This delicious rich cornbread is elevated from regular cornbread with sour cream, eggs, and butter, making it super moist. It is made even better when spread with homemade honey butter.
This is a great option to serve with chili, soups and stews, like the other quick bread recipes you can find in all our Best Bread Recipes.
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I have a confession to make – especially since I’m publishing a cornbread recipe: I really don’t like cornbread all that much. I’m just not a big fan of gritty cornmeal in anything, really, whether it’s cornbread, tamales, polenta, or even cornmeal on the bottom of pizza. I know, I’m weird.
But I remember growing up there was a restaurant my family would go to that served a moist cornbread with a cake-like texture that was smothered in melting honey butter. And oh, did I like that.
Since I really do like the flavor of cornbread with chili and bean-based soups – and the fact that cornbread is so quick to mix up and bake – I wanted to create a recipe that replicated that cornbread of my youth. And of course with the honey butter – we wouldn’t want to leave that out, would we?
Moist & Rich Cornbread with Honey Butter
And this rich cornbread recipe? It passes the test with a moist texture that comes from sour cream, eggs and butter. It’s still very much a cornbread, but the balance of whole wheat pastry flour and fine cornmeal helps minimize that grittiness and dryness that can happen to basic cornbread.
And while it’s not quite as sky-high as the bread from my memory, I think this recipe turns out even better when it’s made in my cast iron skillet – wow does it make a wonderfully crisp crust! Of course, it’s still good made in a glass baking pan, but I know you’ll probably want a cast iron pan soon if you don’t have one, right?
What you’ll need for this recipe:
- fine cornmeal
- whole wheat pastry flour
- cream of tartar
- pantry and fridge basics like baking soda, salt, honey, sour cream, milk, butter, and eggs
- a 10-inch cast iron skillet or 9×9 inch baking pan
- large mixing bowl
- 2 cup glass measuring cup
The honey butter is simple to make – you simply pour a bit of honey into softened butter and stir it together. And let me just say, it MAKES the bread, it is just so good together. I’m sure regular butter would be fine, but I wouldn’t know because I pretty much always use honey butter!
I like to serve this rich cornbread with my favorite homemade tomato soup, as well as hearty meals like slow cooker chicken chili and sausage lentil stew. The leftovers also make wonderful ham sandwiches when split in half and filled with honey mustard, lettuce and ham.
I might not put cornbread on our menus a lot, but when I do, we all enjoy this incredible rich cornbread with honey butter!
Rich Cornbread with Honey Butter
Ingredients
Cornbread:
- 3/4 cup fine cornmeal
- 1-1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoon honey
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup butter melted + extra for skillet or baking pan
Honey Butter:
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 1 to 2 teaspoons honey
Instructions
Make Bread:
- Heat oven to 425 degrees. If using a baking pan, butter a 9x9-inch pan; if using an iron skillet, place it in the oven to heat.
- Combine the dry ingredients (the first 5) in a mixing bowl.
- In a 2-cup glass measure, stir together the honey, sour cream, milk, eggs, and melted butter.
- Quickly mix the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined.
- Spread in prepared baking pan OR for iron skillet, remove it from the oven, add 1 TB. of butter and when it's melted, spread the cornbread batter evenly in the skillet.
- Bake pan for 20 minutes and skillet for about 17 minutes, rotating halfway through if needed.
- Cool for about 10 minutes before cutting into pieces. Make the honey butter while bread is cooling.
Make Honey Butter:
- Combine butter and honey, stirring until thoroughly mixed.
- Note: I've found the honey butter doesn't last as well at room temperature, so I only make a small amount to use in one or two sittings. Increase the ingredients if you'd like to make a larger amount, but I'd recommend keeping it in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
More Quick Breads You May Like:
Amazing Whole Wheat Flaky Biscuits
Make Ahead Berry & Nut Freezer Muffins
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Julie Pullum says
I finally made this today! Can’t wait to try it! So sorry it’s taken me until now after you all advised me on what I needed to buy here but been a very difficult couple of years. Had bought the polenta and just re found it in the back of the cupboard, goes out of date at the end of this year so thought, it’s a rainy day I’ll make cornbread to take to my daughters for dinner.
Jami says
I hope you DO enjoy it, Julie!!
Nancy says
Can this recipe be made ahead of time and frozen? Thanks!
Jami says
Yes, I’ve frozen leftovers before and they warmed up beautifully!
Dee says
Does it matter if it is white or yellow cornmeal? Someone gave me a whole bunch of white corn meal and I have not had good success with flavor in my recipes. Do you think white is interchangeable with yellow? What’s your opinion about white corn meal?
Jami says
I don’t use cornmeal that much, Dee, so I haven’t noticed a difference, but if you do, it may not be interchangeable? 🙁
Sandra says
I made this recipe this afternoon and it was almost inedible. I followed the recipe to a “t” and it was horrible. Was the cream of tartar supposed to be baking powder? That could account for the strange texture. I am sorry but I will not be making this again.
[email protected] HOMESPUN says
I like cornbread! So I’ll try this! 🙂
Mindy says
I like cornbread and am anxious to try this one and love that it calls for whole wheat flour. It will make a great side to my black bean chili. Thanks for sharing!
Tricia @ Simplicity in the South says
Cornbread was one of my grandmother’s specialties. She would make it every Sunday so the smell of it cooking reminds me of going to her house when I was little. I have her mexican cornbread recipe, but not one like this so I’m glad you shared it.
Jami says
Is that the kind with corn and peppers in it – spicy peppers, Tricia? I bet my husband would like that – have you posted the recipe?
angi says
Where I’m from serving beans/chili without cornbread might just get you shot. Just kidding but we do love our cornbread. I also like it a little more cake like and less coarse. And you’re right about the cast iron skillet, it makes all the difference. If we have leftovers, my kids like to put some in a bowl (after melting butter and honey on it) and pour milk over it for breakfast.
Jami says
You can tell I’m not from the south, huh? 🙂
Leslie says
Jami, I love your blog and get a lot of inspiration from it. After readng your post about not being from the south, lol, I want to share a southern girl tip for fabulous cornbread.
Grease your cast iron skillet and put it in the pre-heated oven for 5-10 minutes while you’re preparing the cornbread recipe. Remove it and pour your batter into it immediately, and put it (sizzling away) back into the oven to bake. It turns out so delicious with a crispy outside when you do it this way. This is how I learned to do it from both my South Carolina grandmothers years ago.
Jami says
Thank you SO much, Leslie! I’m going to do that next time. 🙂
Lorna Dean says
For Julie Pullam: Cornflour in the UK is called cornstarch in the USA; that is NOT what is used in this recipe. Cornmeal in the USA is more like polenta in the UK; it is usually yellow and not as finely ground as cornflour/cornstarch.
Jami says
Ha! I gotta read all the comments before answering. 🙂 Thank you, Lorna – I didn’t think about polenta being available there.
Julie says
Thank you ladies I got there in the end
Julie Pullum says
Jami, this sounds like something I would like to try but unsure about ‘cornmeal’ do you know the equivalent for uk, tried googling. We have cornflour which we do use to bake with but more often to thicken sauces. Is this the same?
Jami says
Ahh, no, Julie, in the UK ‘cornflour’ refers to what we call ‘cornstarch’ here – the white powder used to thicken sauces. I think cornbread may be one of the few indigenous US foods, ha! Let’s see – it’s basically ground dried corn, so it’s yellow and gritty. Can you get any hispanic foods there? Maybe the Masa Harina flour used for corn tortillas would be similar. Or does Amazon UK sell cornmeal? When googling, you might want to specify American cornmeal. Hope that helps some!
Julie says
Thanks for that Jami Amazon had the right stuff
Julie says
I think it may be what we call polenta here!
Cheryl says
This is very similar to the recipe I use which calls for buttermilk instead of the sour cream and milk. 50 (or more) years ago, my grandma was a school cafeteria cook. The kids wouldn’t eat the cornbread until she thought of brushing honey on the top as it came out of the oven.
Jami says
Yep, sounds a little like me, huh? Just put a little honey on it… 🙂