Cornbread Recipe

I’ve had a lot of cornbread in my life and this Cornbread Recipe is my absolute favorite. It has a tender crumb, delicious flavor, and a touch of sweetness.

Cornbread is one of those foods that is very personal. For me, this is how to do it.

If you’re not familiar with cornbread variations, Northern cornbread (sometimes called Yankee cornbread) has a softer, more cake-like texture to it, and sweetness to enhance the flavor of the corn.

Southern cornbread on the other hand is never sweetened. And I often see versions with no flour at all, so the texture can be quite gritty.

I’ve played with quite a few variations of Southern style cornbread during periods of sugar-free and gluten-free eating. The truth is I just don’t enjoy Southern-style cornbread as much.

Corn has a natural quality of sweetness to it (which is why desserts like corn ice cream and corn cookies work so well). This sweetness is quite obvious when you eat fresh corn on the cob, but this quality can be lost in cornmeal form.

Adding a touch of sugar really brings that sweet corn flavor forward. 

This cornbread has a slight sweetness to it, along with a tender, cake-like texture to it. There’s more cornmeal in here than flour, but there’s enough flour to keep the bites relatively soft. And there’s plenty of buttermilk, which aids in both flavor and texture.

This cornbread recipe has lived on my Youtube channel for 4 years and been made and loved by many. I’m not really sure how it never got posted on the blog, but here it is, step-by-step.

How to Make Cornbread:

Get the dry ingredients going by combining all-purpose flour, yellow cornmeal, baking soda, and salt with a whisk:

In a separate bowl, whisk to combine melted butter and sugar, until smooth, glossy, and thick:

Add two eggs to the bowl, ideally at room temperature so they don’t re-solidify the melted butter:

Whisk well until smooth and frothy on top, then add buttermilk:

The buttermilk is an essential part of this recipe.

*Please use real buttermilk and not a milk + vinegar substitute*

It’s worth it. You can always use any leftover buttermilk for these heavenly Blueberry Muffins, Lemon Buttermilk Pie, or Buttermilk Pancakes.

Whisk the buttermilk in, then add the dry ingredients:

Combine the two until the flour just disappears. I use a whisk at first, then switch to a spatula once the mixture gets too thick.

You want to make sure not to overmix the batter. This is what you want right here:

Note that there are still lumps, but there’s no dry flour anywhere.

Spread the cornbread batter into an 8×8 pan. I line with parchment paper to make it easy to get out later. You can also grease the pan with butter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean:

Let it cool, then it’s ready to cut into squares:

I think it’s good enough to eat on its own, but feel free to spread with butter and drizzle with honey, if desired.

Or pair it with Turkey Chili or a rack of Oven BBQ Pork Spare Ribs. Enjoy!