This recipe for corn bread is so easy it makes no sense to buy a mix. You can vary the ratio of corn meal to flour, as long as you stay at two cups total. More flour, less corn meal will give you a more cake-like consistency ~ more corn meal, less flour will yield a crumbly texture.
PrintSimple Corn Bread
A simple, foolproof recipe for basic corn bread that can be modified easily.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 16 (2-inch) squares
- Category: Baking
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/4 cup sugar (see notes)
- 3–1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375°F. Grease an 8-inch square cake pan.
- Combine the flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, oil and egg together until well blended.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened and pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.
About the sugar:
If you are planning to use this recipe in a corn bread stuffing, you can safely cut the sugar back to 2-1/2 tablespoons if desired.
Notes
Recipe variations:
It’s easy to add extra ingredients to basic cornbread. Fold dry additions into the finished batter after mixing. Mix wet additions into the egg-oil mixture before mixing.
- Roasted jalapeno peppers, 1 or 2, peeled and diced
- Corn kernels, up to 1/2 cup, frozen or fresh
- Monterey jack or cheddar cheese, up to 1/2 cup, grated
- Cooked, crumbled bacon or diced ham, up to 1/2 cup
- Sautéed chopped onion, up to 1/2 cup
Sabrina says
Easy recipe to follow, but it’s so runny and I’m use to a thicker batter so this recipe has me concerned that it won’t set up while baking? So I am doing a test run before dinner tonight because I want to make sure it cooks up and is what I am wanting to use in my chili cornbread bake. Guess, we will see how it goes after it cooks and cools some, so it can be tasted.
★★★
Lynne Webb says
Hi Sabrina,
If the recipe you usually use has shortening instead of the oil this recipe uses, the batter would naturally be thicker. I’m sure this will bake up just fine for you.
Ebony says
Came out great!. Not perfect but good enough for first time. When I make it again, I’ll tweak it.
A little less baking powder, and try to figure out how to make it a little more moist and less dry and crumbly.
★★★★★
Lynne Webb says
Hi Ebony,
Glad you liked the recipe over all. You can try going with more flour (1-1/4 cups), less corn meal (3/4 cup) to get a more cake-like, less crumbly consistency.
Jennie says
This recipe is very easy to do. It is quick to put together and bakes up light.! I like the equal parts flour and corn meal. It bakes up just to my taste.
★★★★
Lynne Webb says
Hi Jennie,
We love to bake corn bread. It’s so easy and makes a versatile side to serve with dishes like chili or stew.
Rico says
Really light and fluffy corn bread, I really love this recipe, but what if I want to make rustic corn bread. do you have a recipe somewhere? Thanks so much for sharing this great recipe.