Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread with Honey Butter
A savory quick bread baked in a screaming-hot cast iron skillet for a crust the batter can't get any other way.
- Serves
- 8
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Written
Method
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Set a 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven and heat the oven to 450°F.
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Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
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In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter until smooth.
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Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until no dry streaks remain.
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Pull the hot skillet from the oven, add a pat of butter, and swirl until it foams and coats the pan.
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Pour in the batter — it should sizzle loudly at the edges — and return the skillet to the oven.
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Bake until the top is deep golden brown and a skewer comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
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Let the cornbread rest in the skillet for 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.
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Mash the softened butter with the honey and a pinch of flaky salt, and serve alongside.
Notes
The skillet is doing the real work here: heated empty in the oven until it’s almost smoking, it sears the bottom the instant the batter hits it, so you get a shattering, deep-brown crust instead of the pale underside a cold pan gives you. Buttermilk keeps the crumb tender and adds enough tang to balance the sugar — don’t swap in sweet milk, or it reads more like cake.
This is built to sit next to something with a lot of sauce or braising liquid — chili, gumbo, a pot of beans — that a wedge can go mop up. The honey butter is optional but it’s a five-second addition and nobody has ever complained about it being on the table.