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
Christy,
Thanks for sharing this recipe! It looked so good, I just had to share it on my blog, Culinspiration. I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for all the wonderful stories. Your cookie video was a hoot, too! Maybe you should get into TV. 🙂
I linked to your blog here.
Hey Dawlin, oh LAWDY LAWDY, I am so thankful that I found this fabulous site (which I will have to frequent), as well at this fabulous recipe. I must admit, the Tiger fan in the house almost died when I mentioned to him that the recipe name included “Go Dawgs!” (Oh, I’m mean!!), but who could resist this little slice of heaven?? Absolutely fabulous, cher!!
This is going to be the cornbread for tonight’s chicken and dressing except I’m using yellow cornmeal cause it’s purtier than white.
I moved to Houston from California 3.5 years ago, and just last night I poured my the start of my first bacon grease collection into a glass jar. I was thinking of this recipe while I was doing it too! I’d read this a couple months ago and thought, “I’m really not that southern yet, I don’t even have a bacon grease jar!” Welp, now I do 🙂 Now to get cornmeal and buttermilk…
I call my bacon grease …….. Liquid Gold ….. You got to have it for that good ole country cooking …… Love it ! Hope all yall have a safe & happy 4th.
Liquid gold, I LIKE that!!!!
HAppy fourth to you, too!
Gratefully,
Christy
I have a similar recipe which comes from Fannie Flagg’s Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook! It uses yellow cornmeal, though. That’s where I learned the trick of heating up a oiled cast iron skillet for the batter. Oh wow! That makes such a difference! My mother always just baked hers in a cake pan and it came out dry.
Yum, I’m hungry!
I just made this cornbread and I think I did something wrong. 🙁 It was good and crusty, but the middle reminded me of buttermilk pie only grainy. I baked it for 30 minutes but the middle didn’t seem to rise or get “cornbread-y.” The middle of mine didn’t look anything like the picture above. The top did though. I guess I’ll have to try it again. We ate it anyway. It was covered with pinto beans. 😀
I’ve been looking for a good cornbread recipe since White Lily had discontinued their cornbread mix. “GASP”
If you have any suggestions for me they will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Ann, I made/threw out at least 6 or 8 skillets of cornbread as a newlywed before I had to ask Mother in law for help because Mama had passed years before. I begged my Daddy for Mama’s old cast iron skillet. Seems that I was using the regular steel skillet in error. For my best results, a piping hot Cast iron skillet is a MUST and it has to be “seasoned” so I would look up the SP tutorial on that. Second, I would buy a oven thermometer “today” and ck it see if your oven is correctly heated temp….the way you described it, sounds like it wasn’t cooked all the way through. Lastly, I keep in mind when I bake that ALL baking sodas, baking powders, corn meal/flours must be fresh, not expired so I ck the Exp. dates. If the chemicals are old, they won’t react right. That goes for old cake mixes too. I hope it turns out perfectly.
I actually am the Alabama grad with the least amount of school spirit/interest in football ever. And I screamed ROLL TIDE over this. I turned the turkey leftovers an carcass into your chicken stew. And my husband was also dropped on his head – or somethin.