Skillet-made Sweet Honey Cornbread is a sweet, tender bread perfect with chili or stew or on its own with a big pat of rich butter!
Serve up Sweet Honey Cornbread on chili night, with soups and stews, and alongside collard greens for an irresistible, tender, and sweet bread! This rustic cornbread is made with pantry staples like corn meal, flour, and honey, and the pops of corn kernels bring another layer of sweetness that makes this bread a true family favorite!
Great Cornbread
There is a wide range of flavors and textures when it comes to cornbread, so my family and I love the perfect balance of sweetness and corn in Sweet Honey Cornbread. We love cornbread that is tender and moist on the inside and firm on the outside, with a level of sweetness that makes the bread feel like a treat but not a full-on dessert, and that is what Sweet Honey Cornbread delivers. This is my go-to cornbread to serve with chili for game-day get-togethers and great cold-weather stews.
Hearty Classic 30 Minute Chili is an easy dish to make with this cornbread, or go with another family favorite like Instant Pot Beef Stew!
Other Recipes to Serve with Sweet Honey Cornbread
- Indulge in a Southern favorite dish of Black Eyed Peas & Collard Greens– sweet honey cornbread completes this side!
- Keep a jar of Homemade Cornbread Mix on hand to make baking a batch of cornbread even easier and faster!
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients: To make this cornbread, you will need all-purpose flour, cornmeal, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Yellow cornmeal is the preferred cornmeal to use, but white cornmeal, with a lighter corn flavor, is also acceptable to use.
Wet Ingredients: Set out milk, melted butter, an egg, and honey for this recipe.
Corn: You will also need a small amount of frozen corn for this recipe.
How to Make Sweet Honey Cornbread
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and grease a cast iron skillet or baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, and butter.
STEP TWO: Stir the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, sugar, honey, and corn into the wet ingredients until just combined. The batter will be lumpy.
STEP THREE: Pour the batter into the prepared skillet or baking pan. Bake the cornbread for 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
STEP FOUR: Take the cornbread out of the oven and allow it to cool for a few minutes before serving.
Tips for Success
- There are mild differences between yellow and white cornmeal, so if you go with white cornmeal, you will still have great cornbread. Yellow cornmeal is preferred because it has a stronger corn flavor, while white cornmeal has a mild corn flavor and is a little sweeter.
- Using a cast iron skillet is a great way to make this sweet cornbread, as it gives the bread a rustic look and a more crisp side and bottom crust, but it’s unnecessary. A square baking pan is also a great way to make this cornbread.
- For a great tender cornbread, don’t overmix the ingredients. Stir the batter until there are no dry patches and then stop, even though there will still be small lumps. Overmixing will make the cornbread dense and maybe even tough.
What is the difference between Nothern and Southern cornbread?
Traditionally, the main dividing ingredient between Northern and Southern cornbread has been sugar. When white cornmeal was sweeter, there was no need to add sugar to cornbread, so in the South, cornbread was generally made with white cornmeal and no flour or sugar. On the other hand, Northern cornbread has always been considered much sweeter, which started with the addition of molasses and has evolved over time to the use of granulated sugar. As flour and cornmeal production has changed over time so too has cornbread but you will typically still find sweet cornbread up North and less sweet cornbread in the South.
Is it better to use oil or butter in cornbread?
For the best flavor, butter is generally the better ingredient to use. The rich sweetness of butter also brings out the sweetness of the corn and overall flavor. Many cooks like to cover the top of their cornbread with butter when it’s fresh out of the oven to both slightly soften the top crust and amplify the flavor of the cornbread. While topping the cornbread with more butter is optional, using melted butter to make this cornbread is a must and will make your cornbread taste amazing.
More Great Bread Ideas for Dinner!
- Dutch Oven Bread
- Honey Jalapeno Cornbread Drop Biscuits
- Homemade Cheese Bread
- Butternut Squash Cornbread
- Cornbread Dressing
*This post was originally posted on 01/18/2014.
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk 2% or whole
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 ¼ cups cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup frozen corn
- Butter for serving
- Honey for serving
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet or 9×9 baking dish into the oven to preheat as well.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, and eggs.
- Add in the cornmeal, flour, sugar, honey, baking powder, salt, and frozen corn and whisk until thoroughly combined. The batter will be a bit lumpy, but that's okay.
- Carefully remove the skillet/baking dish from the oven. Coat the inside with non-stick cooking spray. Pour in the cornbread batter and smooth into an even layer.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Cut into 8-9 slices and serve warm or at room temperature with extra butter and honey on top if desired.
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