Southern Cornbread Recipe (No Sugar)
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This classic Southern Cornbread recipe is made with no added sugar for a delicious savory cornbread that goes perfectly with a big bowl of chili!
I’m going to get a little controversial today, but I have to speak my truth: Sugar does not belong in cornbread. There, I said it, and I stand by it. Melinda doesn’t agree; she likes her cornbread sweet and cakey like most Northerners. We’ve agreed to disagree :).
In all seriousness, there is no right or wrong way to make cornbread. If you like it sweet, go for it, but traditional Southern cornbread is savory, with no sugar added and the majority of the batter being cornmeal, not flour. Serious Eats has a great article about why southern cornbread doesn’t have sugar in it. It’s a really interesting read!
This is my grandma’s cornbread recipe, and I’ve been enjoying it since I was old enough to eat solid foods. It’s the same cornbread recipe I use for my southern cornbread dressing at Thanksgiving and it’s my favorite thing to pair with ham and navy bean soup and collard greens.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Self-rising yellow cornmeal – I like to use yellow cornmeal for a little extra color but you can use white cornmeal if you prefer or if it’s what you have on hand. The important part is that you use self-rising cornmeal which has baking powder mixed in to help give the cornbread a little rise as it bakes. You can use your leftover cornmeal to make these awesome southern hushpuppies!
- Self-rising flour – Just like the cornmeal you must use self-rising flour rather than all-purpose flour to ensure you get the right texture from your cornbread.
- Salt – A little salt helps bring out the flavor of the cornbread.
- Buttermilk – This tangy milk heightens the flavor of the cornbread. I highly recommend it, BUT if you only have milk in the house, you can substitute milk for buttermilk. The flavor will not quite be the same though!
- Eggs – These help give the bread a lighter texture.
- Vegetable oil – This is the only fat in the cornbread so don’t skip on it! It will help give the bread a bit of moisture.
Tip: If you don’t have self-rising cornmeal and self-rising flour you can add 3 teaspoons of baking powder to cornmeal and all-purpose flour with the same results.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a bowl combine self-rising yellow cornmeal, self-rising flour, and salt. Whisk together to make sure the mixture is well combined.
- Add milk, eggs, and vegetable oil to the flour and stir to combine.
- Spoon the batter into a greased muffin tin filling each cup 3/4 full.
- Place in the oven and bake at 400 degrees F. for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Serve warm with butter.
Baking Dish Alternatives: I like cooking my cornbread in a muffin pan because it produces a more golden brown outer edge. If you prefer, you can use a metal 11×17 pan, a 9-inch metal cake pan, or a 10-inch cast iron skillet. These alternatives should still fully bake in 20 minutes, but make sure to check with a toothpick!
What to Serve With Cornbread
Cornbread is inherently dry. It doesn’t have a lot of fat, which adds moisture to bread. Instead, as soon as your cornbread comes out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes so you can actually handle it safely. Then grab some good, salted butter, cut a cornbread muffin in half, and slather it on!
This delicious, simple bread is made to be served alongside a good hearty, salty soup like split pea soup, navy bean soup, or a big bowl of chili. Some people crumble it right into the dish and spoon it up as they eat!
You can also serve it as a side for classic southern BBQ recipes along with baked beans, coleslaw, and collard greens. It goes great with St. Louis-style Ribs, slow cooker BBQ pulled pork, BBQ pulled chicken, or New Orleans BBQ shrimp.
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Southern Cornbread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cup Self-rising yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup Self-rising flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1.5 cups Buttermilk
- 4 large Eggs
- 4 tablespoons Vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a bowl combine self-rising yellow cornmeal, self-rising flour, and salt. Whisk together to make sure the mixture is well combined.
- Add milk, eggs, and vegetable oil to the flour and stir to combine.
- Spoon the batter into a greased muffin tin filling each cup 3/4 full.
- Place in the oven and bake at 400 degrees F. for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Serve warm with butter.
Nutrition
The self-rising cornmeal and flour are different quantities in the recipe. You say to add 3 tsp for each flour type, but do not specify if you mean 3 tsp per cup or per flour type. I live in Europe and we don’t have either in self-rising so need to adjust the recipe accordingly. Thank you
You’re actually combining the cornmeal and flour and then adding 3 teaspoons of baking powder and the salt. I’m going to suggest you add 4 teaspoons of baking powder to ensure you get the best rise.