Honey Cornbread

4.79 from 41 votes

This honey cornbread recipe is tender, moist and almost cake-like. Made with brown butter this recipe is irresistible!

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Total Time35

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Southern

Servings: servings

Calories: 370kcal

1/4 cup salted butter 1/2 stick
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup corn meal
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ cup white sugar
1 cup buttermilk I used coconut milk with a teaspoon of lemon juice to sour it
½-⅓ cup honey This comes down to preference- add less or more depending on how sweet you like your cornbread!
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
Shortening
Cast Iron Skillet

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.
In a saute' pan, melt butter over medium heat and wait until butter begins to brown. Be careful not to burn. Remove from heat and cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, corn meal, baking powder and sugar until well mixed. In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together buttermilk, honey, eggs, vanilla extract, oil, and cooled browned butter.
Slowly add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix together until well combined.
Coat cast iron skillet with shortening until fully covered. Place cast iron skillet in preheated oven for 4-5 minutes.
Remove cast iron skillet from oven and add cornbread mixture to skillet. Place back in oven for 22-25 minutes until cornbread is done. Remove from oven and serve. Happy Baking!

Be sure to check the full post above for more about the ingredients, different variations, storage info, serving tips, and more!

Tip for Adding Honey. Spray the measuring cup with a coating of non-stick spray before adding the honey. This makes it slide out quite easily into the mixture and means less cleanup and no scraping!

How to Make Buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk in your house, make your own! Add a teaspoon of lemon to milk or even coconut milk and allow it to sour then add to this recipe.

How to Bake Crisp Edges of Cornbread. It's all about heating the skillet with oil first! In my family, we use bacon grease but you can use lard or even shortening and add to a cast iron skillet. Then place it in the hot oven and allow it to get hot before pouring in our cornbread mixture. The cornbread mixture will cook right away when it hits the heated pan and hot oil. It creates two amazing different textures.

Watch the Butter While It Browns. This step can go from golden to burnt in just minutes so keep an eye on it while it's cooking. Don't wander off or try to focus on other tasks as you may forget about it.

The Grain of Cornmeal Matters. Cornmeal comes in different grains from coarse to fine. Any will work for this honey cornbread recipe but it will definitely affect the texture of your cornbread. Coarse cornmeal will create a crunchier, gritty style of bread with lots of texture whereas fine cornmeal makes a more cake-like texture.