Homemade Cornbread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How is cornbread made from scratch? ›

Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Add milk, vegetable oil, and egg; whisk until well combined. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

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.

Add in some Flour

If you use straight cornmeal, it will tend to be dryer. Adding in flour will help to keep the cornbread moist. I like to use a 50/50 ratio of cornmeal to flour in my recipe. I feel this gives a moist and fluffier texture.

White bread is rich in calories, whereas cornbread is 60% lower in calories — white bread has 238 calories per 100 grams, while cornbread has 96 calories. Therefore, cornbread has more nutrients than white bread. Consequently, you can consider it to be healthier.

Corn in its natural state is full of vitamin C, B vitamins, magnesium, and potassium. Processed corn products are not as nutritious, but cornbread does still contain these vitamins and minerals, as well as 6% of the daily recommended value of iron.

Corn bread, soda bread, and corn beef and cabbage are just a few of the staples in Irish cuisine. Check out our Irish recipe collection for St. Patrick's Day and the rest of the year too!

Polenta is made from ground cornmeal, so it is possible to use it as a substitute for cornmeal in a cornbread recipe. However, it's important to note that polenta has a coarser texture and may be less finely ground than cornmeal, which could affect the texture of the cornbread.

No. Cornbread made with cornmeal, but the two aren't the same thing. To achieve a golden loaf of cornbread, it takes more than just cornmeal.

Yes, but we recommend using an egg substitute, like applesauce. Eggs, or egg substitutes help add structure to the cornbread. Without an egg or substitute, the cornbread may crumble and fall apart easily.

Why is my homemade cornbread so dry? ›

You may also have a problem in the baking process, where you need more "wet" ingredients. If your dough/batter is the right texture/wetness before it goes in the oven, and assuming you didn't under-/overbake - try subsitituting 50% butter for a vegetable/fruit oil. Oil will help create a moist mouthfeel.

A scattering of dry coarse cornmeal in the hot skillet before you pour in the batter makes the cornbread extra crunchy. Flipping it onto a plate or rack also helps the crust stay crisp. Or you could make it thicker and cook it ahead of time, then split the slices and toast them before serving.

The batter should be thick, but still pourable. Add more milk or buttermilk if necessary. Remove the skillet from the oven and tilt the pan so the butter coats the bottom and sides of pan.

Baking powder is a leavening agent that produces carbon dioxide gas during the baking process. The carbon dioxide gas bubbles become trapped in the batter as it bakes, forming air spaces in the resultant muffins.

The usual Southern cornbread is made from a batter containing cornmeal, wheat flour, eggs, milk or buttermilk, and shortening; the addition of sugar is generally considered inauthentic.

The package lists out the following ingredients: yellow cornmeal, enriched wheat flour, cane sugar, corn flour, leavening agents, and sea salt. Noticeably, cornmeal is first, meaning it's the most prevalent ingredient. The instructions have you add 2 eggs, 1 cup milk, and 1/3 cup vegetable oil, blend, and bake.

No. Cornbread made with cornmeal, but the two aren't the same thing. To achieve a golden loaf of cornbread, it takes more than just cornmeal.

While cornmeal and corn flour are both made from milled, dried corn, they differ in texture completely. Cornmeal feels gritty, while corn flour is fine and smooth. The degree of milling determines the texture of the flour: corn flour is finely ground, while cornmeal is coarsely ground.