Southern Cornbread Recipe
Is cornbread an issue of true debate? That depends on where you live. But for those of you who love a no-sugar, crispy skillet version this southern cornbread recipe is spot-on.
I have a theory about cornbread.
If you grew up north of the Ohio River or had a family member who taught you to cook who did, you will put sugar in your cornbread.
If you grew up south of the river, you don’t. You never realized I was so wise did you?
I grew up south and so did the cooks in my family so we don’t put sugar in our cornbread. In fact, the only thing sweet cornbread is good for to me is a corn dog.
I’ll just pass if I have to eat it with sugar in it. Isn’t it funny how we get used to something tasting a specific way?
So I say that to say this: you CAN put sugar in my recipe and I will still work for you. I don’t know how much to tell you to put in though–you may just have to wing it.
And speaking of winging it, that’s what I realized that I do when I make this. Even when my mom taught me as a little girl, it was all by eye.
If it’s too thick, add more milk. If it’s too thin, add more cornmeal mix.
I’m going to try to give you measurements, but just remember it should be just thicker than pancake batter. Get that down, and you’re good.
I kept wondering if this recipe was just too easy to share with you. Then I heard my friends talking about it one night–they use a (gasp) bagged mix that you just add water to.
Oh. We have a problem.
We need real cornbread.
If you’re gonna get out a mixing bowl and dirty a spoon, you might as well make it taste better than a bagged mix–that’s just my opinion.
My secrets to crispy southern cornbread
I use a self rising cornmeal mix. You can find self rising mix in your baking aisle with the flour. Don’t just buy a bag of cornmeal. You will call me mean names if you do. White Lily makes a good one.
If self rising cornmeal mix isn’t available where you live, try this homemade version.
And for the best crust–that golden crispy crust, you’ll need a cast iron skillet.
You can make yours in another dish, but it just won’t be the same. Mom taught me to turn the cornbread over when it’s done (flip it out of the skillet while its raging hot) onto an oven mitt and put it back in the pan with the pretty, crispy side up.
I didn’t for this picture, but it does make it really pretty.The key to that crispy crust is to have your skillet screaming hot and plenty of oil in it when you pour in your batter.
I heat mine on the stovetop, or you can heat your pan in the oven.
You can also skip that step if you don’t have cast and just lightly grease an 8×8 baking pan and bake it up that way.
Serve it warm with pinto beans and mashed potato cakes, chicken pot pie, or just butter and jam.
Southern Cornbread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups self rising cornmeal mix not just plain cornmeal
- 2 eggs or 1 extra large egg
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or an equivalent amount of refined coconut oil, bacon grease or lard
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil for the skillet if using cast iron; an equivalent amount of refined coconut oil, bacon grease or lard will substitute
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk or regular milk Start with 1 cup of liquid if you are using regular milk and add the rest as necessary
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- If you are using cast iron, place the 1/4 cup oil in the bottom of a 9″ skillet and place over high heat on your stovetop while you make the batter.
- Pour the cornmeal into a bowl and add the oil, egg, and buttermilk.
- Mix until combined and drop a small amount into your skillet.
- If it sizzles immediately, go ahead and pour in your batter to within 1 inch of the top. If you want a thinner cornbread, just don’t pour in as much.
- Transfer the skillet from the stove top to the hot oven.
- Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden and set.
Notes
Bake as directed. Nutrition information based on the use of refined coconut oil in place of the vegetable oil.
Nutrition
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I was born and raised in Western Ohio and I watched my and was taught to NEVER EVER add sugar to cornbread. My grandmother used to say ” Adding sugar to cornbread is just plain sinful” LOL. My family is from Kentucky so I grew up eating great southern food. One thing that I rarely have on hand is buttermilk and I have tried making my own using vinegar but I don’t like the taste of it in my baked goods. Using 2% milk turn out the same delicious cornbread as using buttermilk? Also, my grandmother always used bacon fat in her cornbread but I don’t eat pork, and my mother always used butter instead of oil. I have never made good cornbread sadly and I really want to finally make a good one. Mine always turns out o dry and crumbly.
Hey Debbie, yes you can use 2% if you don’t have buttermilk on hand. It’s fine. If you want to help ensure that your cornbread doesn’t crumble too much, you can always add an extra egg. I find that it makes a more cake-like texture. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don’t. It will be fine to do if you’d like a little extra insurance. And please let me know if you make it. I’d love to hear how it goes!!! –Rachel
I followed your recipe using 2% Milk and it turned out crispy on the outside and so moist on the inside. I did the flip of the bread as well. I don’t think I will add an extra egg but I will use buttermilk the next time. Thanks for sharing your recipe. This is my solid go-to recipe for cornbread!
Happy dance for you Debbie! I’m so glad you made it! –Rachel
I made cornbread following this recipe. Best cornbread!! My husband reheated it the next day and said it was good!
I agree Donna! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! –Rachel
I’ve laughed for years over recipes with so many ingredients for corn bread. All you need is self-rising cornmeal, eggs & milk. It’s soooo easy & soooooooo good
That’s the truth isn’t it Gwen? If you don’t have self rising mix, it can be made with all purpose flour and a few other ingredients that can lengthen the list, but I like to keep it simple and delicious! –Rachel
Also, use bacon grease in the cornbread mix AND skillet, instead of oil. I heat skillet in the oven while making the mixture. The hotter the better. It will always sizzle. Yes, turn it out immediately on plate and slice right away. This lets the steam escape and keeps the cornbread from getting soggy. Time the cooking so it will be ready when other food is ready. Buy a large can of pinto beans, cook 20- 30 minutes on stovetop. Add about a third cup of water to make beans more liquidy. On a slice of open cornbread, add pinto beans with juice. Sprinkle on Tabasco sauce to taste. Enjoy! Good with ham or pork chops and collard greens.
Ahh, the forever and always discussion about corn bread. I’m glad to see someone giving it some “light”. I’m a Northwest kid (Oregon/Washington), but one of my grandmas came from pioneer stock. She made cornbread for crews of wheat field workers up to the time her fingers wouldn’t move anymore. Iron skillet, bacon fat, yellow cornmeal, (friend from N.C. swears “real” is white corn).
OK, Here’s the mystery that has plague me for 70 years.. Anyone have an answer to….. Grandma’s corn bread had CHEWY crusts, bottom and top.. Years of searching has yielded no answer to what she must have done to get that crust the texture of soft leather.
I loved it. Scoop out the soft center, slathered with Sour Cream Butter, then spend the rest of breakfast chewing on the crusts . Oh My !
Any suggestions. One possible is, She used a wood fired stove oven, Temperatures may have been low.. but how low ??
Solve this before I pass on to the great Corn Bread in the Sky .. Please !
Ralph that’s a great question. I can tell you that I do get a chewy crust (not leathery, but a chewier crust than my inside) with a cast iron skillet. I bake mine and then flip it over (out on to my hand and then back in the skillet) and bake it about 5 minutes more. I don’t know what makes it chewy necessarily. It may be temperature, but I’d guess it’s more of the baking vessel than anything else. Just my thoughts–Rachel
Rachel, Interesting idea. I haven’t done a flip before. I’ll try it. I’m sure that grandma didn’t flip , at least not the cornbread. LOL’ I’ve kind of figured that the combination of her buttermilk, left over from butter churning, and a slow, low oven may have been the reason. When in her 90’s I asked. She had no idea how she’d done it. BTW, I do churn my own butter and have found some interesting things the today’s cook doesn’t know, or ignores. Here’s some fun facts for you.. Try to find Grade “B” (Sour cream ) butter anywhere in the USA. Prior to WW2 , it was the most common butter sold. And, contrary to what most would think, Butter grades have nothing to do with quality. It’s the Taste and Smell.. Today’s market butter “Grade AA” means that it has “Little or very mild taste and little odor”. Cornbread with Sour Cream (Grade B) will take one back to Grandma’s kitchen.
You know Ralph, I’m 99.9% sure that after 40 plus years of making anything, these lovely ladies from our lives turned a corner into a third heaven or something where we’ve never been. Their ability to make food behave in ways we can never replicate is a real problem for a lot of us! And you’re right about the butter. People don’t know what food is supposed to taste like now–it’s all so processed and the flavors removed. I have made my own butter in the past and my mom made ours from our milk cow when I was a kid. Good memories we hold on to!
To Ralph Ahseln, I would try Lard in your cast iron skillet. That’s what we heat up in the skillet before be pour in the cornbread mixture. It gives it a chewy bottom.
Misty,
Thanks for the suggestion. It sure sounds like a plan. If i remember, Grandma DID have a pan of lard nearby.
I always thought she used Bacon grease, but lard could be a possible. The difference between lard, grease and butter is often quite different.. I just happen to have a couple pounds of fine lard. I’m going to give it a try.
Also, I’m going to experiment with oven Temp. I know lower temperatures make a big difference in Cake baking.
Cheers.
Ralph
White or yellow cornmeal, or does it matter? Can’t wait to try it.
Hey Albert, if you will notice the recipe calls for self rising cornmeal MIX. Not just plain cornmeal in yellow or white. If you want to use plain cornmeal you will need to add flour, baking soda and salt to make it rise–otherwise you’ll be eating a hockey puck. You can find the mix in the baking aisle with the flour and cornmeal. I hope that helps! –Rachel
White cornmeal only!
Yellow has a different taste and is sweeter.
The only sweet I want with my cornbread is sorghum molasses! – now, if I could just FIND some. Black strap or regular cane sugar molasses just won’t do, hasta be SURGHUM! Never heard of using a mix – always did it from scratch.
Dale I was raised up making homemade sorghum molasses with the amish in my community. Those great big pans, boiling down the cane until it was so dark and thick…I don’t actually like it :/ but I know how to do it! Those are great memories. –Rachel
You rock! Being a self taught Chef, I make cornbread many different ways because that’s how my mind works. I like both sweetened and unsweetened, but I ALWAYS use a cast iron skillet unless I’m catering. I’ve used other dishes to bake the cornbread, but something about that cast iron skillet is just magical! Keep up the awesome work.
Hey Marty! Well thanks–I do my best to rock. Hahaha! And yes, cast iron is the way to go. The crust is always so golden and crispy and you can’t do that in anything else. Thanks for the compliment and come back and see me soon! –Rachel
I am in Utah, born in California but lived most of my life in utah, (and no, I am not a Mormon loonie).
I love cornbread, not corncake, so no sugar for me. I also use a cast iron skillet to make mine.
This article has made me crave some right now, so you will have to excuse me while I go make some delicious cornbread.
I think I know more loonies from California than I do from Utah Jeff. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the cornbread and make a great big batch very soon! –Rachel
Im from Georgia and wasnt able to get my moms recipe I know she didn’t have it wrote down any where nor her alga syrup cookies or cornbread dressing… Been trying to tweak it for years my uncle tells me but doesn’t tell me how much to put in. But your recipe is what he tells me. Thank you for the amount of what your supposed to put in. My husband is from Texas and likes his sweet but Mexican sometimes. Just got it out of the oven YUM! THANKS AGAIN. Donna
You’re so welcome Donna! I made cornbread just yesterday and ate way more than I should have by myself 😉 I’m so glad you found a recipe that works. Thank you for letting me know! –Rachel
Hi Rachel, I too am from the south, the “real” south! I’m from Walter, Alabama, about 55 miles south of Huntsville and 55 miles north of Birmingham. I too like unsweetened cornbread. I have always cooked it in a cast iron skillet(Pyrex should be illegal to cook cornbread in) that’s just my opinion! But anyway my recipient and yours are about the same except for when it comes to greasing my skillet. I take a large spoon and using the back of the spoon scoop a large helping of Crisco or Lard and grease the inside of your skillet real good even if you have globs here and there it don’t matter. Then I cook it at 400* for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. It will be the most crunchy and tasty cornbread ever! Thanks so much for your recipe and inspiration. God Bless you girl!
Rena I feel like I should call you “honey” right now. Or sister maybe–since we seem to be on the same brainwave. 🙂 I actually have a jar of homemade lard here. I don’t use it a lot because I’d like to live to see my next birthday but it certainly makes the BEST cornbread. No doubt about it. And I always baked my skillet to heat it too until I realized I could shave 30 minutes off my time at the stove by heating it on the burner but I did it in the oven for years and my mom does too so I get it. And for those who use Pyrex, we will just have to let them have it if they don’t have a skillet. Bless their hearts! Thanks for your comment–I love a good true southern girl! I hope you are following the blog and will be back again soon! –Rachel