This is the Best Sweet Cornbread Recipe because it’s light and cake-like with the perfect buttery and moist texture.
We love this simple cornbread recipe with my Slow Cooker Chili or BBQ Baby Back Ribs for some good ‘ol fashion Southern comfort food. Slather this sweet cornbread with butter and honey for an extra special treat.
Sweet Cornbread Recipe
When it comes to cornbread there is much debate on whether it should be sweet or savory.
Northern cornbread isn’t very sweet, and has fewer eggs, resulting in a more crumbly texture. Southern cornbread, on the other hand, is more cake-like in texture with plenty of butter and sugar.
We’re making Southern-style cornbread today. It happens to be my favorite, and I’m positive you’ll enjoy it as well.
Ingredients Needed for Southern Cornbread –
You’ll only need a few ingredients, but they are crucial to making the best cornbread.
- All Purpose Flour – make sure you spoon and level the flour, don’t pack it in
- Yellow Cornmeal – found in the baking aisle
- Sugar – try swapping in 1/2 cup packed brown sugar for a little more molasses flavor
- Salt
- Baking Powder
- Melted Butter – if using salted butter, adjust the amount of salt you add to the recipe accordingly
- Buttermilk – gives the cornbread it’s signature tang and moistness
- Eggs – helps give the cornbread it’s delicious texture
How To Make Sweet Cornbread
Making cornbread is actually quite simple. It’s the basic combination of dry ingredients with wet ingredients, then baking!
- DRY Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl and whisk together.
- WET Combine the melted butter, buttermilk and eggs in another bowl and whisk to combine.
- COMBINE Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined and then spoon mixture into a prepared baking dish.
- BAKE Bake until set in center.
My family goes bananas for this easy cornbread recipe. We make it all the time to accompany soups, bbq dishes, roasted chicken, and so much more.
Even my picky 10 year old LOVES it with butter and honey on top. It’s almost like a dessert when you serve it this way.
Skillet or Cake Pan?
Some cornbread is cooked in a skillet, while others are baked in a cake pan. I like to make this recipe in a cake pan simply because I like to cut it into little squares, and because it’s a little easier than dealing with a hot skillet out of the oven.
Baking cornbread in a hot skillet will give it an even heartier, crunchy crust.
To do this, you’ll place a 9-inch or 10-inch oven safe greased skillet in the oven while it’s preheating and then add cornbread batter to the pan when it’s ready. Bake at the same temperature for the same amount of time.
Tips for Making the BEST Cornbread
- Don’t over mix your cornbread batter or you’ll end up with a more dense cornbread.
- Cook the cornbread just until the center is done and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Use buttermilk at room temperature for ultimate flavor.
- Keep leftover cornbread wrapped tightly and stored at room temperature for up to a week.
What To Serve With Cornbread –
This sweet cornbread is out of this world with extra butter and honey served on top. You can also serve cornbread with jams and jellies.
Even though this cornbread is sweet, it’s the perfect balance for savory dishes like…
- Instant Pot Chili
- Easy Vegetable Soup
- Quick Taco Soup
- Oven Roasted Chicken Thighs
- Instant Pot Beef Stew
I’m so excited for you to give this a try. I think you’ll really enjoy it!
Best Sweet Cornbread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ¾ cup yellow cornmeal
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 tsp baking powder
- ½ cup butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Lightly grease a 9x9" or 8x8" baking pan and set aside.
- Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the butter, buttermilk and eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir, just until combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until center is cooked (toothpick inserted in center comes out clean).
- Let cool slightly before slicing and enjoying.
Notes
Nutrition
PIN THIS IMAGE TO SAVE THE RECIPE:
Slow Cooker Whole Chicken Recipe
Alexis M Liftee
Hi Shawn,
This was my first time to use a Southern style side dish recipe and it was a hit!
I baked one pan for my former supervisor & his wife. They really enjoyed it!
Then I baked another pan for myself and my special guy friend. He called it “perfecto.” I also gave some to one of my neighbor’s and he said it was great!
I love it!
I’m going to bake several pans tomorrow night and give it to one of my sister’s so she can give to a few of her friends from church.
As we say in Hawai’i, mahalo! This means thank you in Hawaiian.
Shawn
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Alexis! That’s awesome that you are sharing it with so many people too. 🙂
Pamela R.
I’ve made homemade skillet cornbread forever and have always loved it. But recently we had a much lighter and more moist version at a restaurant we tried out of town, which was easily better than mine. This set me on a quest to find a recipe to duplicate the heavenly goodness we so thoroughly enjoyed. YOURS was the first recipe I tried, and it was pretty identical in every way–feathery light, sweet as honey, super moist, and most importantly-DELICIOUS! Whoot Whoot! Thank you for a great recipe!
Shawn
That is so great to hear Pamela! I’m glad you enjoyed the cornbread!
Tina
Excellent cornbread! My husband is very Choosey about cornbread and he loved this on. Well worth a try!
Danielle
This was a really easy recipe to throw together and it tasted great- everyone loved it!
Shawn
So glad you enjoyed the cornbread Danielle!
Ruth
Why So much baking powder ? 4 tsp. Seems like a lot …..
Shawn
Baking powder helps the cornbread to rise and be more fluffy and not dense.
Diane
Oh forgot add cheese to
Diane
Throw into the cornbread mix cooked chopped bacon, chopped onions, drained rotel tomatoes, jalapenos and onions and cook real good with chili.
Sheila B
Sounds really good! You will get a much fluffier cornbread, even when cold, if you separate the eggs. Add the yolks when eggs are called for. Then whip the egg whites till stiff. Then fold into the mixture just before pouring into baking pan.
Nancy
I don’t know about other places in the world, but in North Carolina we don’t do sweet cornbread. I make mine with Martha White corn meal mix, egg, oil or melted butter and buttermilk. I bake it at 400° in a cast iron skillet, preheated with a little bacon grease. It’s fantastic but couldn’t abide any sugar. I make it just like my mother did, and I’ve been eating it for my whole life of 73 years.
Shawn
Yeah, I address the difference between Northern cornbread and Southern cornbread in the blog post. They’re definitely different. 😉
Barbara
I am moving in with my daughter and granddaughter in a few weeks. I am collecting recipes that we can make. Looking forward to sharing the girls
Shawn
That’s awesome! I hope you enjoy them!
Ernest Contreras
This looks like a great recipe for cornbread I been looking for I plan to prepare this and hope to let you know how it comes out.
As a chef for many years now retired I have made cornbread many times not many of my dishes called for this item. I like the ingredients on your recipe look forward to trying this.
You have a great blog here. I’ll be back.
Chef Ernesto`
https://cheferniecooks.com/
https://tinyurl.com/y9zx2wh2