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.
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Moist but crunchy on the outside. Pretty perfect. I used 2 eggs, and added a few tablespoons of chopped jalapeno and cranberries for the holidays. It rapidly disappeared. Baked in 11 x 13 stoneware. One piece left over reheated well in the microwave because of the moisture in it – usually corn bread is too dry for this.
My boyfriend LOVED this cornbread, and he normally does not like cornbread. He even asked me to make it again the next time I made chili, so you know it’s legit.
The only heavy baking pan I have is a scone pan (circle divided into 8 triangles) so I used that in a pinch but serendipitously I like that it came out in perfect slices, and think it may have made the batter rise even better.
This recipe is the BOMB! I made two batches of this for my work chili cook-off (complete with a honey butter glaze on top) and it was a hit! People were seriously talking about the cornbread more than the chili.
Excellent cornbread
So good! Best recipe for cornbread.
Amazing! This recipe was a hit! Thank you
I have tried quite a few cornbread recipes throughout the years….this is by far the best. Not too sweet, not too salty, crispy on the bottom. I am a Yankee and I loved this recipe. Could care less if it is “southern” or not, as long as my family and I enjoy it!
Can we use this recipe and put it in muffin tins?
Technically this is called Johnnycake because of the sugar. In the south (I live in Georgia) that’s considered an abomination. ^_~ Still, I’m sure the Native Americans considered their own version superior to what we colonials made of it. It’s all in what you grew up eating.
Agree, we didn’t put sugar in cornbread in Tennessee either.
never mind…i see the 10″ skillet size in the 1st step!
Thank you for this delicious buttermilk cornbread! This is my second visit just to say you..that my family loved it and we thank you for the detailed stuff.
I tried this a few nights ago, and to be honest, no one in my family liked it. I think it is just too different from the cornbread that we grew up with here in Virginia. I think it was the buttermilk we didn’t like. What we DID like was the slight sweetness, the great texture, and the crust on the bottom. So I tried it again with just regular whole milk, and it was a hit! I also liked that it made a hearty panful, not the scanty portion that you get with the boxed mix. And it tastes worlds better than the box, of course!
This was a hit for rib and mashed potatoes night! Excellent and easy recipe. Thank you.
Possibly the best cornbread we have ever had,. Used stone ground corn meal and an extra egg. Was amazing.
If you use a baking dish do you preheat it in the oven? Also what size baking dish would you recommend?
Thanks!
Ally-O in New Jersey
You can try to use a 9-inch square baking dish. Preheating is not necessary. 🙂
I loved this cornbread! The slightly crunchy bottom and outer crust made it even better! I slathered salted butter on my slice and drizzled a good amount of honey over it. It was delicious. Thank you for a great recipe.
Very excited to try this out tomorrow! Any suggestions on types of cornmeal used? Previously, I’ve used fine, coarse and medium-grain for different recipes, but just curious what you might suggest. 🙂 Thanks!
I don’t have a cast iron skillet (yet). what other types of pans can I use?
You can use a baking dish as well. 🙂
We’ve made this cornbread using yogurt milk, which is a bit like really good buttermilk. I’ve also made it with buttermilk and “split” milk but to me, the yogurt milk is best…tangy and moist
Ohhhh you could add about 1/2 cup of whole kernel corn to the batter! So going to try this!
Can you substitute the sugar with honey?