Dixie Cornbread With Buttermilk
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You may think this is a bold statement, but this Dixie cornbread with buttermilk is the best cornbread recipe you’ll ever try. If you want the moistest, classic Southern cornbread, you need this recipe.
I got an email from a reader, Terri (who is originally from Georgia, go Dawgs!) telling me she made world-famous cornbread. I was intrigued. Then she told me that her husband said she made better cornbread than his Mama. I was stunned. Then she told me that her cornbread recipe included two cups of buttermilk. My jaw was hanging open.
Clearly, my life would not be complete without trying this Dixie buttermilk cornbread recipe. Fortunately, she graciously shared the recipe with me. Let me tell you my personal experience with this cornbread: everyone in my family gobbled it down.
That might not seem like a big deal until I tell you that before I made this, cornbread had not ever passed the lips of either of my children (they are weird). My husband (who has extremely strange aversions to staple Southern dishes despite being born and raised outside of Atlanta) even ate a rather large piece and came back for seconds.
I have never had cornbread so moist in all of my born days. I am flabbergasted and feel certain that no small amount of my existence has been wasted up until tasting this. Soft and unbelievably moist on the inside with that classic crunchy cornbread crust, I can’t wait for you to try and fall in love with this buttermilk cornbread recipe too.
So without further fuss, here is Terri’s Dixie cornbread recipe!
What You’ll Need to Make Dixie Cornbread:
Ingredients:
- White cornmeal
- Buttermilk (or put a tablespoon of lemon juice in whole milk)
- Egg
- Baking soda
- Flour
- Salt
- Bacon grease (or melted butter)
- Shortening
How to Make Dixie Cornbread With Buttermilk:
Preheat the oven to 450. Slather a cast-iron skillet with vegetable shortening (Crisco). If you really want to make this and don’t have a cast-iron skillet, you can use a cake pan. Do the same thing with it.
Stick the skillet (or pan) in the oven while it preheats so it will be good and hot.
Whisk your cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
Add melted bacon grease (or melted butter).
Add your egg…
And buttermilk.
Like so. Now we’re going to stir it all up until it looks like this.
Now get your hot skillet from the oven (carefully) and pour in the batter. It should be hot enough that the batter sizzles when it comes into contact.
Place the delicious in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until you can’t stand the waiting any more!
Remove your Dixie cornbread from the oven and turn it out onto a plate. Eat it hot with butter or honey.
Take a bite and see if you don’t yell out “Go Dawgs!”
Storage
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 1 week. Reheat it quickly in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.
- You can also freeze cornbread portions for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating as above.
Recipe Notes
- Remember to not overmix the batter. You just want to mix the ingredients together until the dry ingredients are just moistened and there are no big lumps (about 1 minute of whisking will do it). Overmixing cornbread batter can lead it to be tough.
- The key to Dixie cornbread is preheating the skillet or baking pan, as that’s what gives the cornbread its crunchy crust.
- For sweet cornbread, you can add 1/4 cup of white sugar, brown sugar, or honey to the batter.
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with Southern cornbread?
Skillet cornbread is such a deliciously versatile recipe!
- Serve it with butter and honey for breakfast.
- Substitue boring bread for sensational and serve it with your favorite chili, stew, or soup.
- Enjoy it the Southern way alongside your favorite BBQ meat, like Southern-style air fryer wings, crockpot pulled pork, tender beef ribs, or slow-roasted beef brisket.
- Make another Southern staple: red beans and cornbread.
- Use it to make other recipes, like crockpot cornbread dressing or cornbread salad.
- Serve it alongside other classic Southern side dishes, like collard greens, fried okra, mac and cheese, and green bean casserole.
Can I make Dixie cornbread in advance?
Yes, you can definitely make cornbread up to 2 days ahead of time and store it, covered, at room temperature. I recommend serving it warm though, so quickly reheat it in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.
Check out these other scrumptious cornbread recipes:
Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie Made From Scratch
Jiffy Cornbread Casserole With Ham and Cheese
Jalapeño Cornbread Muffins with Cream Cheese
Homestyle Broccoli Cheese Cornbread
How To Make Hot Water Cornbread
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups cornmeal enriched white
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons melted butter or bacon grease
- 1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450.
- In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, add a tablespoon of shortening and preheat.1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening
- Sift together the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients (buttermilk, egg, and bacon grease/melted butter). Mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened.1.5 cups cornmeal, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 cups buttermilk, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons melted butter
- Pour the cornbread batter into the now-hot prepared pan or skillet. Bake in the preheated hot oven at 450 for 20-25 minutes.
- Serve warm with butter.
Nutrition
Welcome new SP friend Karen to my favorite website too! Christy is the bee’s knees and I still have so many of her recipes to try too! It thrilled me to hear you agreed about this recipe for Dixie Cornbread being the best you ever tasted. Be sure to check out the recipes for Brady’s Monkey Bread, the Ckn Noodle Soup or Ckn & Dumplin’s, oh and Pecan Pie muffins mmmmm. So many to choose from, so little time. Hope the lasagna turned out great. ~waves to you~ See ya on SP facebook. T.
I’m back! Just had to tell you that this is absolutely the best cornbread I have ever made, and some of the best I’ve ever put in my mouth.
I made the butterfinger cake, too. *swoons*
Thanks again for all the great recipes.
Oh… I’m making crockpot lasagna today. LOL
~Karen
Oh my stars… I cannot wait to try this cornbread. Making a good cornbread is one of the aspirations of my life. I always think “Oh if only I could make it as good as Cracker Barrel does.” LOL
Christy…. I just discovered your site a week ago and I’ve been printing recipes ever since. I’ve already made your strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting and your chicken planks. Both were absolutely delicious. This cornbread will be my next endeavor, and I’ve got a pile more I can’t wait to try.
I’m from South Georgia, and an avid cook. I’ve read so many of your recipes and thought “she does it just like I do!” LOL I feel like I’ve found a kindred kitchen spirit.
I’m ordering your cookbook, too. I read them like other people read novels.
Thanks for all the great recipes, the giggles and the memories your stories and recipes bring back for me. I’m a fan.
~Karen
I have to try this! I moved from Louisiana to Oklahoma almost 6 years ago. They cannot make cornbread here. It is always dry, has too much flour, and way too much sugar. My mother always added sugar, but not enough that you could tell. Thanks for the recipe.
John, I am jes’ waiting w/ baited breath to hear how it turns out for you! I sho’ hope it is THE fix for your cornbread hankerin’s. Now, go find that bacon grease and heat up your oven. ;}
I just bookmarked this, I’m a sucker for good cornbread. I’m allergic to dairy but I can add vinegar to my hemp milk and it will have a similar flavor to buttermilk.
Does anyone know if this will work in an 8 inch skillet before I go through the trouble just to find out it doesn’t? 🙂 thanks!
Hi Alicia. I feel certain that the amount of this recipe would be too much for the 8 inch skillet, as my 10 inch is perfect size for the batter without having it run over the edges. So, perhaps you can try just half of the batter amount in the 8 inch, and pour the second half in next for batch number two. It wouldn’t be as thick, but it gives you an option. That, or ask a loved one to give you a 10-inch cast iron skillet for your birthday. Let all us SP folks know how it turns out. Bye now.
Well, I was out of luck on borrowing a 10 inch skillet because nobody had one! Would you believe it?! And I put one on my birthday list, but that’s not until November…So I decided to try it anyways because I was just just dying to try this recipe! It turned out great! It was a little thicker than it was probably supposed to be but it tasted delicious, and we didn’t have leftovers!
Oh, Cathy, you have me laughing at my memory of the little metal grease container you described, just like ours above our stove. That, and my Daddy’s favorite snack (or was it his dessert? ha ha) was the crumbled cornbread in a tall glass of buttermilk with a long tall ice tea spoon in it. Thanks for the walk down memory lane today.