Honey Cornbread

By Patlynn

We scoured cookbooks looking for cornbread with true honey flavor and balanced sweetness and came up empty-handed. Most recipes were just regular, sugar-sweetened cornbread with a small amount of honey added. Adding more honey and eliminating the sugar improved flavor but made the bread sunken and wet. Adding more flour, with its structure-giving gluten, helped dry it out and reduce sinking. Tweaking the leavening finished the fix, and adjusting the oven temperature made for a tender, golden crust

Ingredients

• 1 1 1 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 2/3 2/3 cup honey
• 2 2 2 large eggs
• 4 4 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/4 1 1/4 1/4 cup (6 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 1 1 cup (5 ounces) cornmeal
• 1 1 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Preparation

Step 1

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 8-inch square baking pan. Whisk buttermilk, honey, eggs, and butter together in bowl until thoroughly combined and no streaks of honey remain. Whisk flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in large bowl.
2. Whisk buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Turn cornbread out onto wire rack and cool for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve.