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a slice of honey butter cornbread on a plate
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4.86 from 7 votes

Honey Butter Cornbread

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.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Holiday Food, Side Dish
Cuisine: American, southern
Servings: 12 large pieces
Author: Mallory Austin

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 9x13 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 9x13 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