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Tender and delicately moist Honey Butter Cornbread is like nothing you’ve had before. With a buttery sticky sweet glaze, it’s almost sweet enough to be a dessert. It’s super soft and full of corn flavor making it the perfect pairing for chili and soups.

honey butter cornbread on a plate
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Of course this compliments all your favorite Thanksgiving and holiday side dishes like the Best Mashed Potatoes, Tini’s Macaroni and Cheese, Holiday Cranberry Sauce, Southern Sweet Potato Casserole, and Scalloped Potatoes Au Gratin.

If you’re a corn LOVER like I am, you have to also check out my Loaded Corn Casserole, my Jiffy Cheesy Corn Casserole, Crock Pot Creamed Corn and my Southern Cornbread Dressing.

spreading honey butter on the top of the cornbread
a pan of fresh baked cornbread brushed with honey butter

Why You’ll Love Honey Butter Cornbread

I don’t know about you, but there is no place for dry, sandy and crumbly cornbread in my kitchen (and any restaurant that serves such cornbread should be fined!).

There is nothing worse than cornbread being bland and dry cornbread and most of the versions I come across have yet to impress me. Which is why I set out to create the most incredibly tender, moist cornbread you’ve ever had.

This honey butter cornbread will blow you away. This is the type of dish you bring to a party and it creates a huge buzz! People don’t know cornbread to be THIS delicious, soft, or buttery. It has a texture similar to rum cake with a coarser crumb that’s super buttery and full of honey flavor.

Although it is sweet, it’s also savory from the butter, cornmeal and cream-style corn that is baked into the cornbread. So it still pairs beautifully with soups, stews (chili of course) and as an accompaniment to your Thanksgiving and holiday table. My favorite is paired with my Zuppa Toscana Soup, but it’s also delicious nestled up next to Cranberry Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, and my juiciest Cajun Bone-In Chicken.

Key Ingredients

measured ingredients needed for this honey butter cornbread

Cream-style corn is the magical ingredient that imparts plenty of moisture into the cornbread.

Dry Ingredients – we’ll be using all-purpose flour, yellow ground cornmeal, baking powder and salt.

Sugar – a combination of dark brown sugar and granulated sugar (white sugar). The brown sugar adds a molasses flavor that pairs beautifully with the corn flavor.

Dairy – eggs, whole milk and sour cream. Instead of just using milk, sour cream makes baked goods richer and more moist.

Butter – no oil is used in this cornbread. It’s butter all the way. If you want to really amp up the flavor, use Kerrygold (or an equivalent butter ๐Ÿ™‚

Honey – how could this be Honey Butter Cornbread without the honey? We’ll be using a quality honey (or even better a raw honey) for optimal honey flavor, not the cheap kind that has sugar syrups.

slice of cornbread with honey butter glazed on top

How to Make Honey Butter Cornbread

In just a few easy steps you can enjoy this tender buttery soft cornbread on your table to pair with all your favorite side dishes!

  • Step 1: In the largest bowl you have, add in all the dry ingredients: flour, cornmeal, both sugars, baking powder and salt.
  • Step 2: In another large bowl add the milk, melted butter, sour cream, eggs, vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup honey. Whisk until smooth.
dry ingredients and wet ingredients in two different bowls
  • Step 3: Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Be sure to whisk until no pockets of cornmeal remain, being careful not to over-mix.
pouring the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients
mixing together the wet and dry ingredients
  • Step 4: Pour the cornbread into a 9×13 buttered baking dish. Bake in an oven at 375 for 35-40 minutes (basting with honey butter around 20 minutes in).
pouring cornbread batter in a greased baking pan
putting the pan of cornbread in the oven
  • Step 5: Make the honey butter by combining 1 stick of partially melted butter with a 1/3 cup honey it in a bowl and whisking until creamy and smooth.
mixing together honey and butter
honey butter mixing together in the bowl
  • Step 6: At the 20 minute mark, pour over half the honey butter glaze, spreading it evenly edge to edge with a basting brush.
pouring melted honey butter on the cornbread
spreading honey butter on the cornbread
  • Step 7: Once the cornbread is cooked through and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, remove from the oven. Use a wooden skewer or fork to poke holes all over the surface of the cornbread (like a poke cake).
poking holes in the top of the cornbread
spreading on the honey butter on top of the hot cornbread
  • Step 8: Pour the remaining honey butter over the surface of the cornbread, working it into the holes and cracks on top so it seeps down. Serve warm, optionally with extra honey butter on the side.
a slice of cornbread on a plate

Variations and Modifications

Here are a few ideas to keep in mind when making this delicious honey butter cornbread:

Make Muffins Instead – rather than baking this cornbread in a 9×13 pan, you can bake them in a muffin pan. Follow the same instructions with basting and poking the holes as instructed. Muffins work great if you are sharing these with guests.

Swapping out the cream style corn? Well, this is actually a necessary ingredient to add all the delicious moisture and corn flavor into the cornbread. If you don’t like having chunks of corn, use a food processor or blender to make it creamy and blended smooth before adding it to your ingredients.

Browned Butter – instead of adding melted butter into the wet ingredients, brown it first in a pan. This adds another dimension of nutty flavor that is incredible!

Make it Spicy – We all know that sweet and spicy are a perfect pairing so why not add jalapeños to this honey butter cornbread? I’d recommend using 1 – 1.5 cups of diced seeded jalapeños.

Make it Cheesy – I don’t recommend adding cheese to this version. I don’t think it’s very complimentary to the honey butter. I’d shy away from this, but if it sounds delicious to you – go for it!

Adding Rum – this is an unusual ingredient but absolutely delicious and this is a common ingredient in Caribbean cornbread. Try adding 2 tablespoons of rum into the wet ingredients. You can also add 1-2 teaspoons into your honey butter for extra rum flavor.

spreading honey butter on the top of the cornbread

Looking for More Side Dish Recipes?

inside of the cornbread

I hope you enjoy this easy recipe for Honey Butter Cornbread. Be sure to comment below with any questions or feedback!

If you make these or any other recipes, don’t forget to tag me on IG @BadBatchBaking to be featured on my story. Seeing your recreations makes my day!

Honey Butter Cornbread

5 from 2 votes
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Total: 50 minutes
Servings: 12 large pieces
Tender and delicately moist Honey Butter Cornbread is like nothing you've had before. With a buttery sticky sweet glaze, it's almost sweet enough to be a dessert. It's super soft and full of corn flavor making it the perfect pairing for chili and soups.
Save this recipe!
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Ingredients 

Dry Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups yellow ground cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 – 14.75 oz can cream-style corn
  • 1.5 cups whole milk room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sour cream room temperature
  • 2/3 cup butter, melted and cooled about 11 tablespoons
  • 2 eggs room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup honey

Honey Butter

  • 1 stick salted butter, partially melted 8 tablespoons
  • 1/3 cup quality honey** I used local raw honey

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9×13 baking dish.
  • In the largest bowl you have, add in all the dry ingredients: flour, cornmeal, both sugars, baking powder and salt. Whisk until evenly combined.
  • In another large bowl add the milk, melted butter, sour cream, eggs, cream-style corn, vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup honey. Whisk until smooth.
  • Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Be sure to whisk until no pockets of cornmeal remain, being careful not to over-mix.
  • Pour the cornbread into a 9×13 buttered baking dish. Bake in an oven at 375 for 35-40 minutes (basting with honey butter around 20 minutes in).
  • Make the honey butter by combining 1 stick of partially melted butter with 1/3 cup honey it in a bowl and whisking until you yield a creamy honey butter texture.
  • At the 20 minute mark, pour over half the honey butter glaze, spreading it evenly edge to edge with a basting brush.
  • Once the cornbread is cooked through and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, remove from the oven. Use a wooden skewer or fork to poke holes all over the surface of the cornbread (like a poke cake).
  • Pour the remaining honey butter over the surface of the cornbread, working it into the holes and cracks on top so it seeps down. Serve warm, optionally with extra honey butter on the side.

Notes

You can swap out the dark brown sugar for all granulated sugar if that’s all you have on-hand.
For the 11 tablespoons of melted butter in the recipe – this can be replaced with browned butter or you can use 2/3 cup vegetable oil instead.
If you’re wet ingredients weren’t room temperature you will likely have chunks of cold butter in the mixture that won’t incorporate. Put the bowl of wet ingredients in the microwave for 40 seconds and this should remove the chill from the ingredients, allowing the butter to melt.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 large piece | Calories: 346kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9.5g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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honey butter cornbread
honey butter cornbread
honey butter cornbread
honey butter cornbread
honey butter cornbread
slice of cornbread on a plate
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5 from 2 votes

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Recipe Rating




3 Comments

  1. Susan says:

    5 stars
    It was delicious with our chili. It could have passed for a dessert too!!!

     
  2. Mallory Austin says:

    5 stars
    Literally the best cornbread you will ever make!

     
  3. Brianna Hollis says:

    absolutely cannot wait to make this for thanksgiving ๐Ÿ˜