Bake this sweet cornbread recipe in a cast iron skillet for a moist and delicious old-fashioned cornbread with a crispy crust.
Serve it up with this easy homemade chili for a delicious meal.
While I think many of us will agree that a crispy crust on the cornbread is ideal, some people balk at the idea of a sweet cornbread. Southern cornbread, they say, has so such thing as sugar in it. And they aren’t wrong.
But you know, it’s such an indulgent comfort food for me, and in my opinion continues to be the best cornbread recipe I’ve used. It has just the right amount of sweetness, and it tastes delicious with a little pat of butter.
Sweet Cornbread Recipe
This skillet cornbread recipe has been in my recipe file for years upon years and it never fails to make us happy. It makes a cake-y sweet cornbread that tastes delicious with a little pat of butter or a drizzle of honey.
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Ingredients
This recipe starts with real food ingredients. If you maintain a well-stocked pantry, it’s very likely that you have most (if not all) of these ingredients on hand.
Butter — Allow the butter to come to room temperature for easy mixing. I used salted butter; if you prefer unsalted, that will work fine.
Sugar — Use your favorite brand of granulated cane sugar. I prefer organic.
Eggs — Fresh eggs, store bought, use what you have readily available.
Milk — You can use whole milk, skim milk, or if your family is dairy free, an alternative nut milk. I don’t recommend using buttermilk in this sweet cornbread recipe, as it is more acidic and will impact how the baking powder performs.
Flour — When I bake with all-purpose flour I opt for the unbleached option. Bleached flour is very white, but it’s also treated with bleaching agents that I don’t really need in my food.
Cornmeal — This is what gives this quick bread it’s familiar flavor. Cornmeal comes in fine, medium, or coarse grind. I suggest sticking with the fine or medium grind for this recipe. I also make sure that I’m using an organic cornmeal, to avoid the genetically modified corn that has been altered to survive being sprayed with poison.
Leavening — Baking powder gives this cornbread recipe its lift.
Salt — Use your favorite table salt or sea salt.
Making this sweet cornbread
Start by creaming the sugar and butter together. It’s easiest to do this in a mixer, but a good old wooden spoon works, too. It will just take a bit more work on your part.
Once creamed, add the milk and eggs. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then stir into the wet ingredients.
Stir the cornbread batter just until the ingredients are combined.
To get the crispy edges on this made-from-scratch cornbread, heat the cast iron skillet in the oven. Pouring the batter into an already-hot pan is the trick. Bake until the top of the cornbread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cut the cornbread into wedges and serve with butter and sweet honey, if you like. This sweet cornbread makes an excellent side dish for chili and for soups or stews. It’s also good with fried eggs — it’s perfect for sopping up the soft yolk of an over-medium egg.
Storing leftover cornbread
Store leftover cornbread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. For longer storage, wrap bread in a layer of waxed paper followed by a layer of aluminum foil, and freeze for up to three months.
★ Did you make this sweet cornbread recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below! ★
Easy & Delicious Sweet Cornbread Recipe
This cornbread is for those who like a sweet, cake-like cornbread. You can bake it in a skillet for extra crispy edges or a standard baking dish.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup butter + 1 tablespoon
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1-2/3 cup milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-1/3 cup cornmeal
- 4-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Put a 12” cast iron skillet in the oven while it preheats. (See notes for using a baking dish instead.)
- Cream 2/3 cup butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in milk and eggs.
- Combine dry ingredients; stir into wet ingredients until just combined.
- Remove hot cast iron pan from oven and drop 1 tablespoon of butter into the pan and swirl it around to coat the bottom and sides of skillet.
- Pour batter into hot skillet and return it to the hot oven. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cut into wedges and serve warm with butter and/or honey.
Notes
To get the crispy edges on this made-from-scratch cornbread, heat the cast iron skillet in the oven. Pouring the batter into an already-hot pan is the trick.
If you'd like to bake this in a 9" x 11" glass baking dish instead, grease the pan with melted butter and do NOT put it in the oven before adding the batter. You don't want to shatter the pan!
Store leftover cornbread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. For longer storage, wrap bread in a layer of waxed paper followed by a layer of aluminum foil, and freeze for up to three months.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 378Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 11gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 103mgSodium: 310mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 1gSugar: 19gProtein: 6g
Originally published March 2020; this post has been updated.
SO GOOD! I made some baked beans from scratch but forgot the cornbread mix at the store. Luckily I had almost everything for this recipe (subs: used ghee, less sugar & added some honey, and oat milk) and I will never go back to the pre-made mix again. Thank you for sharing this recipe with the world!
That’s so great, and those subs sound perfect! Glad you loved it 🙂
Can I use buttermilk instead?
You can substitute the milk for buttermilk 1:1, but you may need to also add 1/2 tsp of baking soda. Give it a try!
This was perfect! I generally only have oat milk on hand so that’s what I ended up using. This wasn’t too sweet either so I can still sneak some into my stuffing!
I’m glad the oat milk worked well! Sounds delicious in stuffing 🙂
Made this tonite!! Very good with chili!!
I’m so glad to hear it!
Great recipe to make again and again!
I’m glad you liked it!
Should the 2/3 cup butter be softened or melted? Thanks!
I usually take it out of the fridge 10-15 minutes before making the recipe.
I made this tonight, DELICIOUS!!!! & very easy!
Glad you enjoyed it Maureen. Thank you!
Can I use a 10” skillet for this recipe or do I need to alter the amount of ingredients?
I haven’t actually *tried a 10″ skillet, but I suspect it would be fine. A little bit thicker, so you might have to cook a tad longer.
The only cast iron pan I have is a 10” skillet so I used it. Each time it’s come out perfectly!
Glad to hear it!
Love thisrecipe but after creaming eggs and sugar when I add the milk and eggs the butter clumps up which makes it difficult to make sure the buttervis evenly distributed. should the milk and eggs be room temp?
You could certainly let the milk sit out for an hour or so ahead of making the recipe!
I HAVE to make cornbread-sausage stuffing every Thanksgiving… Jim’s from Tennessee. But no sugar or flour is allowed in the cornbread. (Did that once and got an earful about “Yankee cornbread. Wrong wrong wrong, evidently). The Southern recipe calls for bacon fat, but I use olive oil.
Teri! Yes, I’ve discovered that people are quite passionate about the “proper” recipe for cornbread! LOL.