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This is seriously the best cornbread ever! It’s a moist, sweet cornbread that’s easy to make and perfect with any meal! Fresh out of the oven, it’s drizzled with warm honey butter on top making this buttery cornbread its moist texture with just the right amount of sweetness!
Make this honey butter cornbread recipe and enjoy it with the savory flavors of soul food classics like collard greens and mac and cheese or a hearty homemade chili!
This is such a fun take on traditional cornbread and it’s freaking delicious. So good you’ll never think about using jiffy ever again.
Best part, this is an incredibly easy recipe! Everything comes together in one bowl (don’t you love a one bowl recipe?!)
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Southern Cornbread
- Simple ingredients! This recipe calls for pantry staples, so no need to run to the grocery store for anything fancy or special!
- One of my favorite tried and true recipes! For years, my entire family raves about my cornbread. You’ll have buttery soft cornbread on your dinner table in under a half hour!
- Faster alternative to dinner rolls!
- The honey butta on top! Did I say how crazy delicious it is to sink your teeth into a that has melted honey butter on top?! Well.
- Goes with everything! This recipe perfect side for everything from a seafood boil to fried chicken to black eyed peas!
Key Ingredients
Buttermilk – the acid in buttermilk is responsible for its fluffy texture. It works with the leavening agents to give this sweet honey cornbread a nice lift in the oven while baking! It also inhibits gluten production ensuring a soft and tender homemade cornbread! Save leftovers and make my easy jiffy cornbread with creamed corn next!
Yellow Cornmeal – Be sure to buy cornmeal, not corn grits or polenta. While they are essentially the same thing, the grain is the important part here. You want to look for a fine to medium ground cornmeal. Also, white cornmeal works here too (the only difference is the color). Save leftovers and make my corn pound cake next!
Honey – if you can use local organic honey. Too often the stuff you buy at the grocery store is fake. I really like Nature Nate’s and Local Hive Honey!
Salted Butter – we’re using melted butter for the cornbread batter and room temperature butter for the honey butter that goes on top! I like to use salted butter because it brings out the flavor of the honey but if you prefer a less salty taste, you can use unsalted butter!
Eggs – eggs give this cornbread structure. The egg yolk adds richness and flavor while the egg whites hold everything together.
Spices – just the tiniest bit of cinnamon and nutmeg give this cornbread so much flavor without being overpowering. Trust me on this one!
Pro Tips
- Please don’t use coarse ground cornmeal, corn grits, or polenta! The end result will be a crunchy dry cornbread – and we are trying to avoid that by all means! Use a fine to medium grind cornmeal for best results.
- I used a cast-iron skillet for this recipe. If you’d like to use a different baking pan, be mindful to adjust your baking time accordingly.
- Don’t overmix! As soon as your batter is smooth and all of the ingredients are incorporated, stop mixing and pour into the cast iron pan.
How to make Cornbread from Scratch
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients – melted butter, honey, brown sugar, and white sugar. Whisk together, then add eggs, vanilla extract, and buttermilk and continue to mix until combined.
- Then add the dry ingredients – all purpose flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and kosher salt. Whisk together until a smooth batter forms.
- Pour batter into a 10-inch cast iron skillet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cornbread is golden brown.
- While the cornbread is baking, mix together honey, room temperature butter, and a tiny pinch of salt in a small bowl. When the cornbread is fresh out of the oven, add a generous pat of the honey butter on top and let it melt into the cornbread. Top with a drizzle of extra honey and little flaky sea salt!
Variations
- Use the cornbread batter to make cornbread muffins! Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and fill each tin to the top. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.
- Enjoy with a little whipped cream and fresh fruit for a quick and easy dessert!
- Brown the butter! Add a little extra flavor by making a brown butter honey cornbread! Simply brown the butter before adding it to the cornbread batter for a little nutty flavor.
What to eat with Cornbread
Cornbread is literally the perfect side dish for just about anything! Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy cornbread:
- Collard Greens
- Baked Beans
- Mississippi Pot Roast or Classic Pot Roast
- Pulled Pork
- BBQ Baby Back Ribs
Storing Leftover Cornbread
Store your cornbread at room temperature in an airtight container or tightly cover with plastic wrap. It’ll last for about 3-4 days.
More Cornbread Recipes
Appetizers
Grandma’s Buttermilk Cornbread
Thanksgiving
Sweet Potato Cornbread
Appetizers
Coconut Cornbread with Sweet Lime Butter
Appetizers
Jalapeno Honey Cornbread
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If you make this 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!
Honey Butter Cornbread
Equipment
- 10-inch cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 g) Salted Butter, (melted)
- 1/4 cup (85 g) Honey
- 1/2 cup (110 g) Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) Sugar
- 2 large (100 g) Eggs
- 1 cup (240 g) Buttermilk
- 1 tsp (4 g) Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/4 cup (157 g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/4 cup (198 g) Cornmeal, (fine or medium grind)
- 2 tsp (8 g) Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp (2 g) Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp (0.5 g) Cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp (0.25 g) Nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp (3 g) Kosher Salt
Honey Butter
- 5 tbsps (70 g) Salted Butter, (room temperature)
- 2 tbsps (42 g) Honey
- 1/8 tsp (0.25 g) Cinnamon, (optional)
- Pinch of Salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients – melted butter, honey, brown sugar, and white sugar. Whisk together, then add eggs, vanilla extract, and buttermilk and continue to mix until combined.
- Then add the dry ingredients – all purpose flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and kosher salt. Whisk together until a smooth batter forms. Pour batter into a 10-inch cast iron skillet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cornbread is golden brown.
- While the cornbread is baking, mix together honey, room temperature butter, cinnamon, and a tiny pinch of salt in a small bowl.
- When the cornbread is fresh out of the oven, add a generous pat of the honey butter on top and let it melt into the cornbread. Top with a drizzle of extra honey and little flaky sea salt!
Notes
- Please don’t use coarse ground cornmeal, corn grits, or polenta! The end result will be a crunchy dry cornbread – and we are trying to avoid that by all means! Use a fine to medium grind cornmeal for best results.
- I used a cast-iron skillet for this recipe. If you’d like to use a different baking pan, be mindful to adjust your baking time accordingly.
- Don’t overmix! As soon as your batter is smooth and all of the ingredients are incorporated, stop mixing and pour into the cast iron pan.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Nothing beats some good cornbread.
This was the most amazing cornbread that I have ever had! What a magical recipe! I also made your Grandma’s Cornbread recipe and thinks this one tops it…it wasn’t too sweet and all the flavors complemented each other so well. Also, the moistness of the cornbread was the icing on the cake. Mmmmm mmmmm good!!!!