Embrace those comfort food cravings with a pan of this easy homemade cornbread! This my absolute favorite recipe for fluffy and flavorful cornbread, perfect for dunking in a big bowl of chili!
Hellooooo honey-smothered deliciousness!
My procrastination knows no bounds.
Paul and I have been making this easy homemade cornbread for what feels like centuries now and I’ve been putting off blogging it for the better half of 6 years.
I have a valid excuse!!! Well, kinda. Cornbread is hard to photograph, yo!
In fact, all yellow things are a pain in the BOOTY to take photos of. I’ve finally snapped and shared my Spicy Southern Hot Corn and several spaghetti squash recipes, but cornbread has been downright impossible for me to shoot.
The former art student in me is like “PURPLE IS YELLOW’S COMPLIMENT, DUMMY!” but I’m pretty quick to veto that rationale. I don’t own anything purple except maybe one of my preschooler’s t-shirts and I’m not quite desperate enough to shoot my food on top of a Dora the Explorer tee.
Though I’m not above it… I’ve totally shot photos of pumpkin cheesecake on my favorite sweater!
When you see purple in an upcoming food photo you’ll know I caved.
It’ll be our little secret.
Ready for the recipe? ME TOO!
This fluffy, flavorful cornbread gets a boost from Greek yogurt and a wee bit of vinegar which turns a measuring cup of milk and yogurt into a dreamy, creamy buttermilk in minutes! This is one of my most favorite food hacks (confession: I haven’t bought buttermilk in a year!) but totally feel free to use buttermilk if you keep some on hand for other recipes. Both are gloriously interchangeable.
Easy Homemade Cornbread
We’re head over heels crazy for this quick and easy cornbread recipe! It’s fabulous dunked in a big bowl of chili, part of a barbecue or holiday spread, or enjoyed all on it’s own.
I can’t wait for y’all to try it! This is everything I want cornbread to be and more!
Easy Homemade Cornbread
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup white/granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (I use Fage 2%) or sour cream
- ½ cup milk
- 1 TBSP vinegar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Prep an 8x8 inch square pan by rubbing with butter or coconut oil.
- Combine yogurt, milk, and vinegar. Mix and set aside.
- Combine cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
- In a large pan or skillet over medium-high heat, melt your butter.
- Once melted, remove from heat and stir in sugar. Whisk until well blended.
- Next, quickly add your eggs and beat until well incorporated.
- Add in milk mixture and stir.
- Next add your cornmeal mixture and beat until very few lumps remain.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center to test for doneness. If it comes out clean the cornbread is ready!
- Place on a wire cooling rack and allow to cool before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
hungry for more?
- Spicy Harissa Turkey Chili (Instant Pot + Stove Top)
- Healthy Vegetarian Quinoa Chili
- Slow Cooker Carrot Butternut Soup
- Spicy Green Beans
This is a great recipe but too much sugar IMO…so next time will use 1/3 rather than 2/3 cup. Also, mine didn’t rise as nicely as your’s did in the photo. It is tasty though
Fantastic recipe!
Jenn, really love this corn bread. I added some grated cheddar to the batter. My family wants me to make this again. A delicious intro to corn bread. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I’m so happy to hear it! Thank you!
This cornbread is amazing! Light, flavorful, perfect texture and easy to make. I made the recipe exactly as written, though doubled for a 9 x 13 pan. My husband and I serve a meal monthly for 40 men in a transitional living program. The men loved the cornbread. This will be made often! Now I can go comment on the Pumpkin Cornbread which I also made 🙂
Amazing! I’m so glad it worked doubled in a 9×13 and I’m honored the men in the program all enjoyed it — totally makes my day!
Great recipe. I cook for a drop in shelter that serves meals for between 80 and 100 people. I 4x the recipe to fit our pans and lined with parchment. I made 3 pans and finished all of them to great raves and requests for the recipe. Thanks for making me look like a ‘top chef’.
Barbara you are a rock star! Thanks so much for sharing this and I’m so glad the cornbread was enjoyed by so many. xoxo
I’ve never totally had a cornbread I enjoy, always dry and crumbly and all I want is a glass of water. So I’m so excited to try this and have a go to cornbread recipe. I’m making this this week and I ACTUALLY have buttermilk from another recipe leftover. How much would I use? 1 cup to replace the 1/2 cup yogurt/sour cream and 1/2 cup milk? Just wondering. Thank you!!
Hey Bethany! I’m so excited for you to try my favorite cornbread! I’m obsessed with using 1/2 cup sour cream here. I feel like it makes that extra little difference in lift and tenderness to set it over the top. Ideally I would use 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/2 cup sour cream. If you don’t have either yogurt or sour cream handy you can 100% use all buttermilk though. I just had a little container handy recently too and used it up by making cornbread and a half-batch of blueberry muffins. I had bought it for biscuit recipe testing but got lazy. #oops
My 20 year old step son is super finicky and never eats anything I make because it’s not like what he eats at his moms house. ESPECIALLY if it’s leftover from yesterday. We’ll, he ate two giant pieces of this cornbread yesterday and finished what was left of it today. SUCCESS!!!
Ahhhh yay!!! I’m so glad the cornbread was a hit!
I made this today, was concerned about the vinegar addition because I only had acv but it turned out great, Thank you for the recipe !!
I made this today too and totally used ACV! So glad you enjoyed it!
So, I have always been proud of my cornbread recipe, and if I’m being honest, I still am, but what i make is buttermilk cornbread in an iron skillet. This recipe is spot on for a little variety. My husband LOVED it, as did I with chili and then for dessert, I drizzled a little honey on top. YUM! Very good. Followed directions, with the exception of melting butter in microwave and mixing in the sugar, then eggs, then…just put the milk, vinegar and Greek yogurt in the same dish. Just didn’t want to dirty up another dish. I LOVE the tip of using Greek yogurt (which I always have, but not buttermilk). Thank you
Thank you Gwen! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe and hooray for now having two baller cornbread recipes as a go-to! xoxo
Almost out of cornmeal, so I halved the recipe and baked it in a 7×7 square baking dish. Perfect for the 2 of us! Didn’t dry out, tasted great, and easy peasy. Had it with the chili (source of the link to this recipe) andthen the next night with BBQ ribs. Sorry I forgot to take a photo!
Fool-proof recipe. Made cornbread for the first time last evening and it came out absolutely delish. Wolfed down and finished by family before I could give it time to cool and take it out from the pan. Thank you so much. Making another one today.
Ahhhhh yayyyy!!! So so happy it was a hit with your family! I make this on repeat so much. It’s gotten to the point where my family likes it more than banana bread and muffins – just give me cornbread and I’m happy as can be, lol!
Is there supposed to be baking powder in the recipe? I’ve never seen a cornbread recipe without it
Hi Nanci! I use baking powder for my jiffy copycat cornbread muffins but this 8×8 bread doesn’t need it at all! I’ve made this recipe over 100 times now (lol probably way more) and it always comes out so nice an fluffy! Sour cream works great in place of the yogurt if needed and sometimes in a pinch I use 1 cup sour cream in place of both the yogurt and milk. Love it so!
Great. Thanks for answering.
What am I suppose to drizzle it with? Honey seems to thick. Is it a watered down version? Or butter?
Thanks.
Hi Angela! I eat mine straight up most days but in the photos I drizzled some local honey on it (mine wasn’t thick but now that it’s so cold in my house it has probably thickened lol!) — you can enjoy your cornbread any which way – straight up, with butter, with honey, or even with a combo of honey and butter. Anything goes when it comes to cornbread! xoxo
I have tried so many cornbread recipes over the years. They may taste great, but are always too crumbly. You have to eat with a fork!
But this one, has taste, is not dry and holds together! Hallelujah!
I’m so so happy you enjoyed the cornbread! I have to make it weekly this time of year because my family always begs for it. xoxo
Best cornbread I ever made. Everyone loved it. Was great with the chili. Reminded me of the cornbread Mom made.
I never really cared much for corn bread until I tried this recipe. This is the best corn bread ever!!!
Thank you for sharing it😊
I never like corn bread until I came across this recipe!!! This is the best & easiest bread I’ve ever made. I’ve baked this recipe 3 times now cause my husband & our older kids loved it. It is like a heavy snack they can take with them while distant learning😊
Absolutely perfect. I love cornbread, but never make it myself, because most recipes use a boxed mix, and I’m not into that. I was excited to find your recipe, and I’ve made it two times, and today I’m making it for the third time. I find it moist, not too sweet, and the edges are definitely the best, with the crunch contrasting to soft inside. My boyfriend says, it’s better than Boston market, and that says a lot coming from him haha.
Delicious! Thank you for the recipe! I substituted butter with butter flavored coconut oil and used white whole wheat flour, and it turned out great! No one noticed the substitutes, and it turned out great! It was nice and moist and a great pairing with our chili! Next time, I might lower the sugar amount a little bit. I prefer it less sweet, but my husband thought it was perfectly sweet. So, it’s amount of preference! This is a keeper and will definitely make this again!
Recipe is great, but why not just use buttermilk. I do the vinegar thing when I don’t have buttermilk, seems like an extra step. Also, creaming sugar with melted butter seems like an unnecessary step. I followed the recipe once then just mixed wet and dry ingredients. Didn’t notice a difference. Can also substitute some oil for all the butter. It’s great cornbread but seems like some unneeded steps.
Hi Robert! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cornbread! You can hands-down 100% use buttermilk. I’ve found that many people do not purchase buttermilk regularly so this method is super helpful for them and saves a trip to the store. For the sugar, it’s not necessarily getting creamed together as much as it’s further cooling down the butter a wee bit more before whisking in the eggs. When something works for me I usually don’t mess with it, lol!
I loved this recipe! Best cornbread I’ve made. This recipe is a keeper!!!
Wow. Agree I will throw away all other cornbread recipes. I made in a pie pan and was delicious. Also preheated to 350 and after baking for 15 minutes realized my mistake and boosted up to 375. Perfect results.
I’m so so glad you’re loving the cornbread! Thank you!
This came out so moist and lovely. I used vanilla greek yogurt which made it sweet enough with just butter but honey is great too. Highly recommend!
Question…
Can you add Jalapenos to this recipe without ruining it?
Thanks so much for sharing
Cindy
Hi Cindy! I actually did exactly that and posted it here: Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread — love it so!
Sooo good! Perfect for my chili! It was so tasty and airy! I drizzled honey on top!
This is the 1st recipe I’ve tried which produces deliciously MOIST cornbread! I love the lovely crunchy cornbread top which is magically achieved. The sweetness is perfect, not too sweet. The bread rises perfectly. The texture is amazing. I baked for 30 minutes and it was perfect. Love this so much I am bookmarking it.
Hi, looks yummy! Can you substitute 0% yogurt and reduced fat milk (I usually use 1 or 2% at home).
Thanks!
Hi Abby! I’ve used 2% milk with great results and usually use low-fat plain yogurt. I haven’t test it with nonfat yogurt yet but it should work! xo
Best cornbread I’ve ever had, and I sure love my cornbread! This one is replacing my other recipes. Thank you!
I’m definitely going to try this recipe (as I have many corn bread recipes!) …. but 30 to 40 minutes is a huge leap in baking time ….I realize every oven is different but I’m so sick of feeding to dry cornbread to the birds !!
and I have yet to find a recipe that comes out moist !! I don’t know if it’s because the crumb is so much more coarse than a cake- that the toothpick test is not so accurate for this bread? I’ve tested to make sure my oven is accurate which it seems to be temperature wise, did the baking times vary for people considerably in that 10 minute range? should I start with 350 Instead maybe ? I’m not using a dark pan (I do lower the temperature when making it in a cast iron skillet of course)… I would so appreciate any advice from people who have tried this version thank you !!
Love the idea of using yoghurt can’t wait to try …
I’ve cooked it at 350 before and simply added time to the total bake time, but I have best results at 375 which gives the cornbread that nice golden crust on top that I’ve come to love. I find that the toothpick test still works pretty good for me with my cornbread recipes as long as I push it in quite deep to test the center and bottom of the cornbread. I like to use finely ground yellow cornmeal (Bob’s Red Mill is my go to right now for brands) and have had luck with Publix brand yellow cornmeal as well. My oven is new and my cornbread is almost always done at the 30-35 minute mark at 375 F. Hope this helps – happy baking!
Thnx so much Jenn! I noticed your recipe is the first I’ve ever seen without baking powder as well… but it looks so beautiful and high in the pictures! is that correct? I’m making it now… thank you for the tips ! Fingers crossed I will finally have a moist cornbread.
I accidentally used lemon juice instead of vinegar because my cat brain is so used to the “buttermilk” I make for pancakes but I don’t think it mattered because this still turned out amazing! I wasn’t sure about the eggs in the skillet with the warm butter but you’re right! It doesn’t cook them. Thanks so much for this 🙂 I think I ate more cornbread than the chili it was meant to go with.
I used apple cider vinegar instead of regular vinegar and just melted the butter in the microwave instead of on the stovetop. It rose and puffed up nicely and had a good texture and was flavorful. In the words of Larry David, it was pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Love it! I’ll have to try it with ACV next time I make a batch (which let’s be honest, is like every week at this point LOL!) – Thanks Tammy!
Can this recipe be baked in cupcake pan? If yes, how many cornbread “cakes” will it make?
Hi Eleanor! The recipe should yield 12 cornbread muffins. You can use my Sweet Potato Cornbread Muffins Recipe as a guide for baking times, temps, etc…
This cornbread is delish! One of the best I’ve tried and can’t wait to serve it again. Thank you for the easy prep process too! Cornbread has always intimidated me but you made it super simple and foolproof.
I tried your cornbread recipe tonight and it was Fantastic!
Thank you ?
Oh my goodness. Made this cornbread recipe tonight to go with chili and it was delicious! And everyone commented on how moist it was. I’ve never made cornbread with yogurt but will from now on. This I’ve recipe is a keeper and will be made over and over from now on. Thank you so much for sharing.
Ahhhh yay! So so happy to hear it Jeannie! Thank you!
The cornbread was a hit! It was easy and very good. Yum is right! Thanks for an easy recipe
Glad you enjoyed it Anita – thank you! xoxo
This was extremely easy and simple to make. I have used other cornbread recipes before and this is by the far the best. Quick, simple and absolutely delicious. I am already being asked to make more! Thank you so much for this recipe!
This is the best cornbread I’ve ever made! I followed your instructions and used a 9” cast iron skillet, preheating it in the oven with butter. It turned out perfect and had a great crust. Will make this one again! Thank you!
Ahhhh yay! Thanks Alexa – so super stoked you enjoyed it! We make this cornbread weekly this time of year. Love it so!
I’ve never made homemade cornbread before….always from a box, because I thought it was too hard. Clearly, I was mistaken. Can’t wait to try this!!
This was perfect for dunking in chili! Thanks for the easy recipe!
What kind of vinegar do you suggest?
Hi Polly! I’ve used both plain white vinegar and white wine vinegar and they both work great!
THanks for your quick reply!
Happy to help! Hope you adore the cornbread! 🙂
Just made this tonight to go with a big pot of soup beans. Ohhhhemmmgeeeee girl! This cornbread is amazeballs! The Mr scarfed it down and the baby was right behind him 🙂 thanks for an awesome recipe <3
Ahhhh yay! Bobbi you just made my night!! 🙂 So glad it was a hit!
Instead of sugar can i use maple syrup or Natvia, which is granulated stevia etc.
the cornbread looks yummy, but I’ve given up refined sugar
Hi Wanda! Great question! I’ve tested it with coconut sugar but not maple syrup or any other swaps. I’d say it’s certainly worth a try but it might come out a wee bit different. If you try either one let me know because I LOVE baking with maple syrup! <3 🙂
I think I may have a cornbread addiction. And that’s putting it lightly. This looks like PERFECTION!
It’s a pretty tasty addiction to have! Thanks Karly 🙂
I am confused, do you put the eggs into the hot skillet with the melted butter and sugar? Wouldn’t they scramble? Or are the sugar and butter go into a separate bowl combine then add eggs?
Hi Patty! I though this too the first time I made them (I forget where I read the technique or I would have posted that too – eek!) but it works gloriously every time! I’ll update the instructions to explain so everyone isn’t left scratching their heads thinking I’m a crazy person (lol!) but what you’ll basically do is after removing from the burner/heat and whisking the sugar into the butter, you’ll quickly crack in the eggs and beat vigorously, then follow up with the rest of the ingredients in a similar speedy fashion. It hasn’t ever scrambled for me and I’m guessing that the sugar helps cool down the butter as does the speedy whisking? Somehow it works 🙂 You can 110% let the butter/sugar cool a bit before adding your eggs if you’d like though, I think that may be a-ok!
Thank you for the timely response! The pic of the texture looks like what I have tried to achieve. My southern born hubby uses a box mix and kinda makes me cringe cause homemade gotta be better! Haven’t found a recipe that pleases him yet so I have hope here and will try and let you know. The removal of pan from heat helped to explain. Think I will do a dry run before he is home from his trip then another when he arrives. Will let you know the results. Thank you!
Thank you Patty, happy to help! For sure keep me posted 🙂 I’ve been super picky about my cornbread over the years and this one consistently results in my husband and I faceplanting right on into the pan happily 😉 xoxo
Hi Jenn, wow didn’t realize it was back in May that I asked about this!! Well better late than never to get back to you! I did the recipe exactly as written and I thought FABULOUSSSS! The hubby liked it too YAY with one exception (sigh). He thought it to sweet for him and wanted a crisper crust on top. He suggested heating the cast iron skillet to 400 and then put in veg. oil and pour batter in and bake till done. I’m assuming that will require less baking time. I am pretty sure cutting back on the sugar won’t affect the recipe but would like to hear your input. I’m keeping this recipe for sure! Thank you, Patty
Hey Patty! I’m so stoked you loved it! The sweetness is a person to person thing, I like a sweeter cornbread while my bestie insists it must be more on the savory side — both are delicious so I wouldn’t fret! I made one recently (another sweet cornbread bc that’s how I roll, lol!) that was poured into a hot cast iron skillet (heated in the oven while it preheated with 1 TBP butter in it) and it had a super crisp topping! Let me know how it goes!