Southern Dish Often Made with Buttermilk and Cornmeal

There is a ton of different ways to make this Southern dish often made with buttermilk and cornmeal! We love them as cornmeal muffins for on the go days, in a slow cooker, baked in the oven as you see here in a pie pan or the air fryer is even possible.

Cornbread and Buttermilk

Now why does this ingredient make such a difference? It really does! Let’s talk about it for a quick second shall we? 😉 If you looked at 1 cup of buttermilk next to a cup of milk you would immediately notice the difference. It is MUCH thicker which means whatever you make with it is going to be moist moist moist.

When it comes to this dish that is what we are going for right?? Served with a bowl of our popular 5 ingredient Crockpot chili it is always a family fave. I have made this duo every single month for the lifetime of my children, and my oldest is 22. (I know….I don’t look old enough for that….lol)

Buttermilk Cornbread

You can in fact make this dairy free cornbread too. If you need this option you can make your own dairy product you see above without lactose with almond milk (plain) and 1 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar. Just add into your cup and let sit for 10 minutes for it to curdle and thicken.

I rarely have a carton of this in my fridge. For the cost and how quickly it goes bad it is just better to make it on your own if I am being honest. I hate wasting money and/or food so I just keep white vinegar in the pantry so I can make some when needed. I like a savory AND sweetness to every bite so I like honey and butter.

If you wanted something beyond that like in our Mexican cornbread you could add 1-2 tbsp of diced chiles in there. You can find those from mild to spicy. Alternatively you can add heat with a bit of red pepper flakes. I prefer mild so we go with that if I have a can on hand.

Moist Cornbread Recipe with Buttermilk

You may have seen this in a crossword puzzle in the New York Times and a lightbulb went on in your head, “man I haven’t made a traditional Southern cornbread recipe in so long, but I should!” Yep, I bet that was the case, and why you are here now. Well now that you’ve figured out the crossword clue answer, make our recipe with cornmeal and flour this week!

• 1 c all purpose flour
• 1 c cornmeal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/3 c brown sugar
• 1 c buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c honey
• 1/2 c butter melted and cooled

If you want to make it slightly sweet just cut the brown sugar to 1/4 cup instead. Easy tweak. If you need a buttermilk substitute like I said above you can make it with almond milk if need be. Another alternative would be yogurt or sour cream. Will make it a bit more dense but super duper tender. You can make it as Crockpot cornbread too with your meal.

Honey Cornbread Recipe

Love love this sweet cornbread side dish, and y’all will too with a batch of slow cooker collard greens with your meal. Go ahead and solve your buttermilk and cornmeal crossword puzzle so you feel good about your accomplishments and then get to baking. Let us know what you made with it below!

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a bowl melt your butter and then set aside so it can cool while you prep other ingredients.
• In a bowl mix all dry ingredients together. Once oven is preheated, spray inside of your pan with olive oil or rub with melted butter and put into oven to heat up.
• Into the dry mixture add your eggs, buttermilk and honey. ONLY mix until incorporated, no more. Then gently fold in your cooled melted butter.
• Pull out the pan out of your oven and pour in your cornbread batter. Set back in and bake for 18-20 minutes or just until toothpick in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, but not wet batter. You do not want to overbake this, you want it to be super moist.
• Remove from oven and set on cooling rack. To add more savory or sweet flavor + even more tenderness you can drizzle a bit of honey over the top to seep in or drizzle 1 tbsp melted butter over the top.
• Slice and serve with our Cowboy Butter Recipe. Flavors are more accentuated once bread cools.

For regular or mini muffins, use paper liners, no need to heat the pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes for regular or 8-9 for small ones, or until middle springs back when touched gently. Remove from pan and set them on cooling rack.

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