Skillet Cornbread with Honey Butter
Roberta Reynolds
When I was a kid, one of my favorite suppers was when Neeners would make cornbread and scrambled eggs for supper. Need I tell you that I drenched the warm cornbread in Log Cabin Syrup after adding plenty of butter? And yes, the syrup always made its way onto the scrambled eggs too. Money was tight in those days, but when cornbread arrived, we felt like we were eating like royalty. In fond remembrance of those days, here’s my own favorite cornbread recipe. Butter is melted in a cast iron skillet, and the batter is poured in right before popping it into the oven. Serve this warm with honey butter and you’ll see what I’m talking about. But if you’d rather drench it in butter and syrup, I won’t blame you one bit. This recipe is so easy; you won’t ever want to open a box of corn muffin mix again. Plus, it’s made with lots of real butter – that’s all I need to hear.
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 45 minutes mins
- FOR THE CORNBREAD
- I cup yellow cornmeal
- I cup unbleached flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels thawed
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 4 tablespoons butter
- FOR THE HONEY BUTTER
- 1 stick butter – at room temperature
- 1-2 tablespoons honey depending on your personal taste, plus a little more for drizzling over the top
- Generous pinch of salt
FOR THE CORNBREAD
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda and corn kernels.
Add buttermilk, egg, and oil. Stir just until moistened.
Melt butter in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until the butter begins to sizzle. Make sure the sides and bottom of the pan are coated in butter – you might need to swirl it around.
Scrape the batter into the hot skillet, and immediately put the skillet into the oven.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden in color and set in the middle.
Cut into wedges and serve with butter, butter and honey, just honey, or whatever else sounds good.
NOTE: If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, use an 8x8 inch baking dish – just place the baking dish in the oven to melt the butter.
FOR THE HONEY BUTTER
In a small bowl, stir together the butter, honey, and salt. I like to just barely mix it together because I think it looks better, but mix it as much as you want.
Drizzle to top with additional honey and serve over warm cornbread or whatever else you can think of to use it on.