Give Cornbread a Delicious Fall Twist With Two Seasonal Ingredients

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Why It Works

  • Preheating the pan and coating it with butter creates a dark crust with a light nutty flavor.
  • Adding honey enhances the sweetness and balances the tart cranberries.
  • A combination of sour cream and buttermilk increases the mild tanginess and overall flavor of the bread.

If you’re looking for a Thanksgiving twist on Northern-style cornbread, this one was inspired by my cranberry sauce experience. I picked up a bag of fresh cranberries and roughly chopped a cup of them to mix into my batter.

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel


Since fresh cranberries are so tart, I upped the sweetness level to balance things out. I started by swapping the white sugar for light brown sugar, to impart a little molasses flavor, and then added 1/3 cup of honey on top that. Finally, since cranberry and orange have been such a great pair in my cranberry sauces, I added in the zest from one orange to cash in on that fruitful marriage.

This ended up being one of my favorites of all of the cornbread recipes I made (if you’d like to make a few more variations, try maple walnut, jalapeño, roasted red pepper, or cheddar bacon scallion). The honey adds a really nice sweetness, while the brown sugar gives that light molasses touch I was looking for. Both are enough to keep the cranberries from coming across as bitter or astringent. Instead, they’re transformed into pleasing pockets of mild tartness that contrast brightly with the otherwise sweet bread.

November 2014

Give Cornbread a Delicious Fall Twist With Two Seasonal Ingredients



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  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal (5 ounces; 142g)

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (4 1/2 ounces; 128g)

  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar (3 3/4 ounces; 106g)

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use half as much by volume

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 3/4 cup sour cream (6 ounces; 171g)

  • 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk

  • 1/3 cup honey (80ml; 110g)

  • 2 large eggs

  • 4 tablespoons melted butter (2 ounces; 57g), cooled slightly, divided

  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) canola oil

  • 1 cup roughly chopped fresh cranberries (3 1/2 ounces; 99g)

  • 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest from 1 orange

  1. Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet on the middle rack of the oven and preheat to 425°F (220°C). In a medium bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, buttermilk, honey, eggs, 3 tablespoons melted butter, and canola oil. Pour wet ingredients into bowl with dry ingredients and whisk until completely combined. Fold in in cranberries and orange zest.

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel


  2. Using pot holders or oven mitts, carefully remove hot pan from oven. Place 1 tablespoon butter in skillet and swirl to completely melt and coat inside of pan. Pour in cornbread batter and bake until skewer inserted into middle of cornbread comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 5 minutes, then carefully turn out to wire rack and let cool an additional 10 minutes. Serve immediately. Reheat any leftover cornbread before serving again.

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel


Special Equipment

10-inch cast iron skillet

Make-Ahead and Storage

Once cooled, cornbread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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