in the recipe.
Skillet Cornbread: Baking cornbread in a skillet gives it an even heartier, crunchy crust. Bake this cornbread in a 9-inch oven safe greased skillet at the same temperature for the same amount of time.
Here is the same recipe as muffins!
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Here are more bread recipes for you!
A couple other recipes you’d love:
Eggland’s Best provided me with eggs to bring you this 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!
Thank you Erin! My question would have been can I double this and make it in a 9×13 pan! Lol
This is my favorite cornbread recipe. It is moist and full of flavor. Thanks for the great 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 🙂
Tried this today and its delicious! It did take a few minutes longer in the oven, many thanks for another hit!
If I want a non dairy cornbread can swap margarine for butter and soy milk for regular milk? Any advice?
I would actually use oil instead of margarine.
I have self rising cornmeal, will that work if I leave our or lessen the baking soda?
I would purchase some high-quality cornmeal that is non-self-rising. Organic, preferably, with only corn as the ingredient. Then you can simply follow the recipe and use the stated leaveners.
Can I make it if I can’t buy cornmeal where I live?
Hi Sally!
If I were to add creamed corn to this, how much would you recommend adding?
Hi Jessica! I’m unsure; I’d have to test it out. I’d hate to give you a wrong recommendation! Let me know if you try anything out.
Love the recipe. I changed a couple of things..well one really. Instead of a full cup of buttermilk I used 3/4 of a cup of sour cream. The bread turned out delish. Glad I found this recipe!!
This is amazing! I used 2 medium eggs instead of 1 large, and soured half-&-half with vinegar instead of using buttermilk. And of course I added a cup of cheddar. So rich and delicious! Thank you!
Just made this cornbread! Fantastic!! Definitely my new go to recipe.
This cornbread is the best cornbread that I have ever made! My family loves it. Thanks for another great recipe!
So easy to make, and delicious. My husband and I almost polished off 1/2 an 8×8 pan by ourselves. Definitely a keeper of a recipe!
A great recipe, I made this tonight for dinner. I subbed in 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour 1/2 cup AP flour instead of the 1 cup AP Flour and used a scant 1/4 cup of brown sugar – it turned out just right, not too sweet and still moist and tasty! Served it with Vegetarian Quorn Mince Chili inspired by/adapted from your Taco Spice Slow Cooker, and corn on the cob. Thanks Sally!
Has anyone tried making muffins using this recipe?
Hi Lynn! Here is the recipe as muffins. (Just a slight variation in ingredients or you can make this cornbread as muffins.) https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2015/06/06/jalapeno-cornbread-muffins/
Thanks, Sally. I lived dangerously 😉 and made the muffins yesterday based on the original recipe and they are wonderful. Next time I will try them with the addition of oil to make them even better.
I have enjoyed trying many of your recipes and am usually very pleased. Made this for dinner and my family would not eat it. It had a very strange flavor and was quite moist/dense. I used stone ground white cornmeal because I could not find yellow. Followed recipe exactly, even having egg and buttermilk at room temp. Cornbread had nice “rise” and was golden brown. The brown sugar and honey added a strange sweetness and the equal use of flour and cornmeal made a more cake like cornbread. Very disappointed to throw away.
Great flavor (added 1 jalapeno and 1 cup cheddar) though next time I’d drop it down to 1/4 cup brown sugar so it wasn’t quite so sweet with those savory additions.
That said – I used a 8″ glass square Pyrex dish. The oven had just come to 400F so perhaps I will let it sit at temp for a few minutes before putting the cornbread in the oven, but I found that it took almost 30 minutes before a toothpick (appeared to have) came out clean. Even then the middle was sunk because I’d checked it a couple times before then, thinking it’d be closer to 20 minutes, and after cutting into it it could have benefited from a few more minutes – just ended up cutting out the middle and throwing it away. The toothpick test was my fault and so I’ll def make this again but wanted to warn others that if you use a 8″ pan, give it some more time because it’s going to be taller/denser!
Fabulous! Best cornbread I’ve ever made. Thanks for an outstanding recipe!
Yay!! You are welcome, Demelza!
Can I use raw honey? Or does it have to be traditional processed honey?
Also, any suggestions how long to bake if using a bread pan?
SO excited to make this recipe! Thanks!
Hi Jenna! Raw honey is fantastic in this cornbread recipe. The bread loaf will take about 45-55 minutes, same oven temperature.
This truly is the best cornbread recipe I’ve ever made. Perfectly moist and sweet, great texture. A+!
I made this cornbread exactly according to the directions. It looked perfect coming out of the oven and tasted delicious, but when we tried to cut into slices, everything under the top crust disintegrated into crumbs. I did used frat free buttermilk bc that’s all Trader Joe’s had in stock. Could that be the culprit?
Hi Elizabeth! Because of the cornmeal, cornbread is crumbly by nature. My guess is that there wasn’t enough fat (moisture) to hold it somewhat together. It also could have been overbaked and dried out. All ovens are different, so keep an eye on the cornbread as it gets close to the finish time.