Glad you are all enjoying this recipe. Just wanted to mention a few things in response to some reviews. First, I mix all ingredients in the pan I melt the butter in. Less dishes. Second, I often use whole wheat flour to cut sweetness and make it a tad more healthy. Third, it freezes fabulously. I always make a double batch, remove one from the pan after cooling, wrap it up and pop it in the freezer. Thanks for all the rave reviews! 3/20 Based on some reviews I've read, I want to clarify something. I use a regular pot to melt my butter in. After the butter has melted I proceed with adding the rest of the ingredients in that same pot. I do NOT get a separate bowl for mixing in. After all the ingredients are mixed in the pot I pour the batter into a baking pan. I do NOT mix everything in the pan I'm baking it in. I do NOT keep the butter and sugar mixture out when mixing the rest of the ingredients. Hope that helps. 7/24/10 I'd change the recipe if I could, but I can't figure out how, so I'll mention here that the normal baking time is 30 minutes. I put 30-40 minutes in the directions because it takes longer when you use whole wheat flour, which I often do. I'm guessing those who complain about it being dry are just seeing the "cook time - 40 minutes" at the top and overbaking it. 3/16/11 I never claimed this was a Southern recipe & couldn't figure out why some reviews pointed out that it wasn't. Evidently Allrecipes put it in that category. Sorry!
Very good recipe though I tweaked it a bit. I reduced the sugar a little, but think it would be fine for the full amount if you like your cornbread a little sweet. I used powdered buttermilk and water and added 2/3 c. fresh yellow corn. In my opinion, the ONLY way to cook cornbread is in a preheated cast iron skillet. It gives it such a wonderful buttery, crisp crust. I greased my 9 in. skillet with vegetable oil and put it in the oven while I assembled the recipe. When the batter was finished, I poured it into the hot skillet. I then baked it for 25 minutes. The result was top notch. Very moist with perfect texture.
Awesome 5++ stars. To the readers who had dry bread.... 1/4 lb not 1/4 cup butter!!! This might have made a difference if you read it wrong, 1/4 lb is 1/2 cup of butter. Also I put it in my greased preheated iron skillet for 25 min, excellent!!
I made twelve, gorgeous muffins with this recipe and they were not sweet, not dry, and certainly not "cake-like." I don't like too sweet ANYTHING and even tho' I was tempted to reduce the sugar after reading some of the reviews, sheer curiosity led me to prepare the entire recipe, including the amount of sugar, as is. Normally I find that I want honey, butter (or both!) on my cornbread, but not this time. These muffins were buttery, moist, just slightly sweet, hearty and surprisingly flavorful. They baked up nicely with perfectly risen tops at 375 degrees for about 22 minutes. I swear, once again it's the buttermilk - and the butter, of course!
The recipe is fantastic as written, but after making this recipe a few times I made a few changes. I used Splenda instead of sugar, whole-wheat flour instead of all-purpose, Smart Balance Light instead of butter, and sour skim milk instead of buttermilk. Sounds like a lot of substitutions, but the end result was absolutely delicious, and nearly guilt free! This is the ONLY cornbread recipe that I use, and it comes out wonderful every time.
Really good and easy. Tip: if you don't have buttermilk, decrease the milk by 2 tablespoons, and replace with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. It was a little on the sweet side, I will decrease the sugar a bit next time, as I am trying to decrease the sugar in my familys diet. It held together nicely when sliced, a bonus with messy youngsters :)
If you are a southerner and like the non-sweet, buttery-tasting southern style corn bread, this is not for you. But if you like the sweeter, more cakelike cornbread served in New England and other areas, you'll adore this recipe. Try it for breakfast with butter and maple syrup!
No true Southerner puts sugar in the cornbread. The secret of Southern cornbread is to heat the fat in a skillet and pour the batter into the hot skillet.
Fabulous! Great flavor and just the right amount of sweet. (I like it sweet!) Like Jiffy mix except it holds together GREAT, and no bitter chemical aftertaste. Just loved this. Also, it was so easy to make, not much more work than a mix anyway! I followed Bethany's advice and mixed it in the pan I baked it in, but it was so hard to be careful to not slop everything out while stirring together to me it is definitely worth one more dish to mix together in a bowl next time! Thanks for a great recipe! I won't be buying those chemically mixes any more! :) (I used 1 c milk and took out 1 TB and added 1 TB apple cider vinegar for the buttermilk, let sit 5 mins, worked great.)
