Homemade Southern Gal Cornbread, a traditional family recipe with no box mixes and choose for sweetened or not! Cooked in a skillet with bacon drippings.
Homemade Southern Gal Cornbread is a lovely traditional recipe.
For those around the world who aren't familiar with cornbread, it originates from the United States and mainly associated with the South and South West.
Cornbread is a type of quick bread that doesn't use yeast as a raising agent, but instead, uses self-raising flour or baking powder as its leavening agent.
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What do you serve with Cornbread?
It can be used in many forms, such as crumbled in a cold glass of milk or buttermilk, eaten alongside a dinner, such as chili con carne, or served at a BBQ or alongside pinto beans.
Other ways to use cornbread
Cornbread crumbs can also be used for stuffings, usually around Thanksgiving time when you serve the traditional Thanksgiving turkey, such as this Traditional Southern Cornbread Dressing from The Kitchen Is My Playground.
Cornbread varies from region to region, with some being sweeter than others.
Can you add any other ingredients to cornbread?
Every one will likely have their own family recipe, some adding bacon grease, jalapeno peppers, topped with shredded cheese, butter, honey…. The list is certainly very varied!
There's also crackling bread which consists of pork crackling in the cornbread mixture which gives the cornbread another flavor and texture dimension.
We've even made a sweet cornbread recipe, Caramel Cornbread Pear Mini Muffins which are filled with a pear filling. They're delicious!
What's the best way to cook cornbread?
When the cornbread is cooked in a skillet or cast iron pan, this is very traditional to the South in particular. The skillet should be preheated in the oven with some bacon or lard drippings before the cornbread batter is added and then baked.
During baking, the cornbread rises and forms a crunchy crust, with a dense, moist cake-like structure. It's delicious!
This recipe for Southern Gal Cornbread has been generously shared by Vikki Spencer. Here's what Vikki has to say about her recipe;
"Us southern gals don't use a recipe for cornbread. I just make it the way I do mine! Every southern cook has their own way of doing cornbread, but I can tell you how I make mine. It's delicious and all my friends love it!"
Recipe by Vikki Spencer
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
30 - 40 minutes
Yield
4 - 6 persons
Ingredients
2 cups or 245 g of yellow or white cornmeal (self-rising)
1 cup or 125 g of flour(self-rising)
¼ to a ⅓ cup or 50 g to 65 g sugar (or to taste, if you don't like sweet, omit)
2 eggs
⅓ cup or 80 ml oil or melted shortening
2 cups or 475 ml of buttermilk
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (For gas), 400 F (for electric)
2. Mix dry ingredients, add eggs and oil and mix well, I use a whisk.
3. Then add buttermilk and mix well. If the batter is a little dry, add a little bit of buttermilk, milk or even water to thin it.
4. I melt a little shortening or oil to my 10-inch skillet and heat it in the oven or the stovetop and pour in the batter and bake at 375 (for gas) or 400 (for electric) for about 30 to 40 minutes!
Depending on your stove, I have gas, and my oven gets really hot...If I'm using a glass pan, I spray it with pam or some other non-stick spray...everybody likes my cornbread.
You can take a look at the best way to season and protect your cast iron skillet in our post here
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other ingredients? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
Recipe Card
Homemade Southern Gal Cornbread
Homemade Southern Gal Cornbread, a traditional family recipe with no box mixes and choose for sweetened or not! Cooked in a skillet with bacon drippings.
Ingredients
- 2 cups / 245 g of yellow or white cornmeal, self-rising
- 1 cup / 125 g of flour, self-rising
- ¼ cup to a ⅓ or 50 g to 65 g sugar (or to taste, if you don't like sweet, omit)
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup / 80 ml oil or melted shortening
- 2 cups / 475 ml of buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees (For gas), 400 (for electric)
- Mix dry ingredients, add eggs and oil and mix well, I use a whisk.
- Then add buttermilk and mix well. If the batter is a little dry, add a little bit of buttermilk, milk or even water to thin it.
- I melt a little shortening or oil to my 10-inch skillet and heat it in the oven or the stovetop and pour in the batter and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 4 - 6Amount Per Serving: Calories: 439Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 66mgSodium: 937mgCarbohydrates: 59gFiber: 3gSugar: 15gProtein: 10g
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Lisa
says:I would love to try this. I do not own a cast iron skillet. Can I use a regular baking pan?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Lisa, yes of course! Just keep an eye on the bake time, it may cook a bit quicker in a regular metal pan
Celeste D.
says:This is my favorite cornbread recipe, and I am “down south southern “ cook! This is my perfect recipe! It pairs well with pot liquor and as an addition to a glass of buttermilk!
Tonya
says:I’m definitely going to make this. There’s no baking powder or baking soda in this recipe so I’m excited to try it
Tiffany
says:Followed this recipe to the T, it was awful! Worst cornbread I’ve ever had.
Pam Toney
says:That’s not this southern girls recipe, almost but not there yet.
Peter Block
says:Love cornbread. it is great when made in a skillet – so crusty.
msmolly
says:So what can cause cornbread to crumble?
lovefoodies
says:Hi msmolly! Now you’ve got me there! I’m going to ask our group over on Facebook right now as we have some cornbread ‘guru’s there who will know straight away! Come and join us and see what they all say!
Harleylady
says:I LOVE Corn bread, BUT! I HATE DRY cornbread! My recipe, or should I say my Mama’s, recipe. That she used all her life, and passed on to me is so simple. First of all, you want to bake your corn bread “FAST”. Baking it slow, drys it out,
Here’s Mama’s recipe.:
Preheat (Electric) oven and Iron skillet to 450 degrees
1 C Meal (white or yellow doesn’t matter) SELF Rising
1/2 C flour (self rising)
1/4 C oil (reserve a little for your IRON skillet)
1- 2 eggs (don’t really matter, 2 eggs, gives the cornbread a slight yellow color)
Enough milk to make the batter thin
Mix all dry Ingredients together, add egg or eggs, next add oil, then stir in the milk, until batter is a little thinner than cake batter.
Use the little tiny bit of oil to the skillet, taking care not to burn yourself, and oil the skillet, pour the batter into the skillet. Place on the lowest rack in the oven, Watch the corn bread, depending on how fast your oven is, is how long it takes, for the sides and bottom to brown, when you see the sides are brown, and the top is just turning, put the skillet on the middle rack in the oven, and turn on the broiler Brown the top…. Get your butter ready, cause that’s all your gona need for super! A big ole slice of butter corn bread.
Hope y’all enjoy,
lovefoodies
says:Well thank you for sharing your cornbread recipe too! We also hate dry cornbread! !!
Alicia
says:Then corn bread was very disapointing. It turned out very dense and heavy. I want to find a light and fluffy corn bread.
lovefoodies
says:Hi again, so far we have had advice that your cornbread was possibly too dry, so it would be a good idea to add extra milk or buttermilk. You could also use melted butter in the recipe instead of oil. Was it this recipe you tried which caused your bread to go crumbly? If not, perhaps you could let us know the recipe so we could better advise based on the ingredients used? I hope this helps!
Crowe
says:After stirring in the wet ingredients let the cornmeal “ hydrate” or plump a little while before baking. Good luck.