Best Cornbread Recipe - The Salty Marshmallow (2024)

Best Cornbread Recipe is a super easy to make cornbread that is tender, buttery, and moist. Serve it with butter, honey, and syrup or your favorite soups and stews!

Best Cornbread Recipe - The Salty Marshmallow (1)

Can you believe this is one of the first recipes to ever grace my blog way back in 2016? It deserved a little love and an update, because if you haven’t tried this you’re about to be in LOVE! I know right now a lot of you have some extra time on your hands, but even if you don’t this cornbread is really fast/simple to make any night of the week. It’s especially handy if you suddenly find yourself cooking more from scratch! This cornbread tastes slightly sweet, but not overly so. I don’t like my cornbread super sweet like cake and you can always slather it in honey and syrup to get that sweet taste! This recipe totally blows the boxed mix out of the water and is great served up with a big bowl of White Chicken Chili or a good, hearty Classic Beef Stew!

Making Cornbread From Scratch:

You can follow along with the photo collage below if you need. It will just give you a feel for what your batter should look like during the process! First things first, which is self explanatory, so no photo….you’ll want to preheat your oven and then add two Tablespoons of butter to either a large cast iron skillet or a 9×9 inch baking dish, place it in the oven and let it melt to coat the pan.

Best Cornbread Recipe - The Salty Marshmallow (2)

  1. Now, grab two bowls! One will be to mix together all of your dry ingredients. You don’t need to spend a lot of time on this at all. Just whisk for about 30-60 seconds until everything is combined.
  2. Whisk your eggs next until they’re frothy. This will take 2-3 minutes but you really want to make sure that they are well mixed and that you don’t have any streaks of bright yellow or egg white remaining.
  3. Now, we use milk and buttermilk for this recipe and those are what you will want to mix in next. I’ll leave a tip below for you, if you need to make buttermilk because you don’t have any.
  4. Now we simply combine the wet/dry ingredients, along with one whole stick of melted butter. Don’t over mix, that’s important. You don’t want to see any dry bits throughout your batter, but don’t beat it hard. It should just be moist, and it’s ok if you have some lumps!

Note on Buttermilk:

You do need buttermilk for this recipe to turn out best! If you don’t have any, it’s really simple to make. Just combine 1 Cup of milk (whole, or 2% preferably) and 1 Tablespoon of either fresh lemon juice or white vinegar. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes and it will thicken, then you can use it in place of buttermilk.

Best Cornbread Recipe - The Salty Marshmallow (3)

Best Cornbread Recipe - The Salty Marshmallow (4)

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4.98 from 44 votes

Best Cornbread Recipe

Best Cornbread Recipe is a super easy to make cornbread that is tender, buttery, and moist. Serve it with butter, honey, and syrup or your favorite soups and stews!

Prep 10 minutes mins

Cook 15 minutes mins

Total 25 minutes mins

Servings 8

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Arrange oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

  • Place 2 Tablespoons of butter in the bottom of a 9x9 inch baking pan or large cast iron skillet and place in the oven to melt. Once melted, remove from the oven and swirl the butter around to coat.

  • In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

  • In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy. Whisk in the milk and buttermilk until combined.

  • Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Mix just until dry pieces are incorporated. Do not overmix.

  • Fold in the remaining stick of melted butter. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes.

  • Bake 15-20 minutes, until knife inserted into center comes out clean.

  • Serve warm cornbread with butter, honey, and syrup as desired.

Notes

NOTE: This recipe makes 9 squares of cornbread. You can double the recipe and use a 9x9 inch baking pan. To freeze, allow the cornbread to cool completely. Then, remove the bread from the pan and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and a layer of foil. Freeze for up to 3 months, thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter overnight before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Slice, Calories: 105kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Like this? Rate & review this recipe below!

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Best Cornbread Recipe - The Salty Marshmallow (5)

Hey! Nice to meet you! I'm Nichole!

Welcome to The Salty Marshmallow! I'm a mom, animal lover, photographer, & kitchen mess-maker. Here you will find the result of my decades-long passion for chasing the best flavors in the kitchen, all meant to be cooked by regular people with busy lives just like you and me.

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Best Cornbread Recipe - The Salty Marshmallow (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between Southern cornbread and regular cornbread? ›

Northern cornbreads tend to be more cake-like, on the sweet side, with a finer crumb due to more flour in the mixture. Southern cornbread is flavored with bacon grease, and cooked in a cast iron skillet, a perfect side for barbecues, or chili. It also tends to be rather crumbly.

What does adding an extra egg to cornbread do? ›

The extra egg which is increased protein and binder makes the cornbread denser and heavier in texture. Can I add flour to Jiffy cornbread to make more batter? When making jiffy mix cornbread, what if I don't have milk? Are there any rules to making the best cornbread?

Why do Southerners not put sugar in cornbread? ›

Sugar in the cornbread interferes with the flavor of the vegetables. Don't put sugar in your cornbread! Traditional cornbread isn't sweet, but many favorite recipes have sugar in them.

Should cornbread be sweet or salty? ›

The distinguishing reason is that North of the Mason-Dixon, cornbread is routinely sweet. Real, traditional, Southern-style cornbread is savory, not sweet, and always has been.

Is medium or fine cornmeal better for cornbread? ›

As for the best cornmeal for cornbread, either fine- or medium-grind cornmeal is a great choice. Medium-grind cornmeal will bring slightly more texture and grittiness to the batter, which you may or may not want (it's up to you!). You can use fine or medium cornmeal in these extra corny muffins.

Is medium or coarse cornmeal better for cornbread? ›

It ranges in texture from fine to coarse. For this recipe, I like to use coarse cornmeal because it adds that traditional cornbread texture.

How to jazz up cornbread? ›

Heat and spices

You can stir in 1 cup of roasted chopped jalapeños or 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne into the batter. Or, you can mix in 3 tablespoons of your favorite chile paste. Fields also recommends trying a little NOLA flair by adding a rounded ¼ teaspoon Cajun spice blend to your cornbread mix.

How can I enhance my Jiffy mix? ›

24 Things To Add to Jiffy Cornbread Mix to Make It Even Better
  1. ⅓ cup white sugar + ¼ cup brown sugar + ⅓ cup sour cream + 4 tablespoons melted butter + 1 tablespoon vanilla.
  2. 1 tablespoon oil, melted butter, or browned butter.
  3. ½ cup mayonnaise.
  4. ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt.
  5. 3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup.
Dec 18, 2022

Can you put too many eggs in cornbread? ›

If there isn't enough egg, your batter or dough may not be able to hold its structure or could end up overly dry or dense. On the other hand, if there is too much egg, your baked goods could lose their shape due to excess liquid, or have a rubbery (or even overly cakey) texture depending on the recipe.

Why is cornbread not healthy? ›

The exact nutritional profile of cornbread can vary depending on the specific recipe and ingredients used. However, cornbread generally contains high amounts of carbs, phosphorus, and sodium in each serving. One piece of cornbread prepared from a commercially prepared mix contains ( 2 ): Calories: 198.

What is cornbread called in the South? ›

It is commonly called "cornbread" in the Southern United States and is not known by a different name in this region. Cornbread is a simple bread that is made by mixing cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, and milk to form a batter, which is then baked in the oven.

Is cornbread good or bad for diabetics? ›

Cornbread is delicious and a great accompaniment to any meal. However, it is not a good idea if you are a diabetic. The high starch and cornmeal contents are carbohydrates which are broken down into sugar in the body. Sugar is extremely dangerous for people with diabetes, so it is best to avoid it.

What is the difference between Yankee cornbread and Southern cornbread? ›

The thing that distinguishes Southern cornbread from, say Yankee cornbread, or any other cornbread one is likely to eat outside of the southern states, is that it is savory, not sweet, and it is made mostly with cornmeal.

Is cornbread better with milk or water? ›

Can I substitute water for milk in cornbread mix? Yes, you can, but it may result in a less rich flavor. If you're out of milk, try using cream or half-and-half, evaporated or powdered milk, or even plain yogurt. If you have dietary restrictions, try soy milk or oat milk.

Why does my cornbread have no flavor? ›

Butter: Butter is one of the main flavors here. While oil can make cakes and quick breads luxuriously tender, I find the cornbread lacks flavor if butter isn't present. Because butter doesn't make the bread as moist as oil does, I pair it with buttermilk.

What is the difference between southern cornbread and New York cornbread? ›

The Difference In Cornbread Lies In These Key Ingredients

Also, Southern-style cornbread should contain very little sugar and flour, and if you can, get your hands on stone-ground cornmeal. If you favor moist, sweet Northern-style cornbread, use flour and sugar liberally in your mix.

What is Southern cornbread made of? ›

In a large mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients: cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. Take the cast iron skillet out of the oven and pour the batter into it.

What does Southern cornbread taste like? ›

While on its own, Southern cornbread may be underwhelming, it's neutral flavor and crumbly texture make it the perfect vessel to soak up liquidy foods, like cranberry sauce or turkey gravy. Or, it can be eaten on its own, perhaps mixed with gooey cheese or spicy jalapeños.

Is real Southern cornbread sweet? ›

This isn't a sweet corn bread. Closer to a no sugar version than not but definitely the right balance. BTW, the acid in the buttermilk activates the baking soda and leaving it to sit for a bit makes sure that you get the best first rise. The baking powder gives you the second rise once it hits the oven.

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