This delicious homemade cornbread is simply the best. It’s buttery, moist and tender and the perfect side for chili, soups or stews.
Cornbread is something that is always a hit. If you bring this along to pretty much any event or special occasion, you’ll be popular.
And it’s such a good side to serve alongside comfort food classics like a good chili or a delicious bowl of soup or stew.
It’s slightly sweet, but not overly so; it is bread and not cake after all. We added in some whole corn kernels which just add some lovely texture and flavor to it, but they’re optional if you prefer to keep your cornbread plain.
It’s simply divine served warm and spread with butter, or if you want to sweeten it up then some honey or syrup is awesome too.
And it’s so easy to make. This cornbread bakes in 25 minutes. So let’s do this!
How To Make Cornbread
Full instructions and measurements can always be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add yellow cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix together.
- Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl and then add in buttermilk and honey and mix together briefly.
- Pour over the dry ingredients, add an egg and mix into a thick batter.
- Add in canned whole sweet corn kernels (drained) and fold in.
- Transfer the batter to a 9×9 square dish (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with a parchment paper overhang) and smooth down.
- Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes and then use the parchment paper overhang to lift the cornbread out of the dish and place onto a wire cooling rack. Cut into squares and serve.
Recipe Tips
Yellow Cornmeal. This is also called ‘polenta’ in Australia and South Africa.
Buttermilk: We use buttermilk in this recipe which creates a wonderfully tender crumb in this cornbread. You can use real buttermilk of course, but if you don’t happen to have any, then it’s super easy to make a homemade buttermilk. Just add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white distilled vinegar to a measuring jug and then add room temperature milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Leave it for a few minutes to curdle and thicken.
Whole sweet corn kernels. We used canned sweet corn kernels – whole corn kernels and not creamed corn – in this recipe but you can omit this if you prefer to keep your cornbread plain.
Storing and Freezing
This cornbread is at its best when fresh and warm straight from the oven. However, you can keep leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
It is freezer friendly and can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and then warm it in the microwave.
More Delicious Bread Recipes
- The Easiest Homemade Bread
- The Best Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- The Best Zucchini Bread
- Pumpkin Bread
Cornbread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Yellow Cornmeal + 2 Tbsp (176g)*
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour + 3 Tbsp (150g)*
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ cup Butter Measured then melted
- 1 cup Buttermilk or Homemade Buttermilk*
- 2 Tbsp Honey
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 and ½ cups Whole Sweet Corn Kernels Canned, Drained*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and spray a 9×9 square baking dish with non-stick spray and line it with parchment paper so that there is overhang on either side of the dish. Set aside.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the yellow cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix together.
- Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl and then add the buttermilk and honey and mix together briefly.
- Add the wet ingredients in with the dry, add the egg and then mix into a thick batter.
- Add in the canned whole sweet corn kernels (drained) and fold them into the batter.
- Transfer the batter to your prepared 9×9 square dish and smooth down.
- Bake for 25 minutes until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes and then use the parchment paper overhang to lift the cornbread out of the dish and place onto a wire cooling rack. Cut into squares and serve.
Video
Notes
- Yellow cornmeal is called Polenta in Australia and South Africa. The measurement for yellow cornmeal in this recipe is 1 cup + 2 Tbsp yellow cornmeal. The weight in grams is 176g in total.
- All purpose flour should be measured correctly using the spoon and level method, which is to spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup. The measurement for this recipe is 1 cup + 3 Tbsp all purpose flour. The total weight if you want to weigh it should be 150g in total.
- Buttermilk: You can use real buttermilk in this recipe, but if you don’t happen to have any, then you can use homemade buttermilk. Just add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white distilled vinegar to a measuring jug and then add room temperature milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Leave it for a few minutes to curdle and thicken.
- The sweet corn kernels are optional. If you prefer your cornbread to be plain then you can omit the canned sweet corn kernels entirely.
- Leftovers: This cornbread is at its best when fresh and warm straight from the oven. However, you can keep leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Ticks all the boxes but a bit too sweet for my taste. I used a scant 1/2 cup brown sugar the first time and will go down to 1/3 cup next time. However, I can see how a lot of people would like it as is.
Thanks for sharing Holly!
I gave the recipe 5 stars because it was delicious and everyone raved about it. However, it came out very cake-like and crumbled badly. It was not dry, it was nicely moist. It was perfectly baked but you couldn’t pick up a piece without it falling apart. What could have caused the bread to be so cakey and crumble? I’ll repeat this recipe since we all raved about it and there were a few “this is excellent” comments (and it was also all devoured) but I’d like to know why it crumbled.
Hi Elaine. Thanks for your great review! Not sure why it turned out crumbly if it wasn’t over baked. Did you use all purpose flour or bread flour?
Delicious!
Yay! Thanks for your great review!
This is wonderful! I made this cornbread with frozen corn, just microwaved the package according to instructions and let it cool a bit before adding it to the batter. The cornbread has a deep flavor that reminds me of a nice restaurant. Not dry like many recipes I’ve tried before. Even baked it in tiny cast-iron pans my family was gifted, turned out beautiful, highly recommend! A keeper for sure
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you so much for your amazing review!
Great recipe!
Thank you!
Really delicious. It was not done at 25 minutes however it took my oven 40 minutes to cook
So glad it was delicious! Ovens can differ quite a bit! I use an oven thermometer that is really useful to make sure the temp inside is what you expect it to be. 🙂
I made muffins with the recipe, using paper liners. I thought they might stick to the paper. They didn’t! It was important to let them cool completely before unwrapping them. They were exactly what I was hoping for, sweet and moist. Next time I’m adding a little jalapeno.
Wonderful! So happy they turned out great!
Looked at a lot of recipes and I decided to try this one firstly because it had whole kernel corn which I really like in cornbread. I put this recipe in my binder where I have all my favorite go-to recipes because this is now one of my favorite go-to recipes. It was easy to make, tasted great, what more could you ask for. Followed the directions and the cornbread turned out great, and my husband loved it also.
So happy to hear that Florence! Thank you so much for the great review!
Oh my! First of all, I have to thank you so much for the perfect, I mean “the most perfect” cornbread recipe!
I baked this for my niece and nephew, but they didn’t like it. I thought there was something wrong so I tasted it. The only thing wrong is their age! They’re not old enough to appreciate this corn smell. They are so used to the canned corn smell so they couldn’t really smell the “corn meal” smell.
Anyways, I had one piece and I had to have another one. My mom tasted it and she loved it. She said it reminds her of old school memories. I’ll try to bake this a little less sweet next time since I’m watching my weight. (But the recipe itself has the perfect sweetness.)
Again, thanks!
Wow, so happy to hear that Ellin! Thank you so much for the amazing review!
Love this cornbread recipe! Great texture and tastes really good!
So glad you liked it! 🙂