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
This sounds exactly like how my mama made cornbread. The buttermilk and bacon grease gives it just the right taste. Mama always loved the crunchy edge where the batter started cooking first. Thanks for sharing the recipe and bringing a good memory to my mind. Wishing your family a blessed 2017!
Wishing a blessed 2017 to you and yours as well Sharon!!!
Christy, This is a great recipe, and very much like what I make. Even though I’m known as “The Cranky Yankee,” originally from NYC, now living in SC, I’ve been making mine with bacon drippings for decades.
You had mentioned your “cheat,” by adding lemon juice to milk. Might I suggest something much better. As an old professional chef, we and many bakers use a product called “SACO Cultured Buttermilk Blend.” It’s a powder that tastes and reacts exactly like the real thing. I always keep a container of it in the fridge. It lasts infinitely longer than the liquid. I don’t eat bread too often, but when I do it’s either corn bread or Irish Soda Bread.
Thanks again. God bless.
Thanks for the suggestion Chris!!! I will be on the lookout for that!
Love your recipes!
Thanks for the white cornbread recipe! I just made it today to go with our oxtail stew and it was so good that it reminded me of my ex-mother-in-law and how she made her white cornbread. Thanks so much. It is on the permanent menu with any soup rotation this winter and next!
I am so glad to hear that you liked it Elania!!!
Oh, my, I’ve got to try this! I’m from NC, but Daddy was in the Marines and I wound up marrying and living far away! I guess I’ve been making cornbread “wrong” all these years–always use yellow cornmeal (not sure I can find white here), put sugar in it and have never used bacon grease in it (though I do keep a jar of that yumminess!). My granddaddy taught me how to eat it in milk like cereal, and I love it with beans and/or greens–comfort food at its finest! 🙂
Hey TarHeel, I love cornbread without the sugar. The rest is dessert.. Now try white cornmeal it’s GREAT. Once a Southerner always a Southerner..
Here! Here!
I am from North Carolina too. We never used white corn meal. It had to be yellow stone ground corn meal, no sugar, no egg, maybe a little flour, mixed with buttermilk. We used fat back grease, saved same way as bacon grease. Never baked our corn bread, always cooked in sizzling hot frying pan with a little hot fat back grease. Could make a meal on corn bread alone, better with glass of cold buttermilk. Daddy often crumbled corn bread into glass of cold buttermilk. So good with beans, peas, snaps, collards, turnip salad, well just about anything. Just good county eating, no matter where you may live.
I have never made cornbread before but I have loved it my whole life. I made this tonight and it was amazing! My kids and I keep sneaking back to the kitchen to get just a little bit more. Thank you for making it hard for people to believe that I just started cooking this year!
Guess I will try this cornbread with 2 cups of buttermilk….I only use a cup usually, maybe a bit more but definitely never 2 cups…..but yes I will try it….but I don’t use bacon grease any longer since the Dr’s say it is a artery clogger…..so I stay away from that fat….I use oil…..usually coconut oil…..and my bacon fat goes in the trash…..don’t need or want heart issues…..butter is bad enough…..but I eat it sparingly ……not every day……
It kinda all depends on how old your doctor’s research is and what they are looking at. Many doctors today recommend fat, butter, and all that good stuff with the carbs in very limited moderation and have seen cholesterol levels go down and heart health increase.
I encourage you to follow your doctor’s advice, though, as long as you trust him/her and feel it is sound. Have a great day!