Homemade Cornbread is tender and fluffy with just a hint of sweetness and it’s easy to make from scratch.
It’s the perfect bread to serve alongside your favorite hearty soups, stews, and chili recipes! Light, tender and moist, this recipe is perfect for dipping, dunking, or slathering with butter.
Making cornbread from scratch is so easy!
Cornbread Ingredients
This recipe has common baking ingrdients, like all-purpose flour for structure and texture, baking powder as the leavening agent, and eggs to help bind it all together. Here are a few other additions:
- Cornmeal: Yellow cornmeal is the star of the show and gives the cornbread its distinct yellow flavor and color.
- Sugar: A touch of sweetness to balance out the flavors.
- Buttermilk: Not only does it add a tangy flavor, but it also helps the cornbread rise, making it fluffy and moist (see recipe notes for substitution).
- Butter: Butter adds richness and flavor and helps create a golden brown crust.
No Buttermilk? No problem!
This recipe uses buttermilk for a rich flavor as well as to get a great rise. Make your own buttermilk substitute by placing 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar in a 1 cup measuring cup. Fill with milk, stir and let rest for 5 minutes.
This soured milk mixture can be used in almost any recipe calling for buttermilk.
How to Make Cornbread
This easy cornbread recipe is perfect to slather in honey butter or dunk into a bowl of homemade chili!
- Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl per the recipe below. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Combine the two just until moistened.
- Pour the batter into a prepared pan and bake until fluffy.
Variations
This homemade cornbread recipe is super moist and tender with just a hint of sweetness. This is not an overly sweet cornbread (and it is great in stuffing or dressing).
I sometimes add a cup or so of corn kernels if I have them on hand (either canned and drained or frozen/defrosted). Other additions include diced jalapenos, shredded cheese, crumbled bacon (or bacon drippings in place of some of the butter), or fresh herbs.
Tips for Fluffy Moist Cornbread
- Like most quick bread recipes (such as Banana Bread), mix the batter just until moistened. Overmixing can cause a dry, tough cornbread.
- Check the cornbread a few minutes early to ensure it doesn’t over bake. If a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, the cornbread is done.
- Let the cornbread cool at least 10 minutes before cutting so it doesn’t fall apart.
- Serve warm or reheat in the oven or microwave to reheat.
How to Store Cornbread
Cornbread is a delicious and moist quick bread and should be stored in a tightly sealed container at room temperature (or in the fridge).
To freeze cornbread, cut it into squares and place it in an airtight container. If you are layering the cornbread, place parchment paper between the layers to avoid it sticking. Thaw by letting it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
If you’d like to reheat it, wrap it in foil and reheat it in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350°F.
More Savory Quick Breads
Homemade Cornbread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- ¼ cup sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk or soured milk, see notes
- ⅓ cup butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×8-inch baking pan.
- Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Bread, Side Dish
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Recipe adapted from Chile Cheddar Cornbread.
HI! Do you have a recipe for “Glorious Morning Muffins” I have been trying to find how to make them for years. I am going to try making your CORNBREAD. sounds yummy!
You can find our morning glory muffins here.
I love your recipes
It certainly was easy but not worth this minimal effort. I followed the recipe exactly and got a moist but tasteless result. I used Goya cornmeal, with which I’ve had good results before.
The cornbread was neither sweet nor corn-flavored, and I think it could also have used more salt.
Next time I might try mixing in some coarse cornmeal, upping the salt and adding in some frozen corn. Or maybe just another recipe.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy this cornbread as much as we do David. It’s been a big hit at home and with readers. Thank you for trying the recipe.
Do you have a recipe for Jiffy Mix cornbread Pancakes?
I don’t have cornbread pancakes but it does sound delicious!
Yum
Great recipe.
I’m going to put a southern spin on this recipe the next time we have chili! will melt bacon grease in my cast iron skillet, and also add it in place of the butter, like my Grandma used to do.
I followed the recipe to a T and it was WONDERFUL!!!
So glad you loved this recipe Rebecca!
Great recipe
Thanks for sharing this amazing cornbread recipe and i found this recipe really easy to make and very delicious in taste. I love this recipe.
Best cornbread recipe I’ve tried. Wonderful in a cast iron skillet! Thank you.
Thank you for this comment! I was wondering if i could use my skillet instead!
This was an interesting cornbread. Followed the recipe to a T and it was “meh.” It was dense yet fluffy, moist yet crumbly, and it was absolutely tasteless. I wouldn’t make this again.
the flavor was good but the texture was grainy. Would not make them again
Made exactly according to the recipe and love it! Not too sweet at all. Well balanced. Moist and delicious. Perfect with beans for a hearty fall meal.
Excellent recipe cornbread very tasty and light.
I didn’t use as much sugar.
The only problem I have it was really crumbly not sure what I will do next time to make it more moist but very very good I will make it again.
Tripled and baked for 35 minutes in my #14 cast iron skillet. Came out beautifully, but tasteless. Not sure how to fix the lack of flavor. But it really was lovely.
What could be used as a substitute for eggs in this recipe?
I have only tried it as written so I can’t say for sure. Here are some common egg substitutions however, I can’t say for sure how they would work as I haven’t tried them in this recipe.
I noticed this recipe calls for Buttermilk? If you have Buttermilk Corn Meal, can you just use Milk with this recipe? I am going to do it for my Labor Day Cookout with my family.
Hi Stephen, we have only made this recipe as listed but other readers have use buttermilk substitutes with great results so I think it should work fine.
We really enjoyed this! I followed instructions to make my own “buttermilk”. I used 1 C of evaporated milk and 1 tbsp of vinegar. I also added 1 C of fresh Maryland Eastern Shore sweet corn kernels. Heated the 8” cast iron skillet with 1 tbsp butter in oven then poured in the batter. Excellent! We served it with a Cuban Imperial Rice casserole and enjoyed a fantastic meal! Thank you!
Yes! Yes! Yes! This is another great recipe … thanks!
So glad you loved it Shannon! :)