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These Cornbread Biscuits are what happens when two Southern favorites come together. We’re talking big, fluffy buttermilk biscuits with golden, buttery edges, tender centers, and that delicious sweet corn flavor you love in homemade cornbread. There’s also some corn tucked into every bite and a generous slather of homemade honey butter! These babies are downright irresistible!
For more Southern style biscuit recipes, make my old fashioned buttermilk biscuits and easy butter swim biscuits recipe!
Y’all, I love a good skillet of Southern cornbread, but there’s something about a warm, buttery biscuit that gets me every time. So why choose between the two?! These cornbread biscuits come together in one bowl, drop biscuit style – meaning no kneading or rolling pin needed. Think fluffy cheddar bay biscuits, but cornbread instead. Just scoop the dough and you’re good to go!
Cornbread Biscuits Recipe Overview
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy
- 🕒 Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🧊 Chill Time: 20 minutes
- 🧈 Bake Time: 20–25 minutes
- 🧑🍳 Total Time: Approximately 55–60 minutes
- 👪 Serves: About 10 biscuits, depending on scoop size
- 🌽 Made With: Yellow cornmeal (fine ground), all-purpose flour, buttermilk, butter, canned sweet corn, honey
- 🧈 Why This Recipe is the Best: These aren’t your average biscuits! They have the buttery, tender texture of homemade buttermilk biscuits with the sweet corn flavor of Southern cornbread. A little extra corn adds delicious texture, and the dough gets a quick 20-minute chill in the freezer before baking. Finish them with a generous spread of homemade honey butter, and whew! Every bite is pure buttery goodness!
Table of contents
Key Ingredients You’ll Need
(The full list of ingredients and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.)
- All-purpose flour and cornmeal: The perfect combination for a tender biscuit with delicious cornbread flavor. Flour provides structure, while cornmeal adds that classic corn flavor. I recommend fine ground cornmeal rather than a coarse grind for the best texture.
- Cold butter: The secret to rich, buttery biscuits! As the butter melts in the oven, it releases steam helping the biscuits to puff up and become tender. Keep it cold until you’re ready to bake.
- Buttermilk: Adds moisture and a subtle tang that balances the sweetness. Its acidity also reacts with the baking soda to help the biscuits rise.
- Sweet corn: I love cornbread with a lil texture. Just check out my cornbread with creamed corn – it’s SO good. I use drained canned corn for little bursts of sweetness throughout the biscuits. Make sure to drain it well so the dough doesn’t become too wet.
- Honey butter: Just two ingredients – salted butter and honey! It melts beautifully into warm biscuits and complements the cornmeal flavor.
How to Make Cornbread Biscuits
(The complete ingredients and detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card below.)
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients and add cold butter. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Cut the cold butter into chunks and pinch the cold butter into the flour mixture until you have coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces of butter remaining. Pro Tip: You can also use a pastry cutter for this.
Step 2: Add corn and buttermilk. Drain the corn and pat dry with a paper towel. Gently fold in the drained corn and cold buttermilk until a thick, shaggy dough forms. It’ll look dry at first, just keep mixing until everything comes together. Do not add more liquid.
Step 3: Scoop and freeze. Scoop the biscuit dough into 1/3-cup mounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze for 20 minutes, then lightly brush the tops with buttermilk.
Step 4: Bake and serve with honey butter. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bake until the biscuits are puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, approximately 20–25 minutes. While they bake, mix softened salted butter with honey until smooth and creamy. Serve the biscuits warm with plenty of honey butter!
Britney’s Pro Tips
- Keep your butter cold. Cold butter helps create tender biscuits with little pockets of buttery goodness. If the butter starts feeling soft while you’re mixing, pop the dough into the refrigerator for a few minutes.
- Drain the corn really well. Canned corn contains extra liquid that can make the dough too wet. Drain it thoroughly and pat it dry with a paper towel before folding it into the dough.
- Don’t overmix the dough. Once the buttermilk goes in, stir just until everything comes together. The dough should look thick and a little shaggy, not smooth like cake batter. Overmixing can make your biscuits tough.
What to Serve With Cornbread Biscuits
These cornbread biscuits are delicious all on their own, especially with that honey butter melting into every little nook and cranny. But you already know I love a good Southern spread!
Serve them alongside a hearty bowl of chuck roast chili, buttermilk fried chicken, smothered pork chops with mushrooms and onions, or my seafood gumbo recipe. And for the holidays? Put a basket of these warm biscuits on the Thanksgiving table and watch how quickly they disappear!
Storing Leftovers
Store leftover cornbread biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Store the honey butter separately in the refrigerator and allow it to soften before serving.
Cornbread Biscuits Recipe FAQs
They’re very similar! Both combine cornmeal with flour to create biscuits with a delicious corn flavor. These cornbread biscuits also include whole corn kernels, buttermilk, and a little sugar, giving them a flavor that’s especially reminiscent of sweet Southern-style cornbread.
That 20-minute freeze might seem like an extra step, but trust me, it’s worth it! Keeping the butter cold helps the biscuits hold their shape in the oven instead of spreading into flat hockey pucks. As the cold butter heats up, it releases steam that helps create those soft, tender centers and golden, buttery edges. Don’t skip this step, y’all!
Yes! You can use a homemade buttermilk substitute made with milk and lemon juice or vinegar. The flavor and thickness may be slightly different, but it’s a convenient alternative if you don’t have buttermilk on hand. For the best results, I recommend using regular/acidulated cultured buttermilk (aka the storebought stuff).
Absolutely! Just thaw the corn, drain any excess moisture, and pat it dry before mixing it into the dough. This prevents the corn from releasing excess water into the biscuit dough while baking.
Yes! You can prepare and scoop the dough ahead of time, then freeze the unbaked biscuits on a baking sheet until solid. Transfer them to a freezer-safe container and bake directly from frozen when you’re ready. They may need a few additional minutes in the oven, so check that the centers are fully baked before serving.
More Southern Recipes You’ll Love
Appetizers
Honey Butter Cornbread
Breakfast
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Appetizers
Grandma’s Buttermilk Cornbread
Breakfast
Southern Biscuits and Gravy
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If you make this Cornbread Biscuits recipe, please leave a star rating on the recipe card and comment below! You can also tag @BritneyBreaksBread on Instagram and hashtag #britneybreaksbread so I can celebrate your beautiful creations!
Cornbread Biscuits with Homemade Honey Butter
Equipment
- Pastry Brush (optional)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (313 g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup (120 g) Yellow Cornmeal, (fine ground)
- 1/3 cup (80 g) Sugar
- 1 tbsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 3/4 cup (168 g) Salted Butter, (cold)
- 1 cup (150 g) Canned Corn, (drained and pat dry)
- 1 cup (240 g) Whole Fat Buttermilk, (cold), additional for brushing the tops of the biscuits before baking
Homemade Honey Butter
- 1/4 cup (56 g) Salted Butter
- 2 tbsp (40 g) Honey
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2½ cups (313g) all-purpose flour, 1 cup (120g) finely ground cornmeal, ⅓ cup (80g) granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt until evenly combined. 2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour 1 cup Yellow Cornmeal 1/3 cup Sugar 1 tbsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Baking Soda 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- Cut ¾ cup (170g) cold butter into small cubes and add it to the flour mixture. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse, sandy crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces of butter remaining. You should still see little pieces of butter throughout the flour mixture. Don't work the butter in until it's completely smooth! When you can grab the mixture, squeeze it in your hand and it sticks together in your hand without falling apart, the butter is adequately worked into the flour and you can move into the next step. 3/4 cup Salted Butter
- Drain 1 cup (150g) of canned corn thoroughly and pat it dry with a paper towel. Add the corn and 1 cup (240g) of cold buttermilk to the flour mixture. Using a silicone spatula, gently fold everything together until a thick, shaggy dough forms. The dough will look dry and crumbly at first, but keep folding until the flour is incorporated and the dough holds together. It should be thick enough to scoop and hold its shape, not smooth or pourable like cornbread batter. Avoid kneading and overmixing – once everything is combined and the dough sticks together, stop mixing. 1 cup Canned Corn 1 cup Whole Fat Buttermilk
- Using a ⅓-cup measuring cup or cookie scoop, portion the dough into approximately 10 mounds on the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each biscuit. The tops should look rustic and slightly craggy with visible pieces of corn. There's no need to flatten or smooth them out!
- ransfer the baking sheet to the freezer for 20 minutes. The biscuits should feel noticeably firm on the outside, but they don't need to be frozen solid. This helps the butter stay cold and prevents the biscuits from spreading too much during baking.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Remove the biscuits from the freezer and lightly brush the tops with additional buttermilk, about 2-3 tbsps. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until the biscuits are puffed up with golden brown tops, slightly crisp edges, and lightly browned bottoms. The centers should look puffed and set, with no wet or gummy dough. If you're unsure, gently split open one biscuit to check for doneness.
- While the biscuits are baking, add 1/4 cup Salted Butter to a small bowl. Microwave for about 15-20 seconds, until it's spreadable but not fully melted. Add 2 tbsp Honey and mix together until smooth.
- Allow the biscuits to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before serving. Split them open and spread generously with homemade honey butter.
Video
Notes
- Keep the butter cold. Cold butter helps the biscuits hold their shape and creates a tender texture as the butter melts and releases steam during baking.
- Use finely ground cornmeal. Coarse cornmeal can make the biscuits feel gritty. Finely ground yellow cornmeal gives them a softer texture while still delivering that classic cornbread flavor.
- Drain the corn thoroughly. Too much moisture from the canned corn can make the biscuit dough overly wet and affect how the biscuits bake.
- Don’t overmix. Mix just until the dough comes together. A thick, shaggy dough with visible corn kernels is exactly what you want!
- Freeze before baking. That 20-minute freezer rest helps prevent excessive spreading and encourages taller biscuits with tender centers.
- Storage: Store cooled biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat in a 325°F oven until warmed through. Refrigerate leftover honey butter separately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
