Southern Buttermilk Cornbread in a Cast Iron Skillet
This buttermilk cornbread recipe is my very favorite of all time. It contains the trifecta of all the best cornbread ingredients: buttermilk, bacon drippings, and butter. Best of all, you bake it in a scorching hot cast iron skillet, which ensures a crisp crust and moist interior.
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You can easily make this cornbread gluten-free as I have done many times. Simply swap out the all-purpose flour for your favorite gluten-free flour. I’ve served it both ways and no one has ever been able to tell a difference.
Which type of cornmeal should you use?
Make sure to use plain cornmeal and not cornmeal mix. This is because the baking powder, baking soda, and buttermilk all help it to rise. You can use either white or yellow cornmeal, whichever you prefer. I usually use yellow because I like the golden color it produces in the final result. (However, if you do happen to have self-rising cornmeal mix and not plain cornmeal, you can substitute that for all of the cornmeal, leaving out the baking powder and all but 1/2 tsp of baking soda.)
Bacon Drippings
Let’s talk about bacon drippings. Most of us Southerners save our bacon drippings for all manner of delectable uses. You use it in the roux (fat + flour) to make gravy. (Like my Sausage Gravy and Biscuits recipe.) It’s perfect for frying eggs and meats of all kinds. It makes a delicious seasoning for beans and vegetables. (Field peas? Lima beans? Green beans with bacon anyone?) It’s perfect to use to season cast iron cookware and to grease pans for baking. And of course, it makes some of the best cornbread you’ve ever put in your mouth!
I use this cornbread in my Chicken and Dressing recipe. It’s perfect for that recipe because it’s not sweet. True Southern cornbread is not typically sweet, although plenty of folks down here do like sweet cornbread. I prefer it savory, and you would definitely not want to use a sweet cornbread in Chicken and Dressing. However, if you do prefer a sweet cornbread, simply increase the amount of sugar to about 1/4 to 1/2 cup.
I hope you enjoy this Southern Cornbread recipe! What do you like to serve with your cornbread? Share in the comments below!
Southern Buttermilk Cornbread in a Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour Use gluten-free flour if preferred.
- 1 1/2 cups cornmeal White or yellow
- 1 tbsp baking powder, rounded
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp sugar Optional, leave out if you don't like sweetened cornbread.
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup bacon drippings May substitute canola oil if necessary, but use bacon drippings for best results.
- 1/4 cup butter
Instructions
- Place bacon drippings and butter in a cold 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet. Put skillet into cold oven and set oven to 400F / 204C / gas mark 6. Allow oven and skillet to heat up together while preparing the ingredients.
- In a large bowl, stir together four, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and sugar. Mix buttermilk and eggs together in a small bowl and pour into the cornmeal mixture. Stir to combine.
- Once oven is heated to temperature, remove skillet from oven and pour the hot butter and bacon drippings into the cornmeal batter. Working quickly to prevent the skillet cooling down too much, whisk together just until combined and pour the batter back into the hot skillet.
- Place skillet back into the oven and bake 25-35 minutes, until golden on top and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Moist crumbs clinging to toothpick are ok but no wet batter.)