Ultimate Cornbread

Ultimate Cornbread is incredibly EASY to make, made with cornmeal, flour, and sugar. It’s sweet, savory, and ready in under 45 minutes!

In our kitchen, we know that the perfect bread dish is almost as important as the main course itself, and this cornbread is the PERFECT side to Classic Beef ChiliSlow Cooker Beef Chili and Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast.

Easy Cornbread Recipe
ULTIMATE CORNBREAD

Ultimate Cornbread is an amazingly fluffy cornbread recipe that’s so easy to throw together you’ll want to make it every weekend! It’s made from a blend of all purpose flour and corn meal to make a texture that’s soft and light, while still being sweet and savory at the same time.

This is a great recipe for chili night, or when you have a crowd of people over because it’s really easy to double this recipe and make a big batch.

You can make this recipe ahead, but I would try to make it on the same day, warmed in the oven before serving.

HOW DO YOU MAKE CORNBREAD FLUFFY?

  • Trade the milk for buttermilk to help the baking powder get the best rise possible. If you don’t have buttermilk, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to the milk and let it sit for a few minutes.
  • Be sure that the baking powder you are using is fresh. Old baking powder doesn’t work as well.
  • Check your oven with an oven-safe thermometer to make sure you are cooking at the right temperature.
  • Let the cornmeal soak with the milk for ten minutes before mixing the ingredients together. This really does make a difference in the recipe.

HOW TO MAKE CORNBREAD IN A CAST IRON SKILLET

You can make this cornbread recipe in a cast iron skillet for a crispy crust with a soft light center. When melting the butter, you can also let it keep cooking to get a browned butter skillet cornbread recipe with more flavor.

  • Bring the skillet up to high heat, then melt two tablespoons of butter in the skillet.
  • Pour the batter into the skillet, and transfer the skillet to the oven at 400 degrees. It’s done when a toothpick comes out clean.

IS CORNMEAL THE SAME AS CORN FLOUR?

Corn flour is basically a finer ground version of cornmeal. Cornmeal is used to make dishes like polenta or grits, while corn flour is used for thickening soups or puddings.

For this recipe you want to use corn meal because that’s what gives this corn bread recipe its texture.

Ultimate Cornbread

HOW TO STORE CORNBREAD

This corn bread recipe can be wrapped tightly and stored on the counter for 1-2 days. Any more than that, and the bread will have to be refrigerated or frozen. Corn bread will freeze well for 2-3 months.

HOW DO I SPRUCE UP MY CORNBREAD RECIPE?

  • Add some spicy ingredients like green chiles, pepper jack cheese, or a teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
  • Add pieces of cooked bacon to the bread, then once it’s out of the oven drizzle with maple syrup.
  • Use half brown sugar and half white sugar in the cornbread recipe, then sprinkle the top with brown sugar before baking.
  • For a sweet more dessert-like cornbread, add some fruit like blueberries and a sprinkle of sugar (especially a more coarse sanding sugar) and cinnamon on top.
  • Add one can of corn kernels to the dough to make a more robust cornbread.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH CORNBREAD

TIPS FOR MAKING CORNBREAD

  • Serve with fresh soft butter and a drizzle of honey, the perfect flavor combo!
  • Make a spicy Tex-Mex version by adding a tablespoon of diced jalapeno to the batter and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese on top.
  • Put this in a muffin tin and cut the baking total time down to 15-20 minutes for homemade muffins.
  • Mix until the flour just combines with the other ingredients. Be careful not to over-mix.

Classic Sweet Cornbread

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Easy Cornbread Recipe
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Ultimate Cornbread

Ultimate Cornbread is incredibly EASY to make, made with cornmeal, flour, and sugar. It's sweet, savory, and ready in under 45 minutes!

Course Bread
Cuisine American
Keyword cornbread, Ultimate Cornbread
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 9 servings
Calories 292 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter melted

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease an 8x8 baking pan.
  2. Mix the cornmeal and milk in a large bowl and let soak for 10 minutes.

  3. Add in the remaining ingredients and whisk well then pour them into the baking pan and bake for 22-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Recipe Notes

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

Nutrition Facts
Ultimate Cornbread
Amount Per Serving
Calories 292 Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Fat 10g15%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Cholesterol 43mg14%
Sodium 169mg7%
Potassium 229mg7%
Carbohydrates 45g15%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 18g20%
Protein 5g10%
Vitamin A 315IU6%
Calcium 85mg9%
Iron 1.5mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Easy Sweet Cornbread

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. The article states to use buttermilk or lemon juice added to whole milk to help with “fluffiness” yet the recipe says “whole”milk and doesn’t mention lemon juice. Can I trust your recipes?

    1. I was just giving alternatives in the post to the recipe below. You can trade out the milk for buttermilk. Hope this clears up any confusion. Enjoy!

  2. I do agree this is very easy and fast, and the overall flavor is tasty. However, mine also turned out a little gritty even after leveling the dry ingredients. Also a little dry. Will have to see what can be tweaked!

    1. Were you using whole milk in the recipe and let it soak the full 10 minutes (mixed really well)? When I tested with 2% I found it a bit gritty/dry too, the extra fat seemed to help. If not, I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out as you’d have hoped.

  3. Your recipe is amazing!!! I’m making this for the third time – now my husband does not let me to use any other cornbread recipe. I also love how easy it is to whip it together after I come home from a long day at work. Thank you for sharing!

  4. I have made this twice now and have been very pleased. It’s delicious! Mine doesn’t look quite as brown on top as the one in the pictures here, but still tastes great. My husband and toddler like it also!

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