How to Make Corn Bread
Our Test Kitchen’s easy corn bread recipe is a great place to start if you want to learn how to make corn bread moist and fluffy. That’s the recipe we’re using in this guide, but you can use your favorite recipe.
Step 1: Preheat Oven and Prepare Your Pan
Step 2: Mix the Dry Ingredients
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set the bowl aside. Test Kitchen Tip: Cornmeal has a low gluten content (some is gluten-free), so for optimal texture, it’s usually combined with wheat flour or another higher-gluten flour, as in our recipe. If you have allergy restrictions, try swapping the all-purpose flour with our gluten-free flour mix.
How to Make Sweet Corn Bread
The sweetness of your corn bread can suit your personal preference. Some like it sweet and cakelike, while others prefer no added sugar. We give a range of sugar options (2 to 4 Tbsp.) in the recipe so you can choose how sweet you want your batch.
Step 3: Mix Together the Batter
Whisk together the milk, eggs, and melted butter in a small bowl. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture all at once. Stir until just moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. The batter will be lumpy. Overcome the urge to mix until smooth. Overmixing can cause the corn bread to peak and have tunnels, resulting in a tough texture.
Step 4: Bake and Serve
Bake 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. With a serrated knife, cut the corn bread into 8 to 10 squares or wedges. Serve the corn bread warm. Or cool completely, wrap in plastic wrap or foil, place in a resealable plastic bag or storage container, and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also freeze corn bread for up to 3 months.
How to Make Corn Bread in a Cast-Iron Skillet
Looking for those crispy edges on corn bread? Start with a hot buttered skillet. The butter also adds flavor. If using this method, work quickly, so your batter gets into the pan while the pan is still hot.
How to Choose Cornmeal for Corn Bread
White, yellow, and blue corn kernels are dried and ground to make cornmeal. The various colors of cornmeal look different but taste similar and are interchangeable in baking. The grind can also vary, including fine, medium, and coarse. Which one you choose is a matter of preference; the various grinds can affect the texture and thickness of the batter. Medium to coarse grinds will provide a crunchier, more crumbly corn bread, while fine cornmeal creates a delicate texture. You might see the words stone-ground on some packages. This means the cornmeal is ground traditionally, which retains the germ. Keep in mind that stone-ground cornmeal, while more nutritious, has a shorter shelf life and should be refrigerated or frozen for longer storage. Test Kitchen Tip: Try substituting ½ cup stone-ground whole-grain cornmeal for ½ cup of the yellow cornmeal in our corn bread recipe using the steps above. This provides a slightly coarser texture to your corn bread.
Corn Bread Variations
Once you’ve mastered how to make corn bread from scratch, use our variations (under the same recipe) to make green chile corn bread, corn bread muffins, or corn sticks. Give your corn bread a taste of fall by making corn bread with pumpkin. Add an irresistible crunch with our bacon corn bread. Of course, you’ll also want to make homemade corn bread dressing around the holidays.
