Try this easy homemade cornbread recipe made using cornmeal, sugar, flour, butter, milk, and eggs for a southern-style side dish ready in 30 minutes or less! It’s easy, inexpensive, and perfect for holiday meals.
Just the thought of this homemade cornbread recipe takes me back to when I was little. That warm and sweet flavor was, and still is, the best.
It’s time to stop using the Jiffy muffin mix and make your very own from scratch instead. I can’t tell you how much better homemade warm cornbread straight from the oven is…you’re just going to have to make it and see for yourself.
Easy and Tasty Homemade Cornbread
Top this homemade cornbread recipe with butter, honey, or eat it plain because the flavor really does speak for itself. You can even add a little bit of milk and crumble it up in a bowl and eat it like cereal, too. (My grandma used to do this back in the day!)
Don’t forget that cornbread is REALLY good with crock pot ham or even a bowl full of easy white chicken chili. It pairs up perfectly with so many easy dinner recipes.
With just 8 simple ingredients and a short baking time of fewer than 30 minutes, you’ll be diving into this easy cornmeal recipe and loving every single bite.
When you’re craving that simple southern flavor, this made-from-scratch cornbread recipe is waiting for you to bake.
Ingredients For Homemade Cornbread
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Cornmeal – Don’t skimp out on this. This is what gives this simple recipe the taste and texture that we all love.
- White Sugar – If you like your cornbread sweet, added sugar is the key. You can also use honey as well if you want.
- Milk – The richness of the milk adds in a great taste and is the main binding agent for the dry ingredients, too.
- Corn Casserole – If you want to use up that Jiffy mix sitting on your shelf, use it for this Easy 5-Ingredient Corn Casserole and Cornbread Casserole
How To Make Homemade Cornbread
- Preheat: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Grease The Dish: Grease and line an 8×8 casserole dish and set aside.
- Mix: In a large bowl, mix together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Combine: Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and add in the melted butter, milk, and egg. Stir well to mix, starting from the middle of the bowl.
- Pour: When all is well mixed, pour the batter into the casserole dish.
- Bake: Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is slightly brown and the edges are pulling away from the casserole dish.
How To Make Cornbread in a Cast Iron Skillet
- Prepare The Skillet: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and place a 9-inch cast iron skillet inside to heat while you make the batter. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Coat the bottom and sides of the hot skillet with the remaining butter.
- Pour In The Batter: Pour the batter into the skillet and place it in the center of the oven.
- Bake The Cornbread: Bake until the center is firm and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes and serve. Top with more butter.
Tips For Success
- To be certain the cornbread is done baking, insert a toothpick in the middle after the timer goes off. If the toothpick comes out clean, it’s ready to be pulled from the oven.
- Let the cornbread cool a little before cutting. If it’s hot, it’s going to crumble and become messy. (but still tasty!)
- You can subsite the regular milk in this recipe with buttermilk for a little tang!
- To Freeze- cut it into squares and place it in a sealed container. Thaw by letting it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- To Reheat – wrap in foil and reheat in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350°F.
Topping Ideas for Cornbread
Top your cornbread for a delicious treat! Here are some of my favorite topping ideas for the best homemade cornbread:
- A drizzle of honey
- Butter
- Honey butter
- Jelly or jam
FAQs
Polenta and cornmeal are almost exactly the same, except for the consistency of the grain. Polenta is much more coarsely ground, which makes the end product less mushy, and it has a little more bite to it than cornmeal.
You can! If you prefer brown sugar, go for it. It’s going to be sweeter for certain and might also make the cornbread have an overall darker coloring as well.
Recipes To Serve Cornbread With
Homemade Cornbread
Ingredients
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
- Coat a square 8×8 baking pan with cooking spray
- In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt
- Add milk, eggs and butter
- Combine until just mixed
- Pour into prepared pan
- Bake for 20-30 or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
Video
Notes
- To be certain the cornbread is done baking, insert a toothpick in the middle after the timer goes off. If the toothpick comes out clean, it’s ready to be pulled from the oven.
- Let the cornbread cool a little before cutting. If it’s hot, it’s going to crumble and become messy. (but still tasty!)
- You can subsite the regular milk in this recipe with buttermilk for a little tang!
- To Freeze- cut it into squares and place in a sealed container. Thaw by letting it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- To Reheat – wrap in foil and reheat in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350°F.
Can you use self rising corn meal?
used buttermilk and honey instead of sugar, comes out like grandma used to make!! kudos!
Very good!!!!
I couldn’t stop eating it, I made it for dressing best recipe
The first time I made this I thought there might be a tad too much butter. I made it last night with 6 tablespoons of butter and used almond milk. It came out perfect.
My husband and boys love me for finding your recipe, thank you!!
I will make this tonight. Can oil be substituted for butter? And almond milk for regular dairy milk. Daughter is dairy intolerant.
I’m sorry I haven’t tried that!
I have made this delicious cornbread a few times and it’s just wonderful each time. Tonight though, I kicked it up a notch by adding bacon bits, chopped shallots and about 1/4 cup corn kernels. Outstanding!! Also, I substituted regular flavored almond milk, not vanilla and it tastes just great!
I make it all the time. Love this recipe so does my daughter. Goes great with chili.
Glad to hear it!
Very good recipe! It’s a moist, delicious cornbread. Best I’ve had in a long time. Thanks!
Just made a pan of this. Delicious! It’s going to go great with the soup beans that’s cooking in the Instant Pot. Will definitely make again. Move over Jiffy and Miracle Maize, cornbread from scratch is the way to go.
From one West Virginian to another, thanks for sharing!
Fantastic cornbread. Used my cast iron skillet and it was perfect. I’ve used krusteaz and Marie calendars for years but this is as easy and better.
That’s wonderful to hear!
Definitely NOT southern style. Southerners couldn’t afford sugar, and when they could, it went into pound cake!
I’m from West Virginia and we loved BOTH sweet and regular cornbread. This one is a hit!
If you don’t want this sweet can you omit the sugar?
Sure! That should be just fine!
Does this recipe use melted butter or softened butter?
Melted butter!