The Best Cornbread Recipe – Learn the Secret

Secrets To Baking The Best Cornbread Recipe

ingredients
Ingredients for Cornbread, starting with egg and to the right around the circle: egg, cornmeal/flour, white flour, milk, sugar, cream cheese, baking powder, salt, and in the center, cream corn

IS YOUR CORNBREAD DULL AND DRY? WANT TO BAKE BETTER CORNBREAD? Well read on friends, because I will share my secrets to baking the MOST delicous cornbread with you! Are you visiting this website from Europe? Check out this post to learn more about European flours and which one to substitute for All Purpose in this recipe.

Classic Cornbread

Cornbread, for those of you not familiar with American fare, is a regional favorite of the southeastern United States. If you read the About me page, you know I did not grow up in the South. However, while serving in the Army, I lived in Jesup in southern Georgia for three years. I met some very dear friends who shared local southern culture with me. I have to say, Southerners definitely know how to eat. The food is pure comfort; very much like the lilting southern Georgia drawl.

Where is Cornbread popular?

Fresh corn
Fresh Corn, I call this variety butter and sugar because of the yellow and white kernels.

I first ate cornbread, corn casserole and corn pudding while living in Georgia. Cornbread (the base for all three dishes) is delicious and versatile, sometimes including mix-ins like cheese, bacon or green chiles. All very good add-ins but when I developed my recipe, I just wanted corn flavor.

If you are a purest, you may be disappointed as this is not a traditional light cornbread recipe made only with corn flour. However, that’s not what I was looking for with this recipe. I wanted a moist, dense cake with deep corn flavor that could be cut and served. Similar to a corn casserole but sliceable like cornbread.

Secret to Flavorful Cornbread

Cornbread
Cornbread

The first problem I tackled was bland flavor. I wanted a rich corn flavor in my bread. I started with a fresh, high quality, organic corn meal like Bob’s Red Mill Corn Meal. However, the flavor I wanted could not be achieved by using corn meal alone. I needed another corn boost. I found it in the addition of creamed corn. If you are living somewhere that does not sell prepared creamed corn in a can, you can make it from fresh or frozen corn by using this Cream Corn Recipe from Spend With Pennies blog. Homemade creamed corn boosts the flavor even more!

Secret to Moist Cornbread

The next problem I tackled was dry, crumbly cornbread. Now, this is a personal preference. Because I wanted my bread to be moist and dense, I relied on my culinary training. To achieve moist cake in the bakery, I would whip butter & sugar together before adding eggs, and then add dry ingredients. So, I kept the whipping step to add air but substituted cream cheese for moistness and density instead of butter.

If you can not find cream cheese for purchase in your local area, you can substitute 1/2 cup of mascarpone cheese. However, that’s double the cream cheese amount in the recipe since mascarpone is not as dense as cream cheese.

The Results

Cornbread Close Up
Close up of moist cornbread interior crumb

You can bake this flavorful, moist and dense cornbread. Serve it warm with a generous topping of butter. I absolutely love serving this beside beef chili or white chicken chili. I recommend you check out my blogger friend’s Chili-con-Carne recipe! It’s delicious and pairs perfectly with my cornbread recipe below.

Enjoy this awesome American treat and sharing is caring! Invite a friend or a neighbor to dinner and serve this delicious bread with some yummy chili or barbeque. It is sure to warm their heart (and stomach). Share a picture of your results on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and tag @christinasbreadbakes. I love to see your creations! Happy baking.

Cornbread

Moist, Flavorful Cornbread

Christina
This is a recipe for a very moist, dense cornbread recipe. It is not a light and airy cornbread but similar to a corn casserole but can be cut like a cornbread.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course bread, Side Dish
Cuisine American, southern
Servings 12

Equipment

  • Electric Mixer with paddle attachment
  • Digital Metric Scale
  • 8" x 8" x 2" square glass cake pan

Ingredients
  

  • 55 g cream cheese room temp
  • 55 g sugar, granulated
  • 400 g cream corn room temp (one can)
  • 1 ea egg room temp
  • 195 g flour, all purpose
  • 140 g corn meal (corn flour)
  • 10 g baking powder (2 tsp)
  • 3 g salt 1/4 tsp
  • 170 ml 2% milk room temp

Instructions
 

  • Prepare cream corn if making from scratch (homemade)
  • Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
  • Prepare the pan with butter (or spray) and flour.
  • Scale or measure all ingredients, ensuring cold products are at room temperature.
  • Mix all dry ingredients (flour, corn meal, baking powder, salt) together and set aside.
  • Whip the cream cheese and sugar at medium speed for 1-2 minutes until throughly mixed.
  • Add egg. Mix on medium-low for 1 minute. Scrape Bowl and mix again until incorporated.
  • Add cream corn and mix on low for 1 minute.
  • While mixer is on low, alternate the addition of dry ingredients with the milk in thirds (one third dry, one third milk, etc. until complete). Stop mixer and scrape down bowl.
  • Turn mixer on to medium and mix for 1 minute.
  • Pour mixture into prepared pan.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick is clean.
  • Allow this to cool on a rack for 20 minutes before cutting and serving.
Keyword corn, corn casserole, cornbread, cream corn

9 thoughts on “The Best Cornbread Recipe – Learn the Secret”

  1. Pingback: Classic Slow Cooker Chili | Coffee-Crafts-Chaos

  2. Haven’t heard of any cornbread here in my country. I would love to try to make this at home since it’s my recent favorite food and essential for my healthy diet.

    1. Hi Mikhaela – A variety of food is definitely needed for a healthy diet and one of the greatest ways to do that is to try international cuisine. I hope you enjoy this American cornbread!

  3. There are a lot of ways that you can cook up chili and find out what is the best canned chili for chili dogs, so go ahead and have a look around online and find some recipes that you like, and that you can make. and enjoy.

    1. Hello Aida. Cornbread goes great with chili. So, make this cornbread recipe and serve it with your favorite chili, it’s a super easy and delicious family dinner. Enjoy.

  4. Omg! My hubby will flip when he sees this recipe! He’s a cornbread fanatic. Always experimenting with different variations. Thanks Christina!

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