Sweet Honey Cornbread, tips to a good bread is one of the most popular recipes on my website! Make it with the family for fun and easy baking project over the weekend. It taste so good!
Warning, I may repost this every year forever and ever. I love this cornbread too much not share that often, so make it. You will not regret it!
Cornbread. I love cornbread, I love making cornbread. It is super easy and rewarding. Just like chili, which is cornbread’s best friend, everyone has a different take on it. This is mine. All together this took 10 minutes of actual me prepping time. Not bad for freshly made bread mid week.
Tips for a good bread, muffin, or any other quick bread that calls for not over mixing, as this does: DO NOT OVER MIX. It really is as simple as that. Mix until you no longer see flour or dry spots, then walk away. Leave a lumpy batter. Look at the photo below in the instructions that shows my lumpy batter.
Signs of over mixing: “tunnels” and big holes throughout the bread/muffins, tough, dense final product. I took the photo of the final product above to show that there is a moist crumb in the bread, no tunnels, an even outer golden brown crust, and light fluffy texture
Adapted from the Bob’s Red Mill Cornmeal Cornbread Recipe.
Serves: 9 – using 8 inch baking pan, 18 using a 9×13 pan and doubling the recipe below.
Make it for a sweet treat at brunch time, or with the big pot of chili or soup, or have fun making out with the family for a baking project over the weekend! Either way this is a super moist and tender cornbread recipe.
Ingredients:
1 cup cornmeal fine grind
1 cup all purpose flour or whole wheat flour, they are both good in this recipe
1 tablespoon baking powder, aluminum free always
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup melted butter, plus a little for spreading on baking pan
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Method:
Add cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl, whisk to combine. Melt butter for 20 seconds intervals until liquid, in the microwave, or in a pan on the stove until melted. Let cool for 2 minutes.
Whisk the buttermilk, 1 egg, and butter together well. Add honey to buttermilk mixture, whisk until combined well. Add the buttermilk mixture to the cornmeal mixture and mix using a spatula. Do not over mix. Just combine until the dry ingredients come together with the wet. Leave the batter lumpy, see below.
Grease with butter very well: 8 inch pan or a 9×13 pan if doubling recipe. Pour batter into pan, place in oven and bake for time needed, see below.
~For an 8 inch pan: bake for 20-25, use a toothpick at 20 minutes to test the center of the baking dish. When the toothpick comes out clean the bread is ready.
~For a 9×13 pan: bake for 30-35 minutes. use a toothpick at 30 minutes to test the center of the baking dish. When the toothpick comes out clean the bread is ready.
Let cool for 15 minutes before cutting into the bread. Serve with butter, a drizzle of honey, or both!
ENJOY!
Sweet Honey Cornbread, Tips to a Good Bread!
Ollie
But how do I know how “lumpy” it should be when I leave it?
fabiola
Thank you for your comment, there’s a picture in the method that you can see how lumpy it needs to be. Enjoy!
Gary peterson
Great cornbread recipe. For a bit over the top I add 3/4 cup of frozen corn (warmed in the microwave) or 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar, or a jalapeño pepper, finely chopped. Sometimes all three, ooh yum.
fabiola
Wow, that sounds amazing! I’m going to try it your way next time I make it :). Thank you so much for letting me know you like it!
Somar
I am sooooo trying this for dinner tonight! I’ll let you know how it goes!
fabiola
Oh yay awesome! Let me know how it turns out!
Bebe
Thanks for this awesome recipe! We are in the process of packing the house and I’m trying to use up as much from the pantry as possible, and as we’ve been eating mostly paleo for the last year there’s a surplus of flours and cornmeal! SO… I’ve made corn bread, corn muffins, and corn cake the past few days. (Since my kids love corn muffins, it’s cool.) THIS is by far the best recipe I’ve tried.
As an aside, I used powdered buttermilk. It’s so much more convenient to keep around than expensive buttermilk and it’s a great sub.
fabiola
This is so awesome, thank you so much! I am so happy you loved this recipe, as do I! Good luck on your move, I hope it is seamless and wonderful.
V
Sounds like a great recipe (love the buttermilk and honey combo!). Just curious about one thing, sorry if it’s kind of a stupid question, but do you happen to know why it’s necessary to preheat the oven to such a high temp for this cornbread recipe? However, I’m not experienced at making cornbread and maybe corn needs to be baked at a higher temp. But this is definitely on my to-do 🙂
fabiola
Hi! Thank you so much for your kind words, and comments! I appreciate, and look forward to hearing how you like the cornbread soon. Yup, it seems high, as usual baking temps vary from 325-375, but I assure you, it’s the right temp!
Bryan Johnson
I baked this recipe at 425 and at 30 min exactly i opened the oven to discover that the cornbread was burnt. 🙁
fabiola
I am so sorry to hear that! That is such a bummer. Did you do an 8×8 or 9×13?
martha
Made this last night and it came out pretty good. I’m stoked for a honey only recipe, so thank you! I live in Australia and it’s hard to find corn meal but i used polenta and a sifter. Also I had some extra buttermilk so I used it (about 3/4 cup) and topped it off with hi lo aka 2%. It came out great but I think I just barely over mixed it or accidently folded it a bit so the texture was slightly frumpaluffshous but not bad at all. I guess other than the polenta and buttermilk option my only comment would be to Gently mix and as discussed above, don’t over do it.
fabiola
That is great, Martha! Thank you so much for letting me know. I am so happy you enjoyed it, and that it worked out with the polenta!
Richard Wagner
Just made this tonight and it’s the best cornbread I’ve ever made. I followed the recipe closely, and took your advice adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the milk and letting it sit. It didn’t exactly curdle, but I went ahead and cooked with it and the result with a fluffy, sweet cornbread from my iron skillet! It wasn’t dry, it wasn’t bitter, it was nearly perfect.
fabiola
Thank you SO MUCH, Richard! I love hearing that the recipe becomes a favorite. I ma happy the not too curdled buttermilk still worked out for you. I also love this recipe, we make it all of the time!
steve
Thanks for this great treat. I wanted to ask if I can replace the medium grind cornmeal with the fine grind.
fabiola
Yes, absolutely. I actually did this yesterday for the first time and it worked out great. I will be changing the ingredients to the fine grind now! Enjoy!
Keke
I made this last night with medium ground cornmeal (Bob’s Mill) and the bread had a bit of a crunchy taste. I believe it is due to the coarse cornmeal. Is that how it is supposed to taste? My family loved it but I thought maybe I didn’t add enough moisture.
fabiola
Hi Keke, thank you for making the recipe. I am so happy your family loved it! It does have a bit of a texture difference because of the medium grind cornmeal. But sifting the cornmeal, like it calls for in the recipe, should take care of the texture issue. It should only have a few larger cornmeal pieces, but not many. Did you sift it?
susan
Egg: do you use a large egg or extra-large one? For breads and cakes, I assume that the difference might matter. Thanks.
susan recently posted..Goat Cheese Bacon Croquettes with Pink Bubbly
fabiola
I always use large, unless noted. Thanks!
susan
I’ve heard that cornbread has a crispier edge if baked in cast iron. I have a 10″ skillet. How would you adapt the amount of batter and cooking time?
fabiola
You can approach it one of two ways. One- bake it in the 10 inch cast iron for less time, check at 18 minutes. Or make 1 1/4 amount of the recipe and bake 10 minutes longer or so. Check at that 10 minute mark, or until golden brown and clean toothpick.
Shayla
Just made a batch of this as muffins (with huckleberries folded in) and I’m eating one now! They turned out great! All the recipes for honey cornbread I’d found previously called for white sugar in addition to honey, which I didn’t want, so I’m happy to have this one!
fabiola
I love that! I am so happy they turned out great for you, it’s such a tasty treat. I love that you added berries, that is an awesome idea! I am so trying that.
Mary
I baked your wonderful recipe tonight in a cast iron skillet and it was fabulous.
Thank you so much for publishing that and for your helpful tips and for sharing your good news about the joy you’ve found baking for the holidays in Baker & Spice in Portland. These may be the same ingredients and proportions as my long-lost recipe from the ’70s before I ever tried cooking anything in cast iron. I am very grateful to have finally captured again the flavor and texture of my ’70s cornbread.
fabiola
Mary, thank you so much for your kind words. I am so happy you found a cornbread recipe you love, I love it too! And cast iron baked goods are simply the best!
JulieD
Congrats on the position!! That’s so exciting…and I LOVE sweet cornbread! I want to try this soon!
JulieD recently posted..Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Bread Pudding
fabiola
Thank you Julie, I appreciate it!
This is honestly a great baked bread recipe. Just perfect.
Merry Christmas! Thanks for reading:-)
Jen @ Savory Simple
Excellent tips. And the cornbread looks fabulous!
Jen @ Savory Simple recently posted..Date-Filled Cookies; An Edible Mosaic Review
fabiola
Thank you Jen!
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com
Thanks for the baking tips, my dear. And congrats as being selected to be the holiday baker. Have some goodies on my behalf 😉
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com recently posted..Meringue Cookies
fabiola
Thank you so much! It has been hard work, so much fun, and I’m overly grateful:-).
I am eating too much!
I hope you are having a great trip so far.
Bee Local
I think we are going to have to bust out your recipe here at Bee Local HQ. Looks absolutely nom-nom-nom!
fabiola
Bust it! Let me know what you think too. I just fell in love with it.
fabiola
Double thank you!!!
Bee Local
I think we are going to have to use this recipe over at Bee Local HQ. Looks delicious!
Heather | Farmgirl Gourmet
YUM Fabiola. I have a major thing for cornbread. Yours looks great and thank you for the tips. I will be thinking about this all day long now. 😉
xo
Heather
Heather | Farmgirl Gourmet recently posted..Product Review: Harry & David Chocolate Dipped Strawberries #spon
fabiola
Great, thank you! I have a thing too. But I always want it to be light, fluffy, moist yet sweet. And I think I got it! Let me know what you think if you get to making it.
fabiola
Thank you sweetheart!
fabiola
Hi, thank you for sharing my content on your site. However, could you please remove the entire recipe from your site, and replace it with a link to my recipe. Typically sending traffic to the original recipe is a nicer way of sharing content. Otherwise there is no reason for them to come to my site. Thank you very much.