Easy Homemade Cornbread Recipe | Soft, Golden & Delicious

Cornbread gets a bad rap sometimes. Maybe because people remember the dry, crumbly stuff from school cafeterias or those box mixes that taste like cardboard. But real cornbread? The kind that’s actually worth making? That’s a whole different thing.

Why Bother Making It From Scratch

Look, nobody’s got endless time to spend in the kitchen. But this takes maybe half an hour total, and most of that is just waiting for the oven. The actual work is like 10 minutes, tops.

Plus, once you’ve made it a couple times, it becomes one of those things you can throw together without even thinking about it. And people always seem impressed when they find out it’s homemade.

What Goes In It

The dry stuff:

• 1 cup regular flour
• 1 cup cornmeal (yellow is standard)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

The wet stuff:

• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil (or just use melted butter)

That’s literally everything. Nine things, all pretty basic.

What You’ll Need

• Some kind of 9-inch pan (square works, cast iron is even better)
• Two bowls
• A whisk
• A spoon
• Measuring stuff

Nothing fancy.

Getting Started

Crank the oven up to 400°F. Yeah, that’s pretty hot, but it needs to be. Give it time to actually get there before putting anything in.

Grease up your pan real good. Butter works great. Cooking spray is fine too. Just make sure you get the corners and edges.

Got a cast iron skillet? Stick it in the oven while it heats up. When you pour the batter in later, it’ll start sizzling right away and give you this awesome crispy bottom. Not required, but it’s a nice touch.

Mixing Everything Up

Grab your bigger bowl. Dump in the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk it around until it’s all mixed together.

Other bowl gets the eggs. Beat them up a bit, then add your milk and oil. Mix that until it looks pretty uniform.

Now here’s where things go wrong for a lot of people. Pour the wet stuff into the dry stuff. Take your spoon and stir it just enough that you don’t see dry flour anymore. That’s it. Stop.

It’s gonna look lumpy and weird. That’s fine. Actually, that’s good. If you keep stirring to make it smooth, you’ll end up with cornbread that has the texture of a hockey puck. Nobody wants that.

Into the Oven

Pour your lumpy batter into the pan. Smooth out the top a little if you want, but don’t stress about it.

Pop it in the oven. Set a timer for 20 minutes, but start peeking around then. Different ovens run different temperatures, so yours might be faster or slower.

You’re looking for the top to be golden brown. Stick a toothpick or knife in the middle – if it comes out mostly clean, you’re good. A few crumbs are okay. Wet batter means it needs more time.

Usually takes somewhere between 20-25 minutes. When the edges start pulling away from the sides just a tiny bit, that’s your cue that it’s done.

Don’t Cut It Yet

This is hard because it smells amazing and you’re hungry. But wait about 10 minutes before cutting into it. It needs to set up a bit or it’ll just fall apart.

After 10 minutes, go ahead and cut it. Serve it while it’s still warm. Cold cornbread is okay, but warm cornbread is where it’s at.

Stuff That Actually Helps

Get decent cornmeal. The stuff that’s been sitting in the back of the cupboard since 2019? Toss it. Fresh cornmeal tastes way better. Medium grind is what works best here.

Check if your baking powder is dead. Seriously, put a little bit in hot water. If it doesn’t fizz up like crazy, it’s no good and your cornbread won’t rise. Just buy new stuff, it’s cheap.

Let things warm up. Cold milk straight from the fridge mixed with hot melted butter makes a weird grainy mess. Let your eggs and milk sit out for like 30 minutes first.

Don’t leave it in too long. Cornbread dries out fast. Better to pull it out a minute early than a minute late.

Ways to Change It Up

Basic cornbread is great, but there’s room to play around:

Throw in some cheese and jalapeños. Sharp cheddar works really well. Dice up a couple jalapeños (take the seeds out unless you like it spicy). Mix it in.

Want it sweeter? Add more sugar, maybe brush some honey on top when it comes out.

Bacon makes everything better. Cook up a few strips, crumble them, toss them in.

Got buttermilk? Use that instead of regular milk. Makes it tangier.

Fresh corn or canned corn kernels mixed in adds texture. Drain them first though.

What to Do With Leftovers

Keep it in a container at room temperature for a day or two. Fridge will keep it good for about a week, but it might get a little dry.

Freezer works too. Wrap pieces separately, stick them in a freezer bag. Good for a few months that way.

Reheating: wrap in foil, 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes. Or microwave for like 20 seconds. Some folks slice it and fry it in butter on the stove – that’s pretty good.

The Whole Sweet vs Not Sweet Thing

There’s this debate that’s been going on forever. Southern cornbread has barely any sugar or none at all. Northern style is sweeter, more like cake.

This recipe is kind of in the middle. You can taste the sweetness but it’s not like dessert. If you want it less sweet, use less sugar. Want it sweeter, add more. Pretty simple.

Some people get really worked up about this. Don’t worry about it. Make it however you like it.

Why This Recipe Works Out

Half cornmeal, half flour gives you good corn flavor without falling apart. Enough oil to keep it moist. Sugar balances everything out.

Easy Homemade Cornbread Recipe | Soft, Golden & Delicious

Course: american foodCuisine: Side dish, Breakfast, BreadDifficulty: Easy

Servings

9

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Calories

210

kcal

Total time

35

minutes

Bake this easy homemade cornbread recipe in minutes! Soft, golden, and perfect with butter, honey, or chili. A classic comfort side dish everyone loves.

Ingredients

• Dry Ingredients

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal (medium grind works best)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (just regular flour, nothing fancy)

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (white sugar)

• 1 tablespoon baking powder (make sure it’s fresh)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• Wet Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk (2% works too if that’s what you’ve got)

• 2 large eggs (room temperature is better but not crucial)

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil OR melted butter (butter tastes richer)
  

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 9-inch square pan or cast iron skillet with butter or cooking spray.
• Mix dry ingredients: Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
• Mix wet ingredients: In another bowl, beat eggs then add milk and oil. Whisk until combined.
• Combine: Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir just until combined – batter should be lumpy. Don’t overmix.
• Bake: Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool: Let rest in pan for 10 minutes before cutting into 9 squares. Serve warm.

Notes

• The sugar debate: There’s this whole thing where southern cornbread has barely any sugar and northern cornbread is sweeter. This recipe’s somewhere in the middle – you can taste a little sweetness but it’s not like cake. Do what you like. Less sugar makes it more savory, more sugar makes it almost dessert-like.
  Butter vs oil: Both work fine. Butter tastes richer and more indulgent. Oil makes it a tiny bit moister and it’s easier because you don’t have to melt anything.
  Cast iron really does make a difference: That crispy bottom crust you get from a preheated cast iron skillet is hard to beat. But a regular pan works perfectly fine too. Don’t feel like you need to go buy one just for this.
  Altitude adjustments: If you’re somewhere high up (over 3000 feet), you might need to tweak things a bit. Try reducing the baking powder by 1/4 teaspoon and increasing the liquid by a tablespoon or two.
  Making it ahead: You can mix the dry ingredients ahead of time and store them in a container. Then when you’re ready to bake, just mix up the wet stuff and combine. Saves a few minutes.
  Doubling the recipe: Works fine. Use a 9×13 pan instead and bake for maybe 5 minutes longer.

Baking powder makes it fluffy. That’s about all there is to it. Nothing complicated.

Bottom Line

Making cornbread isn’t rocket science. Mix some stuff, bake it, done. Takes less time than running to the store for a box mix, and it tastes way better.

The box stuff is fine in a pinch. But this is barely more work and you know exactly what’s in it. Plus your kitchen smells great while it’s baking.

Try it once. See how it goes. Chances are it’ll work out fine and you’ll make it again. It’s just one of those handy things to know how to do.

And honestly? Fresh warm cornbread with butter melting into it is hard to beat. That alone makes it worth the effort.

Good luck with it. Hope it turns out great.