You are probably familiar with classic cornbread; it is almost irresistible. I cannot seem to keep my hands off it at barbeques or during family dinners. But what would happen if you kept all the yumminess of cornbread, and made it more like a cake? Well, I can happily tell you, great things happen.
Cornbread Recipe
This cornbread cake has the best of both worlds. It is fluffy, moist, a bit sweeter, and requires no special equipment or techniques to make.
The texture resembles that of a cake but has an extra layer of texture from the cornmeal.
Top this cake with cornmeal with butter, honey, and jam, or pair it with your favorite dish for a touch of sweetness like in Homemade Sweet Cornbread. If you want to try a different one, Jiffy Cornbread is a great one too!
Cornbread Cake Ingredients:
- Cornmeal – one cup of cornmeal is what is going to create the classic cornbread texture in this recipe.
- All-purpose flour – flour is what provides structure to this cake. Use unbleached flour if possible.
- Granulated sugar – this cake is slightly sweeter than traditional cornbread, and the sugar also helps create a nice crust and browned top.
- Baking powder – this helps the cornbread cake to rise and stay fluffy.
- Salt – salt helps to balance out the sweetness of this cake. Use sea salt, if possible, rather than table salt.
- Vegetable oil – the mixture of oil and butter in this recipe provides both fat and flavor.
- Melted unsalted butter – I suggest using unsalted butter so you can control the salt content.
- Honey – Honey and cornbread are a classic pair. It provides another layer of sweet flavor.
- Eggs, beaten – beat room temperature eggs lightly prior to mixing them into the wet ingredients so they fully combine.
- Milk – full-fat room-temperature milk works best in this recipe to provide extra flavor however skim milk or non-dairy milk will work.
How To Make Cornbread Cake?
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine vegetable oil, melted butter, honey, beaten eggs, and milk.
- Pour the oil mixture into the flour mixture and stir till just combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. The top should be starting to brown, and cracks should start to form.
How Do You Keep Cornbread Moist?
The milk melted butter, and vegetable oil all add moisture to this cornbread recipe.
Two ways you can ensure that yours stays super moist is by not overmixing or the batter and not overbaking your cornbread.
Serving warm cornbread with butter and honey will add moisture though, so no need to worry if you overbake yours!
Can You Freeze Cornbread Cake?
Yes, you can! Allow the cornbread cake to cool completely, cut it into squares or leave it whole in the pan and place it in a sealed airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
How To Serve Cornbread?
Cornbread is delicious on its own, but here are a few things you can pair it with.
Use it as a side dish for Roasted Cornish Hen or meatloaf, pair it with a homemade soup or chili, top it with butter and jam, or serve it alongside your favorite ice cream.
And here’s my cornbread muffin recipe.
Other cornbread recipes you might like:
Super Moist Cornbread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2/3 cups vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp honey
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 2 ½ cups milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine vegetable oil, melted butter, honey, beaten eggs, and milk.
- Pour the oil mixture into the flour mixture and stir till just combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. The top should be starting to brown, and cracks should start to form.
Nutrition
Answering Your Burning Questions:
Is Cornbread Healthy To Eat?
Although cornbread is delicious, by no means would I consider it a healthy food. Cornmeal and flour are both high in carbohydrates which can spike blood sugar levels, in addition to the sugar in this recipe. Try your best to resist eating too many pieces!
Is Cornbread A Bread Or Cake?
Cornbread is actually a quick bread, meaning there is no yeast or kneading required, which is one of the reasons it is so easy to make. Quick bread uses baking powder as a leavening agent and tends to be slightly sweeter than traditional bread.
What Happens If You Overmix Cornbread?
You want to be very careful not to overmix your batter.
Overmixing activates the gluten in the flour which can cause your cornbread to end up dry and crumble.
Make sure to mix until just combined, a few lumps in the batter is ok.
Why Is My Cornbread Spongy?
This is a less common issue when baking cornbread, however, it can still happen.
Overbaking your cornbread can result in a sponge-like texture as the moisture leaves and more air pockets are formed.
Watch yours closely to ensure it does not overbake.
Leftover Cornbread:
Leftover cornbread can be used in a variety of different ways.
Try serving it at breakfast with butter, honey, or jam, use it to create a cornbread stuffing, or crumble it over top of a casserole for an extra layer of crunch.
If you like this recipe, please leave a comment and give this recipe a rating. I would love to hear from you and I truly appreciate your feedback! I will always do my best to respond to every comment ASAP. Thank you for following along! and happy cooking!
Your corn bread is a favorite in our house! We have made it many times over the past cpl yrs. In fact, it’s in the oven now as I type to accompany homemade ham/bean soup. My husband & kids ask me to make it any time we have the bean soup, chili, or for a holiday. Turns out perfect every time and makes plenty for our large family of 6. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Fast easy and delicious. I gave up my old recipe this is the best!
Best cornbread ever. Great taste and moist.
Turned out delicious! Super easy to make. My husband said it’s the best he’s ever had.
Da Bomb Diggity
This is my favourite, never fail recipe. Only change I make, is dividing it between 2 8 inch pan and adding a can of crushed chillies (or fresh diced jalapeño) to one of the pans so my ‘like the heat’ half of my family can have a kick in their corn bread
This is the best recipe I’ve found!! Thank you so much!!! I especially like the fact that there’s no buttermilk needed. I don’t have to do any special trips into town to go to the store.
LOVE this recipe! I have made it a few times and it is so good, everyone loves it. Just wondering if it is possible to cut the recipe in half? We are cooking for a smaller crowd this weekend 🙂
The BEST cornbread recipe ever!!! I threw out my usual recipe and replaced it with this! I will use this one from now on!
Due to food allergies in my house I used gluten free flour and almond milk and a little less sugar and it is awesome, great texture…maybe not exactly like traditional cornbread but we like it better!
That makes me so happy!! Thank you, Bernadette! 🙂
SO good!! I only used 1/2 cup of sugar and it was still sweet enough. Will definitely make again!
That’s so nice to hear, Cathy! 😀 Thanks for your review!
This is the best cornbread I have ever made! Loved the sweetness of the honey. Made it exactly as written. Did not change a thing. It will be my go to recipe from now on! One note: do use a Large bowl. I thought my bowl was big enough, but there are a lot of ingredients and I didn’t have enough room to stir. Delicious!
This was super easy to make and so delicious. I love how it is light and airy with a touch of sweetness. And it doesn’t crumble. I drizzled a bit of hot honey on my piece to eat with a bowl of chili and that took it over the top – it’s just as yummy without honey, too!
Absolutely! So glad you liked it!
This is the best and only cornbread recipe I will ever use. It is amazing, my family loves it! Thank you for sharing!
Aw thanks so much!! Thrilled it’s always a hit, Michele!
Lost for words delicious and moist…, yummy!!!
That’s awesome!! 🙂 So glad to hear it!
Would love to try this recipe I wonder If I couldn’t get the cornmeal is there any sub for it?
This so delicious! My husband said it was the best cornbread he’s ever had. Thanks for sharing!
Yay!! That’s so nice to hear, Ann! I appreciate your 5-star review! 🙂
I grew up.on southern cornbread, which had no sugar in it and was much more dense. I cut back on the sugar some but love how fluffy it turned out! Deelish!
That’s awesome!! Glad you enjoyed it, Karen!
This recipe came out perfectly! My family loved it! I may add some jalapeño juice or dices next time since my husband likes it spicy.
That’s amazing!! 🙂 I’m so happy it was a hit, Jennifer!
This is a very good cornbread nice and moist
Phenomenal! I added 4 tbsp of diced jalapeños, 1 can corn (drained), 1 small can diced olives (drained), and 2 helping handfuls of shredded cheese while changing nothing else to make it a Mexican cornbread. Put all of those in a gallon ziplock bag and coated with flour to make sure it stayed suspended in the cornbread. My husband said it’s the best Mexican cornbread he’s ever had and paired it with a homemade chili. I love your cornbread recipe, it’s simply the best!
Thank you for the feedback Janice! So happy you enjoyed it.
Best ever! Very moist and just enough sweet
Satisfied my corn bread craving!! I didn’t even need to add any toppings. Great recipe!
I made this two weeks ago. They were a great pairing with chili and creamy soup. I froze half of it and recently thawed a couple slices to see how they would taste as a “strawberry shortcake” alternative–they were delish! I crumbled them in a small bowl then added sliced fresh fruits topped with whipped cream. Yum! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Sounds delish! I haven’t tried it yet, but intend to. If I cut the recipe in half, using a smaller dish, will I also need to cut the time in half?
Also, does adding creamed corn affect the baking time or ratio of other ingredients?
This is the first time I’ve ever left a comment on a recipe and I’ve read and used MANY recipes. This one deserved my first comment ever! I am obsessed with how soft and fluffy it is and perfectly sweet. I actually didn’t have honey on hand so I substituted pure maple syrup. SO good.
After trying 3 different recipes this one finally made it! I consider it a success when everyone at dinner asked to take home leftovers.
Fantastic! Best I’ve had in years. I will definitely be making this again.
i wish i could give it more stars. i did use one cup of sugar so it wouldn;t be a sweet. it is moist, soft, very tender crumb i will never make another recipe. this is absolutly the best cornbread ever!!! thank you so much.