Learn how to make my favorite honey cornbread recipe! It has just the right balance of sweetness from honey and savory corn flavor in each bite. It’s moist and hearty and perfectly pairs with chili, a hearty stew, or your favorite comfort-food meal!
After trying countless cornbread variations over the last few months, I confidently say this recipe is my absolute favorite!
It has everything I want – moistness, bites of textured corn meal, and the right amount of sweetness. It’s right between being savory and a sweet type of bread – which is just how I like it!
A few key ingredients included are the stone-ground cornmeal to give an authentic bite of corn throughout the bread and homemade buttermilk to enhance all the flavors and give the bread even more moisture.
When I served this for my family with my classic beef chili, we all agreed it was the best cornbread we’ve had!
Key Ingredients
Below you’ll find the full list of ingredients needed to make this cornbread!
Cornmeal: most importantly, you’ll need cornmeal. We recommend using stone-ground cornmeal for an authentic texture and taste.
Flour: to make this recipe healthier, I like to use white whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour! Both results mirror regular all-purpose flour perfectly, so you’ll never know that it’s healthier when using either of these flour.
Eggs: to bind the ingredients together!
Honey: for the sweetness, we like to use raw wildflower honey.
Butter: add moisture and buttery flavor to the cornbread! See the tips below for dairy-free options.
Almond milk: I like to use dairy-free milk like almond milk, but you can also use regular milk too.
Apple cider vinegar: this vinegar is used to mix into the milk and create homemade buttermilk! Trust me on this one.
Baking powder & baking soda: to help the cornbread rise properly!
Step-by-Step Recipe Instructions
First, preheat oven to 375F.
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1
Make the Buttermilk. Heat the milk on the stovetop for 1 minute or in the microwave for 30 seconds (temperature should be between 75-80 degrees). Then add the apple cider vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for 10 minutes, then stir it afterward. The consistency will be clumpy, but that’s what you want!
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2
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
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3
Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, melted butter, honey, and buttermilk.
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4
Combine the wet & dry ingredients (4-5). Gently pour the wet ingredients in with the dry, and whisk together until the batter forms. Use the whisk to break up any clumps of flour, but be careful not to over-mix the batter.
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6
Bake. Generously grease a 10-12 inch baking dish with oil or butter (my dish is an 11×8 oval baking dish). Pour the batter into the dish and spread it evenly on top, then bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes at 375F or until a toothpick comes out clean when tested in the center of the bread. Let it cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving!
Use a medium-grind cornmeal for a bite of corn texture – for an authentic texture, I recommend using a medium stone ground cornmeal. It gives the perfect bite of corn throughout the whole cornbread!
Always use warm milk for homemade buttermilk – in testing this recipe a number of times, I found cold milk didn’t respond quick enough to the acid. So, I found warming the milk helped it turn to buttermilk in a better timeframe. Warm it on the stove top for a minute, or in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.
Store leftovers in an airtight container – to keep the cornbread from drying out, I like to keep it in an airtight container at room temperature or refrigerate it to prolong it’s shelf life a few days more.
What to Serve with Cornbread
Chili. One of the best things to serve cornbread with is chili! Our favorites are this classic beef chili, three-bean turkey chili, sweet potato black bean chili, or this slow-cooker chicken chili.
Soup. If you want another option for soup other than chili, we love to serve this with our vegetarian black bean tortilla soup!
Even though we love to serve this cornbread with cozy soups and stews, we know it would pair perfectly with so many other dishes such as roasted chicken, ham, or even alongside ribs!
Honey Cornbread
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk or use almond milk for dairy-free
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cup white whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour
- 1 cup medium-ground cornmeal
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter, melted and cooled, for dairy-free swap for coconut oil
- 2 eggs **room temperature
- 2/3 cup honey, or you could swap for maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F
- Make the buttermilk: heat the milk in a pot for 1 minute on the stovetop or microwave it for about 30 seconds (it should be around 75-80 degrees in temperature). Once the milk is warmed, add the tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Once it's finished, you can stir everything together. There will be chunks and a change in the consistency, but don't worry that's what you want. 🙂
- Mix dry ingredients: in a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornbread, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients: in a separate bowl, mix together the melted butter, eggs, honey, and the homemade buttermilk.
- Combine wet with dry: gently pour the wet into the dry ingredients and whisk together until the ingredients form a batter. Use the whisk to break up any flour clumps, but be careful not to overmix the batter.
- Bake: Generousy grease a 10-12 inch baking dish with a little butter, then pour the batter into the dish. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean with no batter. Remove from the oven when finished and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving! We like to serve this with a little butter and honey drizzled over top.
Would using a Pyrex glass 8 x 5″ dish work?
Hi Nic, if you did change the size it would affect the baking time. This seems like quite a small baking dish so you would have to keep an eye on it with the baking time and keep testing with a toothpick until it comes out clean. Hope this helps!
Absolutely incredible cornbread. Just enough sweetness.
So happy you enjoyed it, Andrew!