Originally published 2018, updated with new photos, tips, and step-by-step instructions May 2024.
Easy Honey Butter Cornbread made with honey and butter, greek yogurt, and is made in one bowl! It's super moist and NOT crumbly.
We slather it generously with Honey Butter Spread and eat with a hot bowl of Creamy White Chicken Chili or Crockpot Turkey Chili. We have even been known to eat it for breakfast and it's delicious!
There's a few things I LOVE about this recipe. It's made in one bowl, which makes it super easy to clean up. It bakes in 20 minutes while I'm getting other dinner items ready, HUGE bonus. I also make it with plain greek yogurt (homemade), which makes it super moist and adds protein!
I'd say in general cornbread is not considered very healthy, but this version uses less butter, honey as a natural sweetener, eggs, milk, and Greek yogurt for added protein, which makes it a healthier cornbread recipe than most.
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Why This Recipe Is The Best
- This recipe is not dry and does NOT crumble! The greek yogurt makes it so lovely and moist.
- Natural sweetener - honey is used instead of granulated sugar.
- Easy to make into cornbread muffins!
- Stays fresh-tasting for a few days.
- Easy double for a crowd and freeze in some handy reusable freezer bags.
🛒 Ingredients
- Yellow Cornmeal - be sure not to get the cornbread mix! Just the cornmeal. White cornmeal can make a fluffier cornbread, but yellow is the texture and color that we want for this easy sweet cornbread recipe.
- Honey - the natural sweetener and also added liquid in the cornbread, making it nice and moist.
- Greek Yogurt - THIS is what makes the cornbread so good!! It adds acid and moisture which help to make the cornbread light and fluffy, instead of using buttermilk. It also adds protein which I love.
- Eggs - act as the binder for the cornbread, it adds much-needed structure to the crumb when baked so it's not dense.
- Butter - I prefer to use salted butter in this recipe, it tastes amazing.
- Milk - I use whole milk in most of my recipes, but skim or 1% would work as well.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and instructions.
✏️ Substitutions
- Greek Yogurt - can be swapped out for sour cream
- Milk - can be substituted for any nut milk
- Butter - can be substituted for vegetable or olive oil.
- Honey - can be swapped with agave nectar or even pure maple syrup, which has a slightly stronger taste but shouldn't taste too different in the cornbread.
🧑🍳 Instructions
Don't forget to preheat the oven to 400℉, and prepare a 9x9 inch pan with parchment paper or tinfoil and baking spray for easy cleanup.
Step 1. In a mixing bowl, combine milk, greek yogurt, eggs, and melted butter. Mix well.
Step 2. On top of the liquid ingredients add corn meal, flour, salt, and baking powder last. Optional: add cinnamon at this point as well. Mix until combined and no flour pockets are left, but don't overmix.
Step 3. Pour into 9X9 in. baking dish and bake at 400 F. for 20-25 min on a middle or top shelf of the oven.
NOTE: Darker pans take less time to bake, and glass and ceramic pans may take longer, closer to 25 minutes.
Step 4. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Cooling longer to room temperature will help slices to be more even.
For the Honey Butter: Warm the butter for about 10 seconds in the microwave to soften it just past room temperature, then add in the honey.
Mix together using a whisk or fork until it's smooth and creamy, with no lumps left. If it's runny, pop it in the freezer for 5 minutes or so until it thickens up a little bit. Spread generously on the slices of cornbread! When it's warm it ends up like a honey glaze and it's amazing.
🧁 Make it into Cornbread Muffins
It's SUPER easy to make the honey butter cornbread into cornbread muffins. Follow the recipe for making the batter as directed, and prepare 2 muffin tins with liners or baking spray.
Use a muffin or large cookie scoop to divide the batter into the muffin tin so each muffin is filled about ¾ full. It makes about 18 to 20 muffins. Bake at 400℉ for 10-12 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
📌 Top Tips For Success
- Make sure to bake the cornbread on a middle or top shelf, sometimes the bottom can get a little dark if baked on the bottom shelf.
- Use yellow cornmeal, not white for the classic color and flavor.
- Line the pan with parchment paper or tinfoil and baking spray for easy cleanup!
- Bake for 20 minutes in a dark metal pan, and closer to 25 minutes for a glass or ceramic pan.
- Weighing the dry ingredients is especially helpful in making sure the recipe is successful every time.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
It can last for up to 1 month refrigerated, or if frozen 3 months.
Yes! This makes about 18 cornbread muffins, baked at 400℉ for 15 minutes.
Overmixing can lead to denser, less tender cornbread. Make sure to fold in the dry ingredients just until the flour lumps are gone and the batter is smoothish, but don't keep mixing and mixing.
If you prefer to use it in place of the regular milk, go ahead and try it!
🍞 What to pair with Cornbread
Here are a few of my ✨favorite✨ things to serve with cornbread.
Did You Try This Recipe? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Make sure to leave a star rating and a comment below the recipe card. I love hearing from you, and it is so helpful to other readers! Better yet, share it with family and friends. Thank you!!
📝 Printable Recipe
Honey Butter Cornbread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup melted butter 80g
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 cup corn meal 155g
- 1-½ cups flour 200g
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
For the Honey Butter:
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- ⅓ cup honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray 9X9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a mixing bowl, combine milk, greek yogurt, eggs, melted butter, and honey. Whisk together for a minute or two until the mixture is smooth.
- On top of the liquid ingredients add corn meal, flour, salt, and baking powder last. (Optional: add cinnamon) Mix gently until ingredients are combined and no flour pockets are left, but don't overmix.
- Pour into 9X9 in. baking dish and bake at 400 F. for 20-25 min, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.NOTE: Dark pans will take closer to 20 minutes to bake, glass and ceramic pans will take longer, closer to 25 minutes.
- Cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Cooling to room temperature will help slices to be more even.
For the Honey Butter:
- Mix softened butter and honey together in a small bowl with a whisk or fork until well combined and smooth. Spread generously on sliced cornbread!
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