Best Cornbread Recipe (from Scratch) (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between Southern cornbread and regular cornbread? ›

Northern cornbreads tend to be more cake-like, on the sweet side, with a finer crumb due to more flour in the mixture. Southern cornbread is flavored with bacon grease, and cooked in a cast iron skillet, a perfect side for barbecues, or chili. It also tends to be rather crumbly.

Cornmeal gives cornbread its classic color and flavor, but too much can make your bread crumbly. Try replacing a little bit of cornmeal with flour. The specific measurements will depend on how much cornmeal and flour is in your recipe, but you should try to have more flour than cornmeal in your batter.

The most common theory is a change in cornmeal itself. Until early in the 20th century, Southern cornmeal was made with sweeter white corn and it was water-ground. When industrial milling came along, that changed. The steel-roller mills used yellow corn that was harvested before it was ripe, so it had less sugar.

Note: We recommend allowing cornbread batter to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before baking, so if you prefer, you can delay heating the oven until you make the batter. 2Melt the butter, and then set aside to cool slightly.

As for the best cornmeal for cornbread, either fine- or medium-grind cornmeal is a great choice. Medium-grind cornmeal will bring slightly more texture and grittiness to the batter, which you may or may not want (it's up to you!). You can use fine or medium cornmeal in these extra corny muffins.

There are some basic differences between Southern corn-bread and what many people call "Yankee" cornbread. Southern cornbread, besides being made from white corn meal, has very little sugar in it - between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. And it is made with buttermilk.

Eggs, or egg substitutes help add structure to the cornbread. Without an egg or substitute, the cornbread may crumble and fall apart easily.

Cornbread Best Practices:

LET the batter sit for 15-20 minutes before baking. This allows the baking powder to activate and incorporate more air. BE gentle!! When pouring your rested batter into the hot skillet, try to disturb the battle as little as possible – once you pop the air bubbles they don't come back.

Soaking the cornmeal in buttermilk for a few hours, or even overnight, tenderizes the large grains of cornmeal, making the bread more moist and tender. This step is optional, however, and the bread is still delicious without the soaking step.

The exact nutritional profile of cornbread can vary depending on the specific recipe and ingredients used. However, cornbread generally contains high amounts of carbs, phosphorus, and sodium in each serving. One piece of cornbread prepared from a commercially prepared mix contains ( 2 ): Calories: 198.

Is cornbread good or bad for diabetics? ›

Cornbread can help you control your blood sugar levels.

Cornbread is made with whole grain cornmeal, making it an excellent choice for people trying to control their blood sugar levels as eating whole grains has been linked to better blood sugar control.

Quite possibly the easiest sub for brown sugar is using granulated white sugar. For every cup of packed brown sugar, swap in 1 cup of white sugar. Just remember: Since brown sugar adds moisture to baked goods, you'll notice a difference in texture (like your cookies being crisper).

Let your cornmeal soak to increase hydration

The best thing you can do with cornbread is to take your time, even if it's counterintuitive to the "Jiffy" namesake. But taking a little bit of time to soak your cornmeal before adding it to the batter is the secret to soft, plush cornbread.

My Conclusion: Butter is truly better! The texture of the cornbread as well as the flavor were much preferred in the version with melted butter. It was a little more cake-like and less crumbly than the coarser, less flavorful oil version.

In a large mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients: cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. Take the cast iron skillet out of the oven and pour the batter into it.

The texture was coarse and crumbly, while the taste was plain and bland. Up until that point in my life, I had only consumed sweetened Yankee cornbread and was completely unaware of the savory Southern variety.

Real, traditional, Southern-style cornbread is savory, not sweet, and always has been.

What is the sugar content in a batch of homemade Southern style cornbread recipe? It SHOULDN'T have sugar in it. That's Yankee style southern cornbread. It should be made with an egg, buttermilk, baking soda, a dash of salt, a little flour, and finally cornmeal- preferably the yellow.