Old-Fashioned Cornbread
In a Southern granny's kitchen the cornbread skillet never really cooled down — it lived on the stove, black with seasoning, and turned out a round of golden bread for nearly every supper. Cornbread was the daily bread of households that ground their own meal, and it asked for almost nothing: cornmeal, buttermilk, an egg or two, and a pan hot enough to mean it.
That hot pan is the whole secret. Put the empty skillet in the oven while it heats, drop in the butter or bacon fat so it sizzles and browns, and pour the batter into that — the edge fries crisp and golden on contact, which is what separates skillet cornbread from cake baked in a round tin. The other rule: stir just until the batter comes together. Overmixed cornbread bakes up tough and domed instead of tender and craggy.
As for sugar — that's a border dispute. The old Southern way is none at all (cornbread is bread, not cake); the Northern way likes a sweeter crumb. We split the difference with a single spoonful you can leave out entirely. Serve it in wedges, warm, with butter — and it was born to sit beside a bowl of chili or ham and bean soup.
Old-Fashioned Cornbread
A crackling golden crust from a screaming-hot skillet, tender buttermilk crumb inside.
Ingredients
- 240 g fine yellow cornmeal (fine polenta)
- 120 g plain flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder, ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda and 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp caster sugar (optional — the Southern way is none)
- 350 ml buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 60 g butter, melted, for the batter
- 25 g butter or bacon fat, for the hot skillet
Method
- Heat the skillet. Put a 25 cm cast-iron skillet (or sturdy metal cake tin) into the oven and heat both to 220°C (fan 200°C / gas 7). The pan must be properly hot — it's what fries the crust.
- Mix the dry. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt & sugar (if using) in a large bowl.
- Mix the wet. Whisk the buttermilk and eggs together, then stir into the dry with the 60 g melted butter, just until no dry streaks remain — don't beat it smooth.
- Sizzle the fat. Take the hot skillet from the oven, drop in the 25 g butter or bacon fat and swirl — it should sizzle and brown at once.
- Pour and bake. Pour the batter into the sizzling fat (listen for it) and bake 20–25 minutes, until deep golden, the edges pulling from the pan and a skewer coming out clean.
- Serve hot. Cool 5 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve warm with butter — alongside chili or a bowl of soup, ideally.
If you keep bacon fat in a jar by the stove the way the grannies did, use it for the skillet — that whisper of smoke in the crust is the taste of proper Southern cornbread.
Tips for a crackling crust
The pan must be hot
Heat the empty skillet with the oven and pour the batter into sizzling fat. A cold pan makes cake; a hot one makes cornbread.
Stir, don't beat
Mix just until the dry disappears. Overworked batter bakes up tough and domed instead of tender and craggy.
Real buttermilk
Its acidity works the bicarbonate of soda for lift and keeps the crumb tender. No buttermilk? Sour 350 ml milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice for 10 minutes.
Questions, answered
Should cornbread have sugar in it?
Depends whose granny you ask. The old Southern tradition uses none — cornbread is bread, not cake — while Northern versions can take 50 g or more. Our recipe uses a single optional tablespoon: enough to round out the corn flavour without tipping it sweet. Leave it out entirely for the strict Southern version.
What is cornmeal called in the UK?
Buy fine or medium yellow cornmeal, most often sold as fine polenta — it is the same ground corn. Avoid cornflour (that is cornstarch, a pure white thickener) and coarse polenta, which bakes up gritty.
Can I make it without a cast-iron skillet?
Yes — use any sturdy metal cake tin or ovenproof frying pan, about 23 to 25 cm, and preheat it in the oven exactly the same way. The crust depends on the pan being hot, not on it being cast iron. Avoid glass or ceramic dishes, which heat too slowly for the fried edge.
Why is my cornbread dry and crumbly?
Usually overbaking or too much cornmeal packed into the measure. Bake just until the skewer comes out clean, weigh the cornmeal if you can, and don't skimp on the buttermilk and butter — they carry the moisture. A day old, it revives beautifully split and toasted in a buttered pan.