Best Cornbread Recipe (from Scratch) (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to the best cornbread? ›

There's slightly more flour than cornmeal, which keeps the great flavor from the cornmeal but a little extra flour keeps it a soft and tender crumb. The optimal amount of butter, sugar and honey. Add too much of either and it'll create a dense, coarse 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.

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.

Cornbread normally cracks on top, but if it is too extreme and falling apart there are a few options. Do not over mix ingredients. Stir until they are just moistened. Add an extra egg yolk, even if the recipe doesn't call for an egg.

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

The batter should be thick, but still pourable. Add more milk or buttermilk if necessary. Remove the skillet from the oven and tilt the pan so the butter coats the bottom and sides of pan.

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.

Yellow cornmeal is the most common, but if you have white cornmeal, that's also fine to use. Can I Bake This in a Skillet? Baking cornbread in a skillet gives it an even heartier, crunchier crust. Bake this in a 9- or 10-inch oven-safe greased skillet at the same temperature for the same amount of time.

Among them was a version of Indian bread made of cornmeal, salt and water called pone or corn pone. The name came from the Algonquin word apan, meaning "baked." The Narragansett word for cornbread, nokechick, became no-cake and then hoe-cake.

Set the batter aside for 10 to 15 minutes.

By letting the cornbread batter sit at room temperature before baking, the cornmeal has some extra time to absorb the flavor from the other ingredients, and the baking powder gets a head start.

Is it better to use butter or oil in cornbread? ›

Oil changes cornbread's texture

Using oil will make your cornbread tender and moist while butter will give you heavier bread. Why do you get such different qualities from these fats? This is largely due to the fact that at room temperature, oil is a liquid while butter is a solid.

Adding about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of extra butter or vegetable oil can increase the moistness of your cornbread. You can do this even if your recipe doesn't call for butter or oil. Replace milk or water with creamed corn. If your recipe calls for milk or water, try replacing it with creamed corn.

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.

Adding in an extra egg is another trick to helping your Jiffy cornbread stay moist. Eggs act as a binder in baking, holding ingredients together. It also gives structure to the dish and provides the protein that the cornbread will need. The extra moisture is sure to help the cornbread stay moist.

Cornbread is known for being dry, and that's because it's not properly hydrated. This can lead to unpleasant. hard bits that get stuck in your teeth, making the final product taste even drier. Start by soaking your cornmeal and buttermilk overnight. or up to 24 hours.

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.

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.