Best Cornbread Recipe (from Scratch) (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to the best cornbread? ›

While both styles generally use the same ingredients -- cornmeal, flour, eggs, and baking powder -- the variance lies in the flavor and texture. Northern-style cornbread tends to be sweeter, moister, and cake-like compared to its Southern counterpart.

Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Add milk, vegetable oil, and egg; whisk until well combined. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Adjust the proportion of flour to cornmeal.

Cornmeal gives cornbread its classic color and flavor, but too much can make your bread crumbly. Try replacing a little bit of cornmeal with flour.

Eggs, or egg substitutes help add structure to the cornbread. Without an egg or substitute, the cornbread may crumble and fall apart easily.

The most common theory is a change in cornmeal itself. Until early in the 20th century, Southern cornmeal was made with sweeter white corn and it was water-ground. When industrial milling came along, that changed. The steel-roller mills used yellow corn that was harvested before it was ripe, so it had less sugar.

Southerners, on the other hand, tend to prefer white cornmeal. Many people believe that it is because, in the old South, families used white cornmeal as it more closely resembled “fancy” European wheat flour. In any case, today it remains a main component in traditional Southern buttermilk cornbread.

Sugar Is Optional

Whether to include sugar or not in a southern cornbread recipe is an issue for debate. We've included as an option a tablespoon which just intensifies the flavor of the cornmeal; it doesn't make the cornbread sweet. The choice is yours as to whether or not to include it.

I've used both before and it normally turns out good either way. If you don't want to use water though some other milk substitutes are usually other dairy products like yogurt, sour cream, or half and half. For cornbread though water is probably best.

Why do people make cornbread in cast iron? ›

Cast iron works best because it gets hot and stays hot, helping your cornbread to cook evenly and giving it that tasty crispy, golden-brown crust you know and love.

Add in some Flour

Adding in flour will help to keep the cornbread moist. I like to use a 50/50 ratio of cornmeal to flour in my recipe.

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.

Why Is Jiffy Mix So Crumbly? The recipe on the box doesn't give the batter as much moisture as I like in my cornbread, which is why it can sometimes turn out crumbly. Adding in the sour cream and vegetable oil makes a huge difference and makes the best moist cornbread.

While not a professional chef, my experience with corn bread, be it packaged or made from scratch is if you over mix it, it's gonna fall! Also, let it sit for 4-5 minutes after gently scraping it into the pan and let the ingredients start their magic reactions. No peeking while baking!! That can make it fall too.

For those who don't like their cornbread to be "crumbly," member Jeremy Joseph suggests adding one additional egg white and only two teaspoons of baking powder. Some members had success with substituting alternative flours for the white flour, such as Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour.

The most common theory is a change in cornmeal itself. Until early in the 20th century, Southern cornmeal was made with sweeter white corn and it was water-ground. When industrial milling came along, that changed. The steel-roller mills used yellow corn that was harvested before it was ripe, so it had less sugar.

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.