This buttery cast-iron skillet sweet cornbread has been a favorite in my favorite since I first got married. Simple to make with a tender, fluffy middle and buttery golden brown top sprinkled with crunchy raw sugar. Throw out the Jiffy mix, you won't be needing it!
If you're new here, I got married at 18 to my high school sweetheart and we immediately left home for Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
While he was in the military (I had gotten out and decided to be a housewife), I would bake all types of goodies for him to bring to work. But his chief especially loved my southern cornbread with bacon grease and sharp cheddar cheese.
Trust me, if my husband had a problem, a basket of moist cornbread and my southern fried chicken could assuage anything.
Now, that was my savory cornbread, which was really popular in Texas. In our home, and on the East coast, we love a sweeter cornbread. I grew up on jiffy corn muffin mix, so Jiffy mixes were something that was always used for cornbread by everyone I knew.
But once I started making it from scratch, I had one question:
Why?
Homemade cast iron skillet cornbread -from scratch- is possibly one of the easiest recipes I ever made. No shade, but why even use the boxed mix? You could even make your own out of the dry ingredients in this recipe just to have on hand.
A delicious cornbread recipe with simple ingredients is right at your fingertips, honey!
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History of Cornbread
Cornbread, much like other corn-focused Southern dishes like Shrimp and Grits, originated from Native Americans who domesticated it and used in in cuisine many thousands of years before colonizers came upon the scene.
Across Northern and Central America, different tribes used corn in different ways, creating corn flour for tamales and arepas, tortillas and soups, and different frybreads. And because corn was easy to grow and more affordable than wheat flour corn meal, and cornbread, became a southern staple.
In the 1800's, more ingredients were added into cornbread like eggs, sugar, and wheat flour because mass production of corn meal degraded the quality.
Cornbread is a huge thing in the South, served alongside just about any type of dish any time of the year: with barbecue in the summer, chili while tailgating, alongside the holiday goods at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. We even make dressing out of it (we don't call stuffing 'stuffing' in the south).
Drizzle on some honey or molasses and you've got yourself a piece of history.
What is the difference between Northern and Southern Cornbread?
Let me make this clear: this recipe isn't for southern cornbread. This is Northern style, it's sweeter and more cake-like. My family prefers it this way and Jiffy mix users are used to this type.
Southern cornbread is so good, too. It's more savory, uses coarser cornmeal in the batter, (and even some corn kernels) and you'll often see bacon fat used as well.
The Southern version is often seen as a side for chili, and it's a custom to crumble it up in milk and eat it like that, though I love my Northern-style with milk as well.
Ingredients
- A stick of Butter. Unlike in most of my baking recipes, it won't matter if you use unsalted or salted butter for this recipe.
- Fine ground cornmeal. Don't think that this is a one-use type of ingredient. I also use cornmeal whenever I make English muffins and deep-dish pizza!
- All-Purpose Flour.
- Baking Powder. Make sure it's aluminum-free baking powder that you've bought within the last 6 months!
- Granulated Sugar. Depending on how savory you like your cornbread, decrease the amount as you like.
- Kosher Salt.
- Whole Fat Buttermilk. Buttermilk isn't just a great and classic ingredient in cornbread, it's a needed ingredient. The acid in buttermilk reacts to the baking powder in the batter, creating bubbles, adding lift and lightness to your cornbread. If you don't have buttermilk, you can mix whole fat milk and a teaspoon of lemon juice or a bit of white vinegar.
- Eggs.
- Turbinado Sugar. This is optional, but I love sprinkling this over the batter before baking. It's a sweet little surprise that makes for beautiful, crunchy texture.
Instructions
Even if this is your first time making it, this'll be the best cornbread you'll have ever eaten. The full measurements are at the bottom of the post in a printable recipe card!
- Mix the batter: In a large mixing bowl mix all the dry ingredients together. Stir in all the wet ingredients well.
- Get that Cast Iron Sizzling: Melt the butter in your cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat on your stove, not your oven! This helps create a perfectly crisp bottom crust when you pour the cornbread batter into it. And there's nothing like hearing that batter pour into a sizzling hot cast iron skillet!
- Bake your cornbread: Bake in a 400 degree F oven until beautiful and golden brown, about 20-23 minutes.
Serve it With...
- I love serving cornbread as a side with any hearty meal: Southern Fried Chicken, Short Rib Ragu, Corned Beef Hash, Spatchcock Chicken, etc.
- With a bit of honey butter or Texas Roadhouse style cinnamon honey butter.
- On the side of many soups and stews.
It's also a delicious side dish for Thanksgiving. If you're having a true southern-style thanksgiving, cornbread needs to make an appearance next to the candied yams, slow cooked green beans, and gooey baked mac and cheese!
Pro Tips for the Best Homemade Cornbread
This recipe makes for some amazing cornbread muffins! Use a standard muffin tin for this.
If you don't have buttermilk, use regular milk (whole is best) soured with some lemon juice. Or loosened up sour cream works well, too!
Make sure your oven is preheated, a cold oven will ruin your cornbread!
You can make your cornbread in a baking dish or square pan, just melt the butter inside the preheating oven instead of on the stove top, then continue the recipe.
Variations
- Add that classic southern flavor by heating up the cast iron with bacon fat or leaf lard.
- Chopped green chilis or fresh jalapeños and cheddar cheese. When my husband was still in the military, a few sergeants would request it with jalapeños. Those plates were completely gone in 15 minutes!
- Add chopped bacon! This is one of my favorite additions to cornbread.
- Herbs. For Thanksgiving, chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage in the batter is a perfect flavor combination.
Storage and Freezing Instructions
Keep the cornbread in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap on the counter top for up to 3 days.
To freeze, wrap it in two layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then put it in a large freezer-safe zip-top bag.
Cornbread keeps in the freezer for 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can make your cast iron cornbread up to a week ahead if you keep it wrapped well in plastic wrap in your fridge.
That step of adding butter to melt in the skillet before pouring in the batter will help keep your cornbread from sticking in the pan.
My recipe uses a 9 inch round cast iron skillet, but you can use a 9x9 square cast iron skillet as well.
More Delicious Southern Sides
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Jiffy Style Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon 25 g butter
- 1 cup 140 g finely ground cornmeal
- 1 cup 140 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon 15 g baking powder
- ⅓ cup 63 g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon 5 g kosher salt
- 1 cup 240 mL buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoon 50 g butter, melted
- Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Melt the butter in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- While butter is melting, mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter. Mix until the dry ingredients are just combined.
- Smooth the cornbread batter into your hot skillet and generously sprinkle the top of the batter with turbinado sugar.
- Bake the cornbread for 20-23 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Serve warm with extra butter!
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