Buttermilk Cornbread
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This buttermilk cornbread is amazingly moist and slightly sweet. A classic side dish loved by everyone. It’s also so easy. No mixer required!
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Why you’ll love this buttermilk cornbread
- Perfect textures. This cornbread is fluffy, moist, crumbly, and slightly sweet. It is dangerously good, particularly with extra butter on top melting right into the warm bread with a drizzle of honey (completely optional, of course). It’s simply perfection.
- Pairs well with anything and everything. Cornbread makes for an excellent side dish to so many meals – chili, pulled pork, pot roast, red beans and rice, and so much more. Not to mention, this is a quintessential side dish for all your holiday needs.
- Easiest recipe ever. This recipe does not require any special equipment or any kind of mixer. And with the use of baking powder, there is no yeast involved here. Simply mix and bake for 25-30 minutes, that’s it!
How to make buttermilk cornbread
- Prep the oven and skillet. Preheat the oven to 425°F and place a large cast iron skillet in the oven.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Combine the buttermilk, egg, and butter.
- Mix the wet to dry. Pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring gently with a spatula just until moist, working carefully not to overwork the batter.
- Grease the skillet. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and add the butter until it melts completely.
- Bake. Pour the batter in the greased hot skillet, baking until the top and edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.
- Serve. Let cool for 5 minutes, then serve warm with butter and honey.
freezing and storage
Storage
Wrap the cornbread tightly in plastic wrap before storing in an airtight container, keeping at room temperature for 2 days or in the fridge for 3-5 days.
Reheating
Reheat in the oven at 350°F, covered in aluminum foil until warmed through, about 5-10 minutes.
Freezing
Let the cornbread cool completely, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap first, then aluminum foil before transferring to an airtight, resealable freezer bag. Label, date, and freeze up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the oven at 350°F, covered in aluminum foil until warmed through, about 10-15 minutes.
what to serve with cornbread
Tools For This Recipe
Buttermilk Cornbread: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Preheating the cast iron skillet beforehand will help yield a crispy, golden brown crust.
A quick and easy buttermilk substitute is creating your own buttermilk with whole milk and something acidic, such as lemon juice or distilled white vinegar. You can add 1 tablespoon acid (lemon juice or vinegar) to 1 cup milk, letting it stand for 5-10 minutes.
Use enough fat (ex. butter) and mix the batter just until combined (avoid over-mixing).
Yes! Cornbread can be made 1-2 days in advance, reheating in the oven at 350 degrees F, covered, for about 5-10 minutes, or until warmed.
Absolutely, cornbread can be kept in the freezer for at least 3 months.
You can make one of my favorite cornbread stuffings, a holiday staple.
Buttermilk Cornbread
Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups reduced fat buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place a large cast iron skillet in the oven.
- In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg and 3 tablespoons butter. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist.
- Remove skillet from the oven and add remaining 3 tablespoons until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Working carefully, immediately scoop the batter into the hot skillet. Place into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes.
- Serve warm.
Equipment
Notes
- Preheat the cast iron skillet first. Using a preheated cast iron skillet is key here. This allows for even cooking, achieving everyone’s favorited golden brown crispy edges. You can also serve the cornbread warm right in the skillet.
- Use buttermilk. While adding a slightly tangy flavor, buttermilk is a key ingredient here yielding light, moist and fluffier cornbread. Using milk will lead to more neutral flavors and a drier consistency. You can also make a buttermilk substitute using milk, adding 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk.
- Use fine or medium-ground cornmeal. Dependent on personal preference, fine or medium-ground cornmeal are typically the most popular options for cornbread. For a more smooth consistency, fine-ground cornmeal is ideal, but for more texture and grittiness, medium-ground is the way to go.
- Do not use cornbread mix. Cornbread mix is not the same as cornmeal. Cornbread mix comes pre-mixed with leavening agents.
- Avoid overmixing. Using a rubber spatula, stir the batter until everything is just combined and moistened with a few lumps here and there. Overmixing will lead to dense, tough cornbread.
- Freeze as needed. Cornbread freezes very well and can typically last up to 3 months in the freezer.
Did you make this recipe?
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Hi!, Chunguh –
This recipe reminds me of a similar cornbread I made years ago when I was a bride of a Georgia ‘boy’.
My in-laws briefed me on the correct way to make it.
No egg, no baking powder and definitely no sugar!
Baking in the hot iron skillet makes the cornbread crispy. Add a sprinkle of garlic salt to the dry ingredients.
You can also use bacon drippings instead of the butter.
Your recipe is ‘Yankee Cornbread’; mine is more like typical ‘Southern Cornbread’.
It’s just wonderful baked in the iron skillet. I was told that adding sugar and baking in a brownie pan makes it
more cake-light and fluffy which is not Southern; thin and in the skillet is Southern. Definitely use the buttermilk and if you
don’t have ‘real’ buttermilk, you can fake it with a cup of milk with 1 Tbsp of lemon juice. Set aside for
a few minutes til it ‘curdle’s. Then add to the rest of the wet ingredients.
Enjoy.
Thanks!
I love this recipe. I don’t like the dry, crispy, dry, crunchy Southern Cornbread. I use 2/3 powdered sugar in mine. Probably the same as the 1/3 cup sugar, just fluffy. We add a bit of colored corn polenta and sometimes a bit of corn. To make it savory, I add some mild green chilies. Melt cheddar on top when it comes out of the oven. (No maple syrup on this one!) Give it a try! Friends have said, I’ve never liked cornbread, it is so dry. This one is delicious.
Linda in Oregon
Hi! This looks absolutely fantastic. My favorite any time treat is cornbread! Can you make this in a regular circular cake pan? Thanks in advance!
Sure!
Can this be made in a muffin pan?
Absolutely!
did I miss the size of the iron skillet somewhere? will a 12″ one work?