Fourth of July

Hot Honey Cornbread

April 30, 2023
4.6
5 Ratings
Photo by @ostreetkitchen - Becca Jacobs
  • Prep time 10 minutes
  • Cook time 45 minutes
  • makes One 9-inch round cornbread
Author Notes

I am excited to share with you one of my all-time favorite recipes - hot honey cornbread. I love creating dishes that are crave-worthy takes on classics, and this cornbread hits both those marks and then some.

Now, I know what you might be thinking - "cornbread is just cornbread, right?" Wrong. This cornbread is something special. We start with a classic cornbread batter, made with cornmeal, flour, buttermilk, and a little honey. The batter takes a short rest in the fridge to guarantee a fluffy cornbread. But then, we take things up a notch by cooking the cornbread upside down in a pool of honey butter shingled with thinly sliced jalapeños. The cornbread comes out of the oven and is flipped over to reveal gorgeous glazed jalapeños. The warm cornbread is then topped with even more honey butter and finished with flaky salt. Every bite hits the trifecta of salty, sweet, and spicy.


Trust me, once you try this hot honey cornbread, you'll never go back to plain old cornbread again.
Becca Jacobs

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Ingredients
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1.5 sticks), divided
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup honey, divided
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup stone ground cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup corn kernels
  • 3-4 jalapeños, thinly sliced
Directions
  1. Melt a ½ cup of the butter (1 stick). Then in a large mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients: eggs, buttermilk, and the ½ cup of melted butter. Whisk to combine. Add the sugar and ¼ cup of the honey, whisk again until a homogeneous mixture forms.
  2. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl: flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and kosher salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet until there are no streaks of flour remaining. Fold in the corn kernels.
  3. Cover the mixing bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 20 minutes to let the cornbread batter rest. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Oil and line a 9-inch cake tin with parchment paper and neutral oil.
  4. Heat a small pot on medium and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and ½ cup honey, until melted and fully combined. Reserve ¼ cup of the honey butter for topping. Pour the remaining honey butter into the prepared cake tin.
  5. Arrange the jalapeños evenly across the base of the tin, on top of the honey butter. Make sure to get full coverage across the pan. Gently spoon the cornbread batter on top of the jalapeños and smooth the batter with the back of the spoon. Try not to disturb the jalapeños underneath.
  6. Place the cornbread tin on top of a sheet pan to catch any honey butter that bubbles over and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cornbread cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Slide a knife or thin spatula around the edges of the cornbread to detach it from the pan.
  7. Cover the cornbread with a large plate or platter and invert to remove the bread from the tin. Top with the remaining honey butter and finish with flaky salt.

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4 Reviews

karenheff April 26, 2024
FABulous! We made this tonight. SOO good! My jalapeño was HUGE so I only needed one (and still had some leftover to make a little pico de gallo). The jalapeño slices infused the honey perfectly, and the honey butter was to die for. Can't recommend it highly enough.
Lenastrat May 8, 2023
Delicious! Perfect to have with veggie chili.
Nigar S. May 2, 2023
Would it work to have spicy honey?
Becca J. May 4, 2023
You can use spicy honey if you want! The jalapeños infuse with the honey butter at the bottom of the pan as it bakes - making it spicy - but if you want more kick go for it!