Life’s too short for dry, crumbly cornbread. That’s why you need this recipe for succulent Hot Honey Cornbread. I know succulent is a word not usually used to describe a product that often feels like you’re gobbling handfuls of sawdust. However, this recipe has a triple threat of ingredients that add moisture and mouth feel: honey, butter, and sour cream. Beth and I worked our way through most of a loaf in an afternoon, so I speak from experience when I say it’s hard not to eat it all in one sitting.
What Kind Of Cornbread Is This?
Cornbread can go one of two ways- crumbly or cake-like. This recipe is for the latter. Sour cream and butter add moisture to the batter. As does the melted hot honey butter that’s drizzled over the finished cornbread. The results are a cake-like sweetened cornbread with small bursts of heat from red pepper flakes.
How To Bake Tender Cornbread
Follow these simple rules for a Hot Honey Cornbread you’re proud to serve to the VIPs in your life:
- Dry goes into wet, always. Dry ingredients weigh less than wet ingredients. Dumping wet ingredients into dry results in clumping and a heavier batter.
- Learn to fold. Folding creates an airy batter. First, use a large rubber spatula to cut down through the center of the bowl until it hits the bottom. Next, scoop from the bottom and bring back up to the top, folding the wet over the dry. Then rotate the bowl a quarter turn, and repeat.
- Don’t over-mix. Overmixing develops gluten. Count out your strokes if you have to, and try to keep them under twenty.
- Don’t overbake. Cornbread continues to cook once it’s out of the oven. Pull the cornbread as soon as the internal temperature reaches 190°. Or insert a toothpick into the center. When you no longer see batter on it and instead see a thin veil of moisture, it is ready to go. If the sides of the cornbread pull from the pan or your toothpick comes out dry, it’s overdone.
Store HOT HONEY Cornbread
Wrap leftovers tightly with aluminum, plastic, or beeswax. Then place in an air-tight container and leave at room temperature in a dark place (like a cabinet or a bread box) for up to 3 days. You can also refrigerate leftovers (wrapped and in an air-tight container) for up to 5 days. To freeze, wrap the cornbread in a single layer as layers stick together. First, use plastic and then aluminum. Finally, place the double-wrapped cornbread in an air-tight container. It will stay fresh for up to 3 months.
What To Serve With Cornbread
- The Best Homemade Chili
- Classic Homemade Meatloaf
- Baked Beans
- BBQ Beef and beans
- Slow Cooker Rosemary Garlic Beef Stew
- Collard Greens
Hot Honey Cornbread
Servings 8 slicesIngredients
- 12 Tbsp butter, divided ($1.78)
- 1 cup honey ($2.99)
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes ($0.09)
- 2 eggs ($0.36)
- 1 1/4 cup sour cream ($1.49)
- 1 cup cornmeal ($0.37)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.13)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 2 tsp baking powder ($0.12)
Instructions
- Set a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 400°F. In a microwave-safe bowl, add 4 tablespoons of butter, honey, and red pepper flakes. Microwave in 30-second spurts until the butter has melted and comes to a soft simmer. Mix.
- In a separate bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder.
- In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, melt the remaining butter. Add all but two tablespoons of the melted butter to a large bowl. Leave the remaining two tablespoons of butter in the cast iron pan. Add the sour cream to the butter in the bowl and mix. Add the eggs to the butter and sour cream and mix.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold them together until a batter forms.*
- Swirl the cast iron skillet to cover the bottom and sides with butter, and then add the batter.
- Bake the cornbread until a thermometer registers 190°F or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a touch of moisture, about 25 to 30 minutes. Top with the hot honey butter.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
How to Make HOT HONEY CORNBREAD – Step by Step Photos
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Use a large rubber spatula to cut through the center of the dry ingredients, scoop up the wet ingredients, then bring them to the top and fold the wet over the dry. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn, and repeat.
Swirl the cast iron skillet to cover the bottom and sides with the remaining two tablespoons of melted butter, and then add the batter. Use the spatula to smooth the surface of the batter.
Bake the cornbread until a thermometer registers 190°F or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a touch of moisture, about 25 to 30 minutes. If necessary, warm it in the microwave in 20-second increments.
I want to try this, but it’s too expensive! Just the honey and sour cream will cost me $10. Do you think it will still work out with substitutions? Maybe half honey half white sugar, and Greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
Hi there! Subbing the sour cream with greek yogurt will work out well. However, I wouldn’t cut back on the honey since it’s one of the key flavors of the dish. You don’t need to use fancy honey–the cheapest, store-brand version will do the trick. ~Marion :)
Hi guys! Just wondering if you had any baking guidelines for cooking this recipe in a cupcake tin? Thanks!
Hi Juliette- It would be wonderful in a cupcake tin. I have not made it that way before so I can’t give you exact guidelines. I recommend baking it for less time, as the volume of a cupcake tin is much less than that of a pan. Just keep an eye on it. And pull it as soon as a knife inserted into it runs clean. XOXO -Monti
This is the perfect complement to soup! It was easy to make and came out perfectly – even though we used a pie plate instead of cast iron because that’s what we have in our kitchen. Husband-approved!
Thank you! XOXO -Monti
Quick question – does the whole cup or so of hot honey butter get poured over the top at the end, or just enough to cover? I feel like I have way more than you look to have in your photos :)
Feel free to use as much as you like. When you pour the whole cup it soaks in all the way to the bottom. Sometimes I will use half and then place the rest on the table to drizzle over individual slices. XOXO -Monti
Hi JM. Since we’ve never met, and I’m a nerd that writes with pure joy for food, I feel like maybe this isn’t about cornbread or me as much as it is about someone in your life talking down to you. I sincerely hope that you have a better day and that whatever it is that’s causing you pain dissipates. XOXO -Monti
I have read other comments sections that got heated, but never in a recipe site. New one to me. With that, much love to everything budget bytes! (Even if I don’t personally prefer it. Know what? I move on.)
The only negative person here is you. I can’t think of any explanation other than that you’re projecting your own bad attitude. You know the saying… if you smell poop all day long, check your own shoe… I read pretty much every recipe published here even if I don’t try them all, and I think Monti’s writing is sweet, funny, and helpful. I’ve tried some of the recipes, too, and they’ve been fantastic, so you’re missing out for no reason.
Thank you for coming to my defense Jeanette. I appreciate you taking a stand for me and even more for liking my recipes! XOXO -Monti
Five hundred calories a slice? This isn’t bread – it’s candy. Five hundred calories is equivalent to two Snicker’s Bars. I’ll keep my “dry, crumbly” cornbread, thank you very much.
I understand your thinking but calories are only a part of nutrition, and not all calories are created equal. A salad has more calories than a Snickers, but you wouldn’t consider a Snickers healthier.
Would this work in something other than a cast iron skillet? Like a pie dish or cake pan? It sounds amazing, but I don’t have a cast iron skillet.
Absolutely, Danielle! I make it in a pie pan all the time. XOXO -Monti
This is the weirdest take from the paragraph Monti wrote. She’s warm and helpful! I love her recipes. I would have never thought of air fryer cinnamon bread but it’s delicious! I’m heading over to rate her recipes I’ve made 5 stars.
I can understand negative comments if they are helpful but this is unsubstantiated and it isn’t constructive.
Hi Kiara! I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for your kind words. We work really, really hard here to put out the best content we can. Granted, it isn’t always perfect, but we do strive for that. It’s the thoughtful people in this community (people like you) that make it worthwhile. XOXO -Monti
Made this yesterday and it turned out great! I have a regular cornbread recipe but this one is fun for when I want to mix things up
Thanks for making it, Ellie! XOXO -Monti