World's BEST Moist Southern Cornbread Recipe - Philly Jay Cooking (2024)

Philly Jay Cooking > Recipe Index > Sides, Soul Food

When you think of soul food you might think of Mac and Cheese, Collard Greens, Fried Chicken, and Candied Yams… but the one that almost always comes to mind is Cornbread! You just can’t talk soul food without it!

You’ll find a hot round pan of buttery moist cornbread with brown crispy edges and maybe a hint of honey on top of almost every black family’s dinner table during Thanksgiving. This is classic soul food at its best and this cornbread recipe here is considered by many a must-try so check it out.

MY FAMILY LOVES CORNBREAD

Cornbread was sort of a year-round thing for my family because we would make it for for Sunday dinner after church and randomly for dinner during the weekdays sometimes. Let’s just say it was a frequent guest on our dinner plates that we invited and welcomed and our neighbors didn’t go without smelling it at least twice a month. Cornbread is soul food, it’s black food, and love when it’s made right… You all gotta remember, THUGS even fought over it in jail in “LIFE” the movie!! Lmbbo!

And I don’t think any penitentiary cornbread comes close to being as good as my cornbread. With all that being said, cornbread ain’t nothing if it’s not made right so ima show yall how to make some top-tier, to-die-for cornbread today with this recipe so you can impress your folks at the next Thanksgiving dinner!

Homemade vs Jiffy CORNBREAD

I remember seeing boxes of jiffy in one of my aunts’ kitchen closets as a kid. She wasn’t one of the better cooks in the family! LMBBO! My nana Alice was a great cook but you would find some boxes of Jiffy in her kitchen cabinet as well. But when she made cornbread using Jiffy she would add ingredients to it to make it taste like homemade cornbread. I’ve used Jiffy in the past but making cornbread from scratch allows you the flexibility to make the cornbread to your liking.

A good cornbread recipe requires the right ingredients. I’m going to talk about the ingredients you need, why you need them, and the ones I like to use to give my cornbread something special… I’m going to first talk about the dry ingredients….

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED

Ok so here are all the ingredients we’ll be using and that you’re going to need and below I’ll explain why you need each ingredient and how important important to the recipe. First, the DRY INGREDIENTS…

• CORNMEAL: Ok so the first and obvious ingredient you need is CORNMEAL! But using the right brand of cornmeal is key. I love the old-fashioned STONE GROUND YELLOW CORNMEAL by INDIAN HEAD! It’s the type of cornmeal I was raised on. My nana used this not just to make homemade cornbread but to fry fish as well.
• ALL PURPOSE FLOUR: Flour is very important! I can’t emphasize that enough! I use all-purpose flour! Flour is what gives the cornbread a cake-like texture and crumb. I use a nice amount of flour so that the cornbread isn’t coarse. When it comes to cornbread balance is key! You don’t want your cornbread to have a cake-like texture but you don’t want it completely coarse either. The ratio that’s worked for me is… that gives the cornbread a softer texture without making the crumb completely like a cake.
• BAKING POWDER: This is a very important ingredient that you need very little of. Baking powder is a leavening agent and you use it for one purpose and that’s to make the cornbread rise. Without it the cornbread will be flat as a kitchen counter and that we DON’T WANT! LMBBO!!! So make sure you have some baking powder on hand and it’s important to ensure that it’s new. Baking powder doesn’t have a long shelf life which is why I don’t buy a lot of it. Don’t use it if it’s over 8 months to a year old, it won’t be effective enough to get the job done. So make sure you use some new baking powder or baking powder that’s under 3 months old.
• SALT: Now as I’ve said to you all before, salt doesn’t make sweet recipes salty it just enhances flavor. I don’t even use enough to make the cornbread salty so don’t worry… I just use a small amount and that’s just to enhance the overall flavor and taste of the cornbread so use very little as instructed in the recipe. It just makes everything taste better that’s what salt does.

THE LIQUID INGREDIENTS

• BUTTERMILK: We’ll be using buttermilk for a lot of reasons. Lol! Buttermilk has a similar effect yogurt has on cake because it gives the cornbread flavor, a nice tang that balances the sweetness of the cornbread and helps to get and keep the cornbread soft and moist while baking. Buttermilk also adds an acid component that activates the leavening effect of the baking powder/soda by releasing gas, making the cornbread batter rise better. Lastly, it gives the cornbread an amazing texture, which is why it’s one of the more important ingredients because of its many purposes and impact on the dish.
• VEGETABLE OIL AND BUTTER: I add 2 fats to this cornbread recipe. The oil gives makes the cornbread nice and moist while the butte provides another element of flavor and adds color to the cornbread. Butter just makes everything taste better so you MUST USE IT!
• EGGS: Ok so like the buttermilk you need eggs for quite a few important reasons as well. Eggs add flavor as well believe it or not… trust me the cornbread won’t taste the same without the eggs. Lol! Eggs are also a leavening agent and will assist the baking powder in making the cornbread rise. Its main purpose, just like for baked macaroni and cheese and cake, is to keep everything together and help provide structure.
• HONEY: I like to add a few tablespoons of honey to the batter of my cornbread just because I like the flavor it adds to it, this is completely optional though.

ABOUT THE SUGAR

Aiiight so… I saved the “SUGA”, yea I said it… SUGA, for last because this is probably the most “CONTROVERSIAL” ingredient! Lol! Maybe not the SUGAR itself but HOW MUCH YOU USE!!! So with THAT BEING SAID, let me get into this!

Now I’ve noticed that a lot of older folk make their cornbread without sugar or they use very little. Nowadays, people add just as much sugar to their cornbread as they do cake and the cornbread ends up tasting just like a cake for somebody’s birthday or wedding. Lmbo! I call it cornbread cake. I have ordered from plenty of soul food spots throughout my life and they always give you a small cornbread muffin on the side of ya meal. And when I say it is sweet as cake, it sometimes is sweeter and some folk don’t like that because they think of cornbread as a neutral food, not a sweet or savory one.

I like my cornbread a little sweet… but use as much sugar as you like. Sugar adds a little crisp to the top and edges of the cornbread. I used to use a lot but because I typically serve it with savory foods like turkey wings and meatloaf, I reduced the sugar amount because sweet cornbread doesn’t taste great dipped in gravy in my opinion! Lol!

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HOW TO MAKE CORNBREAD

1. Ok so first things first, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, butter your baking dish, and spray it down with some Pam cooking spray so the cornbread doesn’t stick.
2. Get 2 medium-sized mixing bowls, one for the dry ingredients and one for the wet ingredients. In one bowl, add in the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, then whisk well. Make sure to sift flour and cornmeal while adding it to the bowl to break up any clumps. Sifting will also allow the cornmeal and flour to easily combine with the other ingredients and make for a fluffier result due to aeration.
3. In another medium size bowl, add in your buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, and honey (if you choose). Make sure to add the butter after the eggs and only once it chills. Don’t add it to the mix while it’s hot because it can cook the eggs and you don’t want that. Stir everything in until well blended.
4. Then pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, and stir until everything is well blended.
5. Pour the batter into the baking dish and place it in the oven. Bake for exactly 40 minutes or until a fork stuck in the center comes out clean.
6. When it’s done, add a little butter and honey to the top…

WATCH VIDEO ON HOW TO MAKE IT

“DON’T STOMP WHILE THE CORNBREAD’S IN THE OVEN”!!!

I’m sure you’ve all heard that stomping and making too much noise can cause a cake to sink in the center. I remember my Nana yelling at me and my cousins who would be wrestling and just being wild boys jumping off the bed and running around, “What yall doing up there? Stop jumping and making all the noise”! Well, some chefs and cooking experts detest that and call that notion a myth. Here’s what Cordon-Bleu-trained pastry chef Andrea Boudewijn had to say about sound-impacting baked cakes and cornbread.

“It’s a myth. Sound itself can’t make a baking cake fall unless it’s loud enough to cause a prolonged vibration near the cake. Slamming the oven door can create an air impact inside the oven which, if slammed hard enough, can cause a problem, but generally, a cake’s sturdiness comes from the ingredients inside it and the method by which it was mixed”.

USING A GLASS DISH

Don’t use a glass baking dish! Because glass is an insulator, rather than a conductor, it’s slow to heat but, once hot, retains that heat for longer. This can result in uneven baking: By the time the interior is baked through, the exterior is often overcooked, dry, or dark. It took me FOREVER to realize this because I used to use all glass baking dishes. I used a non-stick skillet to make cornbread for once because I was at my aunt’s house and that’s all she had.

To my surprise, my cornbread wasn’t burnt around the edges after only 20 mins of baking which I could not understand for the life of me kept happening every time I baked cornbread. Then I did some research on baking things in glass dishes and heard about how the light and or heat bounces off of glasses making things hotter. I was like, “SO THIS IS WHAT’S BEEN CAUSING MY BURN BREAD AND PIES FOR YEARS”. I just could not understand why my cornbread and pies I’d bake in glass dishes kept burning so fast. Was glad to figure out the problem.

CORNBREAD PRO TIPS

• LET THE BATTER SIT: Leave the batter to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before baking it, this gives the cornmeal some extra time to absorb flavor from the other ingredients and the leveners (baking powder and baking soda) get a head start.
• DON’T OVERMIX: Stirring, or mixing can activate glutens. When you stir too much, this will cause more glutens to be formed which will result in crumbly bread. Also, the more cornmeal you have over flour will result in a drier, more crumbly cornbread this is why I use a 3:1 ratio of cornmeal to flour, 1-1/2 cups of cornmeal to 1/2 cup of flour. That ratio always worked for me.
• USE FINE CORNMEAL: Fine cornmeal gives you a more traditional cornbread texture.

*EXPERT TIP*

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE BUTTERMILK? You can combine regular whole milk and vinegar or you can use sour cream but use the same amount. Your cornbread should come out just as good as sour cream sorta does for cornbread the same thing buttermilk does, add and maintain moisture while it bakes, adds a tangy flavor, and a nice texture.

WHAT SIZE BAKING PAN DO I USE? I always use a circular 8.5 dia x 1.5 D baking dish.

WHY DID MY CORNBREAD STICK TO THE BAKING PAN? You’re not using enough butter or cooking spray! Make sure the butter is soft or melted before coating the baking pan with it and to make sure it doesn’t stick, lightly spray some Pam into the bottom and walls of the baking dish!

WHY MY CORNBREAD EDGES BURN BEFORE THE CENTER FULLY COOKS? You likely added too much liquid which is why the center is taking so long to cook and you probably have the temperature too high in addition to adding oil to the baking dish. I use butter and Pam and as far as temperature, I always stick with 350 for 40 minutes.

HOW TO STORE IT? The best way to store cornbread in my opinion is in room temperature so place it in a glass cake doom to retain as much moisture as possible. I do this because it won’t get cold as it would in the refrigerator and once that happens it’s hard to reheat because when you reheat it in the microwave it tends to get rough and chewy. There’s no good way to preserve it honestly, it’s best eaten within the same day you made it because cornbread just dries out fast.

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Alright yall so get to it! I hope yall love this cornbread recipe and leave a comment below letting me know how you like it!!!

Enjoy, later!

PBJ~

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