Our Best Southern Cornbread

Our Best Southern Cornbread recipe comes straight from South Carolina. It’s crisp on the outside, but moist and crumbly on the inside thanks to a good cast iron skillet, the magic of buttermilk and a little bacon love!

For me cornbread is a true taste of summer. it’s essential with a big bowl of chili or with a mountain of barbecued sticky ribs, fried chicken, or with scrambled eggs for breakfast.  This is Our Best Southern Cornbread recipe, by far.

Notes on Substitutions

If you want to keep things plant based you can swap-out the bacon fat for vegan/vegetarian oil with a high smoke point, such as; peanut oil, corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, canola oil or avocado oil. All of these oils can take heat up to 410⁰F (210⁰C) with little smoke.

The one thing you can’t substitute here is the cast iron pan. This is a heritage southern cornbread recipe designed for cast iron and wood stoves.

We can adapt to electric, convection or gas heat, but the properties of cast iron are so unique, this is a recipe that does not work well without it.

So break out the cast iron! Be sure it’s well seasoned, and soon this will be your Best Southern Cornbread recipe too!

Our Best Southern Cornbread

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• Author: Cori Horton
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: Serves 8

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Description

Cast iron skillet cornbread, from scratch. Our Best Southern Cornbread recipe hails from South Carolina. It’s light and moist, you can bend it sweet or savoury by adjusting your sugar level, and it’s always a HUGE HIT!

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons sugar (up to a 1/4 cup for sweet cornbread)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons melted butter, cooled to room temp
• 1 tablespoons bacon fat (veggie substitute: Peanut Oil)

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Instructions

1. Preheat Oven 410⁰F (210⁰C). Preheat 9 inch cast iron pan at the same time.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, whisk to combine.
3. Add bacon grease (or plant based oil substitute) to hot pan and return to oven until the fat is (literally) smoking hot.
4. Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl, whisk to combine.
5. Combine dry & wet with wooden spoon or spatula – until JUST MIXED. Add batter to hot, well greased, very hot cast iron skillet.
6. Bake at 410⁰F (210⁰C) for 20 – 25 minutes or until cornbread is cooked through and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and dry.
7. Serve hot, or remove from pan to cool and serve later.

Notes

Do not allow to cool in the cast iron pan if serving later. Cast iron retains heat, so leaving it in the pan, it will continue to steam and get tough. No one wants that.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Category: Quick Breads
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American