Simply Sweet Skillet Cornbread is the perfect accompaniment to any meal. This cornbread is sweet, crumbly, and has a perfect crisp to the edges.
Now, before you yell at me about adding sugar to cornbread, hear me out. Adding sugar brings out the sweetness in the corn and adds so much flavor. It can stand alone OR be crumbled into chili. Or, one of my favorites, served with butterbeans.
(I have a recipe coming soon for a Classic Southern Cornbread without sugar. The classic version is more of a plain bread, where this is more of a treat.)
Besides tasting so good, the other awesome thing about this cornbread is that it can almost all be mixed into your skillet without sifting ingredients and dirtying a ton of extra dishes. The eggs should be whisked in a bowl and then tempered before being added to the hot skillet.
Can You Make Sweet Skillet Cornbread Without a Cast-Iron Skillet?
Melt your butter and combine with other ingredients in a bowl. While mixing the ingredients, heat your "baking dish" in the oven. Adding the cold batter to the hot dish will help you get crispy edges on your cornbread. As a substitute for a Skillet, you can use a glass or metal 9-inch pie pan, make muffins, or use a square 8 × 8 (this will be thicker) or 9 × 9 baking dish. Baking time will vary, but should take around the same amount of time.
Begin by melting half a cup or 1 stick of butter in your cast-iron skillet. Allow it to melt a little and begin to brown.
👩🍳 Instructions
Mix in half a cup of sugar and stir until it dissolves. If you want REALLY sweet cornbread, you can add up to 2/3 of a cup.
Whisk your two eggs in a small bowl. Next, you are going to temper your eggs. Add a spoonful of the hot butter and sugar mixture to your eggs and whisk together. Add another, larger amount of the butter mixture to your eggs, a quarter to half a cup. Whisk again, then add this mixture to your skillet.
Heating the eggs slowly like this will prevent your eggs from scrambling up the second they hit the pan.
Next, add 1 cup of buttermilk and mix well. (If you do not have buttermilk, you can quickly make your own at home with regular milk and distilled white vinegar. Let it sit for 5 - 10 minutes while you gather ingredients. It is ready when it starts to look like curdled milk.)
Next, add the remainder of the dry ingredients - 1 cup of cornmeal, 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda. Whisk and stir until well combined. Once fully mixed, peace skillet in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes at 375
Once fully mixed, place skillet in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes at 375°F.
Remove from the oven once the edges pull away from the pan and the top makes a knocking sound when you tap it. If you poke the cornbread, it should not sink in. Cornbread does not have quite the same spring back as a muffin, cake, or bread. It is pretty stiff when it is done.
🍽 Serving Suggestions/Uses
Our favorite way to serve cornbread is with honey butter.
It is also good crumbled into chili or as a side dish with barbeque or butter beans.
🥫Storage/Shelf Life
You can leave your cornbread in the skillet and cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. (That is what we do!) But you probably should store it in an airtight container! We are risk-takers 😉
It should keep for 5 - 7 days, but it is best when it is fresh and warm and is best eaten within two or three days.
Simply Sweet Skillet Cornbread Recipe
Equipment
- 10-inch cast iron skillet, 12-inch cast iron skillet, or 9-inch pie pan
- Whisk
- Small Bowl
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter One stick, salted or unsalted.
- 1/2 cup sugar, white If you want your cornbread to be really sweet, use up to 2/3 cup sugar.
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk Or use 1 cup milk + 1 - 2 tbsp distilled white vinegar.
- 1 cup cornmeal, self-rising
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt, kosher I use kosher salt so I like to do an overflowing 1/2 tsp.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. (If you are NOT using a skillet, put your pan in the oven now.)
- Melt half a cup or 1 stick of butter in your cast-iron or oven-safe skillet. Allow it to melt a little and begin to brown.
- Once melted, stir in 1/2 - 2/3 cup sugar and continue mixing until it dissolves.
- Whisk your two eggs in a small bowl. Next, you are going to temper your eggs. Add a spoonful of the hot butter and sugar mixture to your eggs and whisk together. Add another, larger amount of the butter mixture to your eggs, a quarter to half a cup. Whisk again, then add this mixture to your skillet. Heating the eggs slowly like this will prevent your eggs from scrambling up the second they hit the pan.
- Next, add 1 cup of buttermilk and mix well. (If you do not have buttermilk, you can quickly make your own at home with regular milk and distilled white vinegar.)
- Next, add the remainder of the dry ingredients - 1 cup of cornmeal, 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda. Whisk and stir until well combined.
- Once fully mixed, place skillet in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes at 375 °F.
- Remove from the oven once the edges pull away from the pan and the top makes a knocking sound when you tap it. If you poke the cornbread, it should not sink in. Cornbread does not have quite the same spring back as a muffin, cake, or bread. It is pretty stiff when it is done.
- Serve immediately or store in an air-tight container once cooled.
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