Easy Moist Cornbread
This easy and moist cornbread recipe is a true southern treat made with tangy buttermilk and baked in a cast iron skillet to achieve the iconic crispy bottom. This one bowl recipe is incredibly versatile and is a great base recipe to create endless variations!
OVERVIEW
- Skill Level: Beginner
Let’s get this out of the way: I am not from the south. I am a Midwesterner who loves to bake and a student of baking things the “proper way.”
After testing many cornbread variations, I developed this recipe – one that I truly believe yields the best, most authentic southern-style cornbread. Using mostly cornmeal, a good amount of butter, a pinch of sugar, and buttermilk, this cornbread is exceptionally moist. To achieve that iconic crispy bottom, this cornbread bakes in a cast iron skillet.
What makes this cornbread easy, moist, and crispy
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No special tools or equipment required for this one bowl, one skillet cornbread recipe.
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For crispy-bottomed cornbread, bake the cornbread batter in a hot cast iron skillet. This is key and what makes this the best cornbread recipe.
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Melted butter and thick buttermilk keep this cornbread moist. After baking, I like to run a stick of butter over the top of the hot cornbread so that it soaks right in and stays even more moist and buttery.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Cornmeal
It’s no secret that cornmeal is the star in a cornbread recipe. White cornmeal is most commonly used in southern recipes, however the same amount of yellow cornmeal can be used as well. Yellow cornmeal tends to be a bit sweeter than white cornmeal.
For truly exceptional cornbread, use a high quality cornmeal. If you can find it, fresh stone ground cornmeal from a small mill gives the best results. I love using this Palmetto Farms Stone Ground White Cornmeal – you can really taste a difference!
If you don’t have access to fresh ground cornmeal, don’t fret. I’ve tested this recipe with generic store-bought cornmeal and it’s just as delicious. If you’re feeling adventurous, try your hand at making your own cornmeal and using that in this recipe.
All-purpose Flour
Does flour belong in a cornbread recipe? I’ve tested several cornbread recipes with varying amounts of flour – some without any, some with a little, and some with a high percentage. In my opinion, a small amount of flour really does wonders for the texture of the cornbread (especially cornbread made with generic cornmeal). Even with a little bit of flour, cornmeal remains the star ingredient of this moist cornbread recipe.
For a gluten free cornbread, replace the all-purpose flour with the same amount of a gluten free flour blend.
Butter
I greatly prefer making cornbread with melted butter instead of oil. Oil gives cornbread a lighter, tender cornbread, white butter adds richness and incredible flavor. If you’d prefer, you can use vegetable oil or canola oil in place of the butter.
If using salted butter in this recipe, reduce the added salt to 1 1/2 teaspoons.
Sugar
While this recipe calls for a little sugar, this is not a sweet cornbread recipe. Sugar simply balances the flavors. For a sweeter cornbread recipe, use 132 grams (⅔ cup) of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt.
Buttermilk
Buttermilk serves three purposes in this recipe: to give the bread flavor, tenderize the cornbread, and react with the baking soda to make the bread rise.
If you do not have buttermilk, make a substitute: add 1 ½ tablespoons of white vinegar (or lemon juice) to a glass measuring cup and add enough milk to equal 1 ½ cups. Stir and let this mixture sit for 5 minutes before using in the recipe.
Variation Ideas
Cornbread Muffins: Grease a 12-count muffin tin with non-stick spray and divide the batter between the muffin cups. (Muffin liners do not work well with cornbread recipes.) Reduce the oven temperature to 400°F/205°C and bake for 15-18 minutes or until cooked through.
Brown Butter Cornbread: Melt 10 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir frequently until the butter starts to smell nutty and turns a medium amber color. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Proceed with the recipe as written, but add an additional 2 tablespoons of buttermilk in step 3.
Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread: Add 1 teaspoon garlic powder to the dry ingredients. After the wet and dry ingredients are combined, gently fold in 113 grams (4 ounces, 1 ¼ cups) shredded sharp cheddar cheese and 80 grams (⅔ cup) chopped fresh jalapeños.
Bacon Scallion Cornbread: Cook 4 slices of thick-cut bacon. Chop the slices into small pieces or crumbles. Gently add the bacon pieces and 8 thinly sliced scallions to the batter and combine.
How to make cornbread
This homemade cornbread recipe couldn’t be easier to make. It’s buttery, soft but crispy, and comes together in minutes.
Melt the butter
While the oven and cast iron skillet preheat, melt the butter in a saucepan on the stove set to medium-low heat or in the microwave. If using the microwave, microwave the butter at half power for 30 seconds and then in 15 second increments until almost completely melted. Stir the butter together for a few seconds until fully melted.
Set aside 2 tablespoons of the melted butter to use to grease the skillet. The remaining butter will go into the cornbread batter. Let it cool slightly while you gather the rest of the ingredients.
Mix the batter
Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl: cornmeal, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Whisk together until combined.
To the same bowl, add in the wet ingredients: buttermilk, eggs, and the larger amount of melted butter. Gently stir together until everything is incorporated. You don’t want to over-mix the batter or it will become dense.
Bake
Carefully remove the pre-heated cast iron skillet from the oven. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter to the skillet. Use an oven mitt to hold the skillet and swirl the butter around the bottom of the skillet, until completely coated. Pour the cornbread batter into the skillet and immediately place into the hot oven.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs.
Two Optional Extra Steps:
Crispy Cornbread Top: For a crispy top, place the skillet under the broiler for 1-2 minutes. Watch closely so the top doesn’t burn!
Extra Butter: To keep the cornbread moist and buttery, unwrap one end of a stick of butter and run it over the top of the baked cornbread while it is still hot. The butter will seep into the bread, adding extra moistness and flavor.
Serve warm with butter and a drizzle of honey.
FAQ
Which pan is best for cornbread?
A cast iron skillet is the best pan to use for cornbread – it gives cornbread that signature crispy bottom crust and edges. Although a cast iron skillet is the traditional way to bake cornbread, there are other options if you don’t have one. Instead of a cast iron skillet, use a glass or metal baking pan (like a cake pan) for cornbread. Coat the bottom and sides of the pan with butter, but do not preheat this pan in the oven as you would if using a skillet.
Baking cornbread in a glass or metal pan yields a softer, more cake-like cornbread.
Is melted butter or oil better for cornbread?
For a rich, indulgent flavor, I prefer using melted butter. Oil works in a pinch, but cornbread made with oil is lighter, less dense, and less flavorful.
What goes well with cornbread?
Cornbread is such a great side dish and a delicious addition to any meal. Serve with soups, stews, pot roast, or barbecue. My very favorite way to serve cornbread, however, is topped with homemade chili and all of the toppings like sour cream and shredded cheese.
Prep and Storage
Room Temperature or Refrigerator: Wrap leftover cornbread in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Freezer: Tightly wrap a single layer of cornbread in plastic wrap. Place in a zipper bag (this will help prevent freezer burn) and freeze for up to 3 months.
Make Ahead: Make and bake cornbread up to 3 days before serving. When ready to serve, wrap it in aluminum foil (this will keep it from drying out) and bake at 350°F/175°C for 10-15 minutes until warmed through.
MORE RECIPES FROM BAKER BETTIE!
If you enjoyed this great recipe, you might like to try these other delicious savory quick bread recipes.
Easy Moist Cornbread Recipe
This easy and moist cornbread recipe is a true southern treat made with tangy buttermilk and cooked in a cast iron skillet to achieve the iconic crispy bottom. This one bowl recipe is incredibly versatile and is a great base recipe to create endless variations!
Ingredients
- 140 grams (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, divided
- 240 grams (2 cups) cornmeal (good quality stone ground cornmeal preferred)
- 60 grams (½ cup) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¾ teaspoons kosher salt
- 25 grams (2 tablespoons) granulated sugar
- 360 grams (1 ½ cups, 360 milliliters) buttermilk, room temperature*
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
Instructions
Prep
- Position an oven rack to the center position and place a well seasoned 10 inch or 12 inch (25 or 30 cm) cast iron skillet inside. Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C. (Preheating the skillet helps create cornbread with a crispy bottom.)
Make the cornbread
- While the oven and cast iron skillet preheat, melt the butter (140 grams/ 10 tablespoons) in a saucepan on the stove or slowly in the microwave. Once completely melted, set aside about 2 tablespoons to use to grease the skillet. The remaining butter will be used in the batter. Set both aside to cool slightly.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the cornmeal (240 grams/ 2 cups), all-purpose flour (60 grams/ ½ cup), baking powder (1 ½ teaspoons), baking soda (½ teaspoon), salt (1 ¾ teaspoons), and sugar (25 grams/ 2 tablespoons). Whisk together until combined.
- Add in the buttermilk (360 grams/ 1 ½ cups), eggs (2 large), and the larger amount of melted butter (8 tablespoons). Stir until everything is just incorporated- try not to over-mix.
- Carefully remove the hot cast iron skillet from the oven. Add the remaining melted butter (about 2 tablespoons) to the skillet and swirl it around until the bottom is coated. Pour the cornbread batter into the skillet and immediately place the skillet back into the hot oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs. For a crispier top, put it under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, watching it very closely.
- Optional: Run a stick of butter over the top of the baked cornbread while it is still hot. The butter will seep into the bread and keep it extra moist and flavorfulnd keep it extra moist and delicious.
Notes
* See the post above for ingredient substitutions.
If you do not have a cast-iron skillet:
Use an 8 or 9 inch (20 or 23 cm) square or round baking pan. Do not preheat it. Pour 2 tablespoons of the melted butter directly in the pan, swirl it around, then add the batter. Bake at 400°F/205°C for about 23-28 minutes.
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138 Comments on “Easy Moist Cornbread”
Love how the detail and number of variations you provided! This looks so delicious!! I haven’t made cornbread in way too long.
Hey Laura! I hadn’t either until the last two weeks when I made maybe 20 batches! HAHA! I forgot how much I loved it!
Sorry, much too salty for us. I would cut it at least in half next time I make it. Was very easy to make. Cast iron skillet simple enough to use (a first for me). Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Anne! Sorry to hear you found this recipe too salty. Would you mind sharing if you definitely used unsalted butter, not salted butter? And what kind of salt you used? Was it by chance table salt? I’m just trying to sort out why it might be too salty as I have made the recipe many times and would like to make more notes. Thank you!
Dear Baker Betty,
As you know from the review I submitted, I love your blog. I, too, have tried countless cornbread recipes because cornbread has always been my family’s “bread of choice.” Our by-miles favorite recipe is similar to yours, and have been asked for the recipe many times. Three non-negotiable secrets to the best cornbread: 1) good thick fat buttermilk (no substitutes), 2) a small portion of your total cornmeal should be coarse-ground to give it a bit of gritty chewiness, and 3) bacon grease pre-heated in the cast-iron skillet. You are absolutely right that good cornmeal makes the difference. Most store-bought cornmeal is too finely ground and lacks the flavor of mature corn. I try to use fresh locally milled cornmeal, but when I can’t get it, I use Aunt Jemima yellow, and regardless, I always include just a small handful of coarse-ground meal from Bob’s Red Mill.
I love this, Robin! I can tell you are an absolute pro when it comes to making outstanding cornbread. Thanks for sharing your tried and true tips!
This is nice cornbread, I just made it. I agree, the different cornmeals yield different results and I would have liked a slightly finer grind on mine (it was Bob’s Red Mill). I do have to say….always always always grease my cast iron with bacon grease for cornbread. It’s a requirement. 🙂 Never butter.
Oh, thank you, Dana! I’m so glad you liked it. Bacon grease is definitely the way to go 😉
I love Cornbread and I’m looking forward to trying your version. It looks to be the best of two world.
I appreciate that you included weights. It will make it easier to convert it into bakers percentages for easy scaling.
Thanks,
Chuck
Your video recipe doesn’t match your written one on the website….1 1/2tsp baking powder vs 1tsp in written and 4oz butter vs 5…i followed the video…we’ll see what happens.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Julia. My apologies for the confusion! The quantity of the butter is divided – 4 ounces in the batter and 1 ounce in the skillet. I’ll be sure to update the baking powder quantity to 1 1/2 teaspoons 😉 Hope your cornbread was delicious!
This didnt turn out so well for me, i found it to be very bland.
So sorry to hear that, Nancy! Please let me know if I can help you troubleshoot the recipe in any way!
FYI your gram measuremeants are very wrong. Had to take it out of the oven and redo when I realized something didn’t seem right.
Hi there,
I just double checked and the gram measurements are accurate. What did you think didn’t seem right? It will be a thick batter consistency.
Yes, gram measurements are incorrect. I measured out 1/2 cup of cornmeal and flour with my scale. 1/2 cornmeal weighs 88g (so 356 g for 2 cups) and 1/2c flour weighs 60g. Cornmeal is denser than flour so it is going to weigh more.
Hi Meredith, what type of cornmeal are you using? 240 grams is the correct measurement to use for this recipe. For me, 1 cup of whole cornmeal weighs about 120 grams, King Arthur notes it weighing about 138 grams here: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart
As always, weight is the more accurate measurement so I always suggest using the weight for recipes.
I took a sight shortcut. I put my butter into my cast iron skillet while it heated in the oven to melt instead of stove top or microwave. Ended up with brown butter!!!! Turned out fabulous!
YUM! Great move, Jennifer!
I love unsweetened cornbread, can this recipe be made but omitting the sugar? I don’t like sweet cornbread plus I’m sure there are a lot of people that like unsweetened cornbread!
Hi Teri! I address this pretty in depth in the article for this recipe as well as the notes for the recipe. This is not a sweet cornbread. 2 TBSP of sugar is not enough to make it sweet, rather it balances out the flavors. I tested this recipe many times without sugar and found it always tasted flat. However, I life in Chicago where I am not able to easily find very high quality cornmeal that is made from corn in its peak season. If you do have a very high quality cornmeal, you can likely get away with leaving the sugar out. I just found that a tad of sugar in general made a cornbread that tasted more like corn, if that makes sense.
I made this cornbread for my husband. He really liked it, the only thing I would change next time is I would use less salt. I would not use 2 teaspoons of salt. I would use 1/2 teaspoon of regular salt or lite salt. The 2 teaspoon of kosher salt made the corn bread much to salty
Hi Carolyn, So glad the cornbread was enjoyed! Can I ask which brand of salt you used?
I agree! It was super salty. I’ll cut back to 1 tsp next time. Great texture and it was buttery and moist!
Hi Mee! Sorry to hear you found it too salty. Can I ask what kind of salt you used. Unfortunately not all salt is created equal and some salts are more dense per tsp than others. This will help me make a note for other readers. Also, did you by chance use salted butter?
Sorry turned out to be a crumbled mess.
Will not make again. Don’t recommend this.
Hi Elka! Sorry to hear this didn’t work out for you! Since this is a tested recipe made many times with success, I’d love to help troubleshoot and see where it may have gone wrong for you. It sounds like you may have ended up with too much dry ingredients in your batter. Make sure when you measure your cornmeal and flour that you lightly spoon it into your measuring cup, being extra careful not to pack it in at all, and then level it off. Hope that is helpful!
Can you substitute honey for the sugar? Would that change the mix of dry ingredients if you did? Also I need to make this gluten free, does it really change the recipe to omit the flour?
Hi Tamara, yes you can substitute the honey for the sugar with no issues. As far as omitting the flour, your ratios will be off and you will need to adjust. It will also be much more crumbly without the flour. I would suggest substituting the flour for 1/4 cup of cornstarch instead of omitting all together.
Hi! I was just wondering where I can find the notes on buttermilk substitutions? It’s an uncommon thing here in Canada, so I’d love to find out what proportions I would need for the alternatives, thanks!
Hi Quinn! Thanks for bringing this to my attention. My website was updated recently and some of my recipe notes were removed. I have updated the recipe to add the notes back in. You can also read more about buttermilk substitutes here: https://bakerbettie.com/buttermilk-substitute/
Not sure what’s uncommon about buttermilk in Canada?!? I live in Canada and it’s definitely readily available here at every grocery store.
Not sure where you live in Canada but I see buttermilk in the grocery store all the time! I live in London, Ontario.
I substituted 2 Tbsp. for the butter as this is the way my mother cooked it and she was a southern style cook. Your recipe title says “Moist” which is exactly what I was looking for, however I was disappointed because it was dry and crumbly. May have been the cornmeal which I buy organic and it is not a fine grind but medium. Tasted alright hjust didn’t hold together. Thanks
I missed saying I substituted bacon grease for the butter.
I made 2 batches yesterday. One in a cast iron skillet, the other in my cast iron Dutch oven. Hands down the best cornbread ever. I used Bob’s Red mill cornmeal. 1/2 medium grind & 1/2 coarse (not polenta). It was so moist & flavorful & got rave reviews from everyone at the party. I did use 1T white balsamic vinegar in Strauss whole milk instead of buttermilk.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Stephanie! That’s so great to hear!
I
After making many recipes of Skillet cornbread, this is by far my favorite and the most Dependable. No changes. I love it!
That’s so great to hear Sally! So glad you enjoy it!
This was my first time making cornbread from scratch and it worked out pretty well for me. Thanks for all the detailed explanations on the different options and how you landed on the recipe. I’ll probably try adding jalapeños next time.
I have a few questions for you though, what can I do to make it more moist? It came out a bit too dry for me. Do I pull it out earlier? Increase butter and/or buttermilk? I think all my ingredients were good quality, other than maybe the buttermilk. All I could find was Garelick “Reduced Fat Cultured Buttermilk”. I’ve never bought buttermilk before so wasn’t really sure what to look for.
I used Kerrygold unsalted butter, Bob’s Red Mill medium grain cornmeal, gold enriched all purpose flour.
Thanks!
Really fantastic cornbread! Great recipe!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it Stanley!
Your recipe was a delicious success. We entered the jalapeño cheddar cornbread into a contest this weekend in Burnsville NC and won $75 – Thank You
This was out delicious! Definitely my new favorite cornbread recipe. The crust was nice and toasted (I cooked mine in the skillet) and the inside was moist and buttery, so good!
That makes me very happy Sarah! So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Just made this last night and it’s a great base recipe to experiment with. I got feed back from work mates that it was maybe too firm. Any advice?
Hi Rob! Make sure you are measuring your flour and cornmeal by lightly spooning it into the measuring cup and not packing it in at all. If it is too firm its possible that you got a little too much flour or cornmeal in your batter. It should be very fluffy!
This is the absolute best cornbread recipe I have ever made! Most recipes use way too much flour giving a cake like result. This is my go to recipe from now on! Thank you so much. I have a vegan son who visits on holidays. After I made it the regular way I tested a vegan version and it was also amazing. Next time I will reduce the salt in the vegan version since the Earth Balance I use as a butter substitute is salted. So happy I found your recipe!
That’s so great to hear Lynda! So glad you enjoyed it!
Horrible. Do not make. It burns then the inside is still liquid wasted alot of ingredients i dont have more of over this bs jump of liquid coal. Might try and salvage the liquid inside and re bake.
I tried this recipe for New Years and found it to be too buttery. It served its purpose but I won’t make it again.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy it Courtney! Because this is supposed to be a very moist cornbread it is very buttery. Thanks for the feedback.
Being from the south, self rising flour is all I cook with. I generally use three rivers cornmeal wich is also self rising. But I found some fresh ground cornmeal at our local Amish market and wanted to try it. So my question is how do I use self rising flour in this recipe. By the way White Lily self rising flour is a staple in East TN. It is hard to find all purpose flour here. Where as when I travel out if my region I generally take my flour with me because you can’t find self rising flour in other parts of the country.
Thank you. Easy to make and I always love an opportunity to use my cast iron. You may not be from the south but this tasted the closest to my mom in loves cornbread. I felt like she was in the room with us again. Makes this recipe even more special.
Love love this cornbread!!! My husband loves cornbread so we will be trying variations.
Any advice on storage and reheating??
Thank you!!
Your video says to use 3 t so of sugar but your recipe says 2. Which one is appropriate?
I started this recipe but quit when I noticed most of the gram weights are way off. I weighed the the flour, butter and corn meal and they don’t equal the measured amounts. Anyone else run into this?
Hi Melissa, not sure what might be going on here, but the weights are correct. These are standard weight measurements. Depending on how you are measuring your flour and cornmeal, you might have ended up with too much in your cup. You want to spoon them into your measuring cup, without packing it down, and then level it off. It is very easy to get too much in the measuring cup which is why weights are much more accurate. 1 cup of flour or cornmeal, if measured properly, will weigh 120 grams. So the 2 cups of cornmeal is 240 grams and the 1/2 cup of flour is 60 grams. 1 stick of butter, which is 8 TBSP is 112 (or 113 depending on how you round) grams. You might not have ever noticed, but it is actually written on most sticks of butter. So 10 TBSP is 140 gr. A full cup of granulated sugar is 200 grams. There are 16 TBSP in a cup so 2 TBSP of sugar will weigh 25 grams. Hope that helps clear it up!
Thanks so much for the response! I love weighing ingredients because I find it usually gives a more uniform end product. Maybe it’s the brand of cornmeal I use. I only got a little more than 1 1/2 c for 240 g. Being that far off made me think I’d try something else.
Best cornbread recipe I’ve ever tried! Will definitely be making again and again. Thank you for all the tips.
That’s so great to hear Carol! I’m so glad you loved it!
your recipe for corn bread not good , tasted like cake my mother used to make a waxy corn bread (she called it waxy)she would ask, “do you kids want Waxy or the other we would always choose waxy .
when she died so did recipe, I am originally from the hills of Ky. I made candy for Harry and David and Modern Bride Magazine by the eighteen wheeler load and can’t make waxy corn bread. Lpl
My grandmother in Monterey TN made Waxy cornbread. We are trying to find the recipe
Interesting!
What is the consistency supposed to be before pouring into pan? I’ve used another recipe that called for the batter to be slightly thinner than pancake batter. First time making this, and it was thicker than I’m used to.
I already sent one before I signed up.
So, so yummy!! I made one and had to immediately make a second because my family devoured it in minutes! This will be my go to recipe from now on
I’ve been trying for years to duplicate my mother’s cornbread. I think I’ve found it in your recipe and instructions. However, she used Indianhead stone-ground white cornmeal and buttermilk. I am going to try it.
I am also currently trying to learn the differences in fine, medium, and coarse meal. Is there fine cornmeal?
I’m so happy to have found your website!
I’m making some cornbread for a cowboy/ farmer I’m dating. So, it has to be good. I did find stone ground cornmeal from a good brand. I’m tasting my cornbread now and it’s crunchy? Like definite little bits of the cornmeal. Should I start over and grind it up more first? Or is crunchy cornbread not a turn off?
Really trying to impress this guy 🙂
The outside crust should definitely have a little crunch but not the inside. Would you say the inside is crunchy? If so, then yes I would say you’d need to grind it up a bit more. Good luck! I’m sure he’s going to love it!
Unfortunately I agree about the weight comments. I made this and the weight measurements were way off from the others. My bread didn’t stay together after being sliced and trying to serve. ☹️
I followed the recipe precisely including using the cast iron skillet. I cut down the time in the oven because it was starting to burn around the edges. It tasted good (not as moist as I expected)but was very crumbly.
Think I’ll try another recipe next time.
Hi Kay, did you weigh your ingredients? Did you rub butter on the outside when it came out of the oven? This recipe has been tested many times and should come out very moist as well as crumbly which is typical for a cornbread.
This is the best cornbread ever
So glad you like it!
Eh….should have lessened baking time by 2-3 min. Came out a bit dry.
Should have cut down on baking time, very dry. Not worth making again.
Hi Michelle, I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you! This recipe has been tested many times with good results. Is your oven a little hot perhaps? Do you have an oven thermometer to check?
Thank you for a very yummy recipe. I’ve been disappointed in the past making cornbread from scratch and even wasn’t too thrilled with Bob’s Red Mill cornbread mix. For this recipe I did use Bobs Red Mill cornmeal, followed your recipe exactly measuring in grams rather than cups, used 1 tsp salt because I used salted butter and even used 3 TBL of sugar instead of 2 and it was delicious. Could not even taste any sweetness, I might up it to 4 TBL next time because I like just a hint of sweet. I only had an 8” cast iron pan and not knowing for sure if the entire batter would fit filled the pan 1/2 way and placed the rest in a smaller pan, (turns out it would of fit the 8” pan) I definitely love the crunchy crust. It was moist and slightly crumbly as you described. This is my go to recipe from now on. Thank you again. P.S. It’s to bad all recipes aren’t in weight measurement rather than cups. I agree weight measurement is far more accurate than measuring by cups.
I used the muffin variation and the fell apart like sand. Wasn’t moist at all.
Why not include the gram weight of the salt in this great recipe along with the volume as you thankfully have with some other ingredients?
This would help clear up salt’s textural ambiguities!
This is a common stumbling block in many recipes.
And “ salt to taste “ shouldn’t even be called a recipe and only perhaps works in a stew.
Love this recipe!! I have tried it several times now and it never disappoints!! How would it be as fried cornbread?
How do I make heavy not sweet cornbread. And can I put oil in the skillet while heating it in the oven? My stepmother used to make it something like that using a product called Miracle Maze.
This recipe does not make a sweet cornbread. Try it! You can even omit the sugar if you’d like. Yes, you can put oil or butter in the skillet.
I just tried the muffins version of this for better portion control and they are wonderfully moist and delicious! I made the following substitutions, being sure to use weights when given: Bacon grease instead of butter; Palmetto’s stone ground gluten free grits (1/2 & 1/2 yellow and white) instead of their cornmeal – that’s what we had on hand, and I ran it through the food processor after weighing to make the grind more powdery and less course; used One to One gluten free all purpose flour; used erythritol/monk fruit sweetener instead of sugar; 1/2 tsp fine ground pink salt (it’s what I had on hand); and the plain yogurt + water instead of buttermilk (again, what I had on hand); I rubbed the butter over the tops right after I pulled them from the oven. Yum!! Next time I’ll try the Jalapeno Cheddar version as muffins.
Thanks for sharing! Glad you liked them!
Hi! Could you mix the dry ingredients and store prior to making then add wet ingredients when ready?
You can!
Finally, a cornbread recipe that is truly MOIST!! Thank you! All that butter really does the trick. I followed the recipe, subbing milk with vinegar for the buttermilk as instructed. Definitely the best cornbread recipe I’ve found online!
Wonderful! Thanks for the great review!
Great cornbread recipe! It was great with the potato soup I made! 🙂
Awesome!
This recipe is terrible. I threw the entire batch out. The ratio of ingredients is off, the batter is strangely thick, the taste was bland. I do not recommend this recipe.
I’m so sorry you didn’t like it! This recipe has been tested many times with great results and reviews.
What grind of cornmeal would you recommend, course or fine or doesn’t it matter?
I would use fine or medium. Coarse will be too gritty.