Homemade southern cornbread was a staple in my grandma’s Arkansas kitchen and we ate it all the time. If you’re looking for delicious and refined-sugar-free healthy cornbread, you’ll love this easy recipe!

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Refined Sugar Free Southern Cornbread Recipe

When I was young, I didn’t appreciate the bean soup my grandma served us, but I always enjoyed her cornbread. A homemade cornbread is a real treat, especially when you use an easy southern cornbread recipe, like I’m sharing today!

Now I know that the perfect cornbread recipe can be a hot topic. Should it be sweet or not? Crumbly or not? I guess it all boils down to personal preference, but this recipe more closely resembles how I’ve seen cornbread prepared in the south. I’ve had “cornbread” here in Iowa and I do not consider it true cornbread. They best way to describe it is moist and cakey. Ick!

This cornbread is flavorful, yet crumbly. I do add a few tablespoons of honey to give it a slight hint of sweet, but it could not be described as cake-sweet. It’s a family favorite recipe and I hope you like it!

Ingredients for this healthy cornbread recipe

You’ll get a better result if you use better ingredients. I grind my own corn meal and flour in my Nutrimill grain mill. While I think there are a lot of benefits to grinding your own flours, you certainly don’t have to. I would recommend that you buy a high quality corn meal flour though – Bob’s Red Mill makes a nice medium ground cornmeal that I like. I also recommend using aluminum-free baking powder (Rumford is my preferred brand) and buttermilk as well. If you don’t have buttermilk, easily make your own by combining 1 TBS with enough milk to make a cup! Super easy.

Overall, this recipe is really easy. Mix the dry ingredients, fold in wet ingredients, bake in a cast iron skillet in a hot oven. Using bacon grease to oil the skillet gives the cornbread a little bit of bacon flavor – highly recommend! By the way, here’s the super easy way I save bacon grease and a ton of uses for it!

Here’s the easy peasy recipe! Try it and I bet you’ll never go back to a pre-bought mix!

Easy Cornbread Recipe

Yield: 8 servings

Refined Sugar Free Southern Cornbread

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If you're looking for delicious and refined-sugar-free healthy cornbread, you'll love this easy recipe!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour {I use freshly ground hard white wheat}
• 1 cup cornmeal {I use freshly ground blue cornmeal}
• 3 TBS raw honey
• 1 TBS baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 TBS bacon grease
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup melted butter

Instructions

1. Preheat over to 450F. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. Melt 1 TBS bacon grease in a round cast iron skillet. If you don't want to use bacon grease, you can also use butter.
3. In a small bowl, combine eggs, milk, and butter. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just mixed.
4. Pour into the hot skillet and bake for 15-20 minutes.
5. Serve with honey and or butter. Enjoy!

Notes

If you don't have buttermilk, make it quickly by putting one TBS vinegar in your one cup measuring cup. Then fill with milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes, and you have homemade buttermilk.

So now the biggest question is – what’s the perfect topping for cornbread? Butter? Honey? Or, something else??

If you liked this easy cornbread recipe, you might like these recipes too:

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How to Store Bacon Grease & 12 Ways to Use It

How to Make Whole Wheat Bread with a KitchenAid

Great Grandma Shafer’s Amazing Strawberry Shortcake