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
By the way, I just went on Amazon and purchased that cookbook, “Taste of Georgia”. And, yes, “GO DAWGS! (and not MSU!, as one of the commenters said.)
I know this comment is over a decade late but I just found your recipe and realized how eerily familiar it is to my mama’s recipe. I have no doubt that she got it from the same seventies cookbook that you mentioned. I grew up only knowing this style of cornbread, so, as an adult, when I moved to Los Angeles and tasted sweet, yellow cornbread, I thought, this is cake. So I think the only difference in this recipe and my mama’s is, in addition to the soda, she used 1/2 tsp. baking powder. And she liked to cook it in a 12 inch skillet to make a thinner cornbread, about 1 to 1 1/2 inch thick. Lastly, she cautioned about using bacon grease because the smoke point is only 350 degrees and we’re baking at 450 degrees.
And if you are a true southerner, the next morning you may enjoy crumbling this leftover cornbread into a tall glass, adding milk or buttermilk and eating it like a cereal.
Also I noticed, I think, Terri Go Dawgs! said she was just outside of Atlanta? I grew up in Gainesville, GA!
You’re from my husband’s neck of the woods! In fact, we may even end up living there ourselves one of these years. <3
Thanks for the response. I’d sure love to move back to Gainesville but I’m spoiled by the SoCal weather and I’ve been out here since 1998.
Been looking for a moist corn bread recipe for years that closely resembles my nannie’s. This is as close as I have gotten. I used White Lily Buttermilk corn meal and melted butter. It isn’t exact, but this is a wonderful jumping off point in my quest for the perfect cornbread. Thank you “Terri”!
ALSO, what is the name of that cookbook in which this recipe was found in?
And I see the name above of the cook book. Thanks so much Christy
Out of curiosity, what is name of cookbook from 70’s that recipe is in?
I believe it was called Taste of Georgia.
Made chili today and decided to make this cornbread. It is wonderful. I had a recipe with no flour in it and while it is good I think this recipe is the winner. Love that there is no sugar in it. Thank you for a great recipe and sharing it with us!
So I am assuming that if I am using self rising cornmeal, I should omit the baking soda and salt? I have AP flour but no AP cornmeal, if there is such a thing. 🙂
There is plain cornmeal. If using Self Rising leave out the salt and baking soda. Everything else remains the same.
Noticed you never listed the cookbook that you found the recipe in–could you email it? Thank you! Enjoyed reading all the different ideas people had but it comes back to one thing—it turns out with the amount of love you put into making it; not just the ingredients.