How To Make Cornbread That Isn’t Dry

The recipe is down below, and there is a printable version. 

Welcome to my kitchen! We can virtually “hang out” for a few minutes and talk about cooking!

If you like “shop talk” like I do, listen to this (from The Joy of Baking):

Cornbread, warm from the oven, is such a treat. It has a lovely golden brown cracked surface with a crust that is nice and crispy, yet inside the texture is soft, dense, and crumbly. 

Or this talk, from the site Bellyfull:

With a golden crust, fluffy crumb, and buttery taste, this will be your go to!

Oh, yeah. 

Now, I’m not using their recipes, but you’re free to if you want. After all, it makes sense for you to find the one you love. 

Sometimes what is really helpful is to read the different tips, the rationale, and the descriptions. Then you really get what you’re after.

It’s common to have someone tell you that buttermilk is necessary, or some other ingredient.

Or that it doesn’t count if you’re starting with the mix (flour and cornmeal already combined in a package). 

They’re entitled to their opinions. When we’re finished today, you can decide if what we make is a keeper, or if you want to try something else.

How To Make Cornbread

Girls, gather ’round. Tie on those aprons, and get ready to find out the super easy details.

We’re getting out an old iron skillet, some sugar, a couple of eggs, a stick of butter, a Vidalia onion, and some milk, and that white bag of White Lily Cornmeal Mix.  Also get that tub of Louana Coconut Oil, because we don’t use shortening any more (except to put on diaper rash).

Important: The Louana is an unflavored coconut oil. No taste. If you don’t have it, or don’t want to use it, then use butter. That works fine, just doesn’t have quite as high a heat tolerance as coconut oil. But don’t use coconut oil that tastes like coconut.  We definitely don’t want our cornbread to taste like coconut. 

Let’s Make Cornbread!

Now turn that oven up really hot, 450, and get a big tablespoon full of the coconut oil. Generously coat the inside of that skillet. Sides and bottom. You should see the white oil coating. And yes, it will melt and make a shallow lake in the bottom of the skillet.

Put the skillet into the pre-heating oven and we’ll get it really smoking hot. For good measure, get out a good potholder and put it near the oven. Keep reminding yourself that skillet will be hot.

While that’s heating up, let’s mix up our cornbread.

Measure 2 cups of cornmeal mix into a big mixing bowl. Add a little sugar — 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup, your judgement, and stir that together. [Side note: My judgement is 1/4 cup.]

Chop the whole onion and add it to the bowl, stir it up a little. In Georgia, that’s gonna be a Vidalia onion. It’s a lot of onion. But this will add a surprising amount of sweetness and moisture. If your onion is giant sized, you can just use half. Do try to get one of the “sweet” ones, but you don’t have to.

Beat the eggs a little in a small bowl. Cut off half of that stick of butter which is 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons and melt it in another small bowl. You don’t want it burning up, but it shouldn’t be solid any more.  (Set the rest of the stick of butter aside to use after the cornbread is done.)  Now measure out a cup of milk.

Add your milk, beaten eggs, and melted butter to the cornmeal mix, stirring just till it’s all moist, not “beating” it. (All the ingredients are in the bowl now. Check the very bottom of the bowl and be sure you got all that dry mix moistened.)

Just Right

At this point, you want to check the batter consistency. Like Goldilocks, you don’t want the batter to be stiff and dry, but you also don’t want it completely soupy.

“Just right” is liquid enough to pour, kind of “ploppy” if you know what I mean. Like cake batter. 

If it’s stiff (too thick to pour), add a little milk. If it looks fully liquid, like soup, add about 1/4 cup of the dry mix to thicken it. 

Is that skillet hot? Get a drop of water on your fingers and flick it into the skillet in the oven. It needs to dance hard and evaporate. If you don’t want to do that, you can start watching for a little smoke rising from the oil in the skillet.

Having the pan completely hot is necessary.

When you’ve confirmed it’s really hot, carefully take it out with the potholder, and set it on the stovetop a minute. (Leave that potholder on the handle so you don’t forget and grab it.)

Pour the batter into the skillet. It should sizzle. Hear that? This is important — It’s telling you two things:

1.  Your cornbread won’t stick to the pan, 
2.  You’re going to have a delicious brown crust when it’s done. 

Now, using the potholder, carefully put the skillet back into the oven.

Leave that remaining 1/2 stick of butter out to soften, and have a dinner plate ready to flip the cornbread out of the skillet.

Is It Ready?

You want a golden brown crust, and no jiggle in the middle. Another sign of being ready is that it will pull away from the sides just a little. You can stick a knife in near the center, and it should come out with no wet batter on it.  So check for all those things. Probably 15 minutes, but ovens can vary. Try not to peek too much, because bread does great when that hot oven stays closed. 

When you’re ready, use that good potholder and get a grip on that skillet. Carry it to the dinner plate, hold it close to the plate,  and flip it over so the cornbread lands on the plate. Turn off your oven.  And if you want to, just stick the skillet back in. It’s gonna stay hot for a while, and you don’t want anyone grabbing it by accident.

How To Butter Your Cornbread

A lot of folks tell you to melt the butter right over the top. My mama would slap the taste outta yo mouth. Actually she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t say a word. But she would never smear butter over the top. 

And honestly, we’re talking about how to make cornbread that isn’t dry. Let’s put that butter where it can penetrate the bread.

Here’s how. You’re gonna take a good butter knife and cut that cornbread into wedges. Halves, then fourths, then eighths. You see that good brown crust on the bottom? And the steam coming out of each cut?  Crispy outside, dense and moist inside.

Joy of baking. Surpassed only by the joy of eating.

Lift out a wedge, and flip it over gently. Set it on top of the other pieces so you can work with it.  From the pointed end that was in the center, make a horizontal slice separating the top and bottom. Go almost to the back, but not quite. Leave it connected like a hinge.  Lift up the top and slide a pat of butter right into the opening you’ve made, and let it soak into the inner part of the cornbread.

Now, put that right-side-up piece back in space it came from, and get your next wedge out. Continue the process until you’ve buttered all the wedges, then you’re done!