BEST Super Moist Cornbread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make cornbread not dry? ›

Melted butter and thick buttermilk keep this cornbread moist. After baking, I like to run a stick of butter over the top of the hot cornbread so that it soaks right in and stays even more moist and buttery.

The thing that distinguishes Southern cornbread from, say Yankee cornbread, or any other cornbread one is likely to eat outside of the southern states, is that it is savory, not sweet, and it is made mostly with cornmeal.

Adjust the proportion of flour to cornmeal.

Cornmeal gives cornbread its classic color and flavor, but too much can make your bread crumbly. Try replacing a little bit of cornmeal with flour.

Eggs, or egg substitutes help add structure to the cornbread. Without an egg or substitute, the cornbread may crumble and fall apart easily.

Make sure the cornbread has fully cooled down before you store it. Wrap the loaf in aluminum foil or plastic wrap two times, and then place it in a zip-tight plastic bag. Make sure to eliminate all the air as you seal it. Cornbread will last up to three days stored at room temperature.

Sprinkle water over the dry cornbread or cover it with a damp paper towel to reintroduce moisture. Use a microwave-safe dish to heat the cornbread on a medium setting in short intervals, checking frequently.

If you use one of the stone-ground varieties of cornmeal, you can omit the sugar. But if you use the more common finely-ground cornmeal, adding sugar will help attain the flavor of stone-ground cornmeal.

Southerners, on the other hand, tend to prefer white cornmeal. Many people believe that it is because, in the old South, families used white cornmeal as it more closely resembled “fancy” European wheat flour. In any case, today it remains a main component in traditional Southern buttermilk cornbread.

As for the best cornmeal for cornbread, either fine- or medium-grind cornmeal is a great choice. Medium-grind cornmeal will bring slightly more texture and grittiness to the batter, which you may or may not want (it's up to you!). You can use fine or medium cornmeal in these extra corny muffins.

Why is my cornbread dense and heavy? ›

Why is my cornbread dense? If you overmixed your batter or over-measured your flour, your buttermilk cornbread could turn out dense. Be gentle with your batter and make sure you know how to properly measure flour.

The batter should be thick, but still pourable. Add more milk or buttermilk if necessary. Remove the skillet from the oven and tilt the pan so the butter coats the bottom and sides of pan.

If you don't want to use water though some other milk substitutes are usually other dairy products like yogurt, sour cream, or half and half. For cornbread though water is probably best.

Just follow 2 & 2 & 2 rule and you'll have cornbread.” So the definition of “2 & 2 & 2” is: 2 eggs, 2 cups cornmeal (self-rising), and 2 cups buttermilk.

Pour batter into prepared pan. The batter will be lumpy. Overcome the urge to mix until smooth. Overmixing can cause the corn bread to peak and have tunnels, resulting in a tough texture.

Adding in flour will help to keep the cornbread moist. I like to use a 50/50 ratio of cornmeal to flour in my recipe. I feel this gives a moist and fluffier texture.

Cut it into individual pieces and wrap them in aluminum foil. Toss the bread packages into the oven and let them warm for 8 to 10 minutes. Corn bread should be steamy and soft, not dry and crumbly. That's why you want to wrap it in foil, so it doesn't dry out.

You can just use water instead which is what most cornbread mixes ask for in the first. I've used both before and it normally turns out good either way. If you don't want to use water though some other milk substitutes are usually other dairy products like yogurt, sour cream, or half and half.