Savory Cornbread with Cheddar & Thyme
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This Northern-style cornbread is cakier than its Southern cousin. It’s the perfect side to any Southwestern or BBQ dish.
When it comes to cornbread, there are two devout camps: the Southerners and the Northerners, and both are passionate about their cornbread. I’ve lived most of my life in the DC area – right smack in the middle – so I could really go either way. There’s nothing quite like a crispy, thin wedge of authentic Southern cornbread from a cast iron skillet, but this Northern-style cornbread is just as special. It has a high flour-to-cornmeal ratio, which makes it cakier than its Southern cousin, and it’s made in a cake pan as opposed to a skillet. It’s moist, not too crumbly, and has wonderful – albeit subtle – flavor from the addition of corn, Cheddar cheese, and fresh thyme. I think you’ll enjoy it, no matter which camp you’re in.
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Savory Cornbread with Cheddar & Thyme
This Northern-style cornbread is cakier than its Southern cousin. It’s the perfect side to any Southwestern or BBQ dish.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1¼ teaspoons salt
- 2½ tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
- ¾ cup frozen corn kernels (no need to thaw; just be sure they are not stuck together)
- 1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
- 1¼ cups milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 9-inch square glass or metal baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, sugar and thyme until well combined. Stir in the corn and cheese.
- In a small bowl, break up the eggs with a wire whisk, then add the milk and whisk to combine. Add the wet mixture and melted butter to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until just combined. Do not overmix. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon or spatula. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until puffed and lightly golden. Cool slightly in the pan on a wire rack, then cut into pieces and serve warm. Cornbread tastes best when served right out of the oven but leftovers can be wrapped in foil and reheated in a 350-degree oven for 10-15 minutes.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cornbread can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, just wrap in foil and warm it in a 350°F oven until hot.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (16 servings)
- Calories: 199
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Sugar: 3 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Sodium: 167 mg
- Cholesterol: 49 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I thought the word savory meant no sugar
Can you leave the sugar out of the recipe? I don’t like sweet corn bread.
Hi Betha, I think you could get away with omitting it or just cutting it in half. Please LMK how it turns out!
Very good. The thyme is a nice change. Next time I might try some additional aged cheddar because to bring out more of its flavour. Thank you!
I made this cornbread today and it is delicious.I also added chopped pickled jalapeños to it.What I like about it is a small wedge really fills you up.This will be a regular staple this month in my house.
This our new favorite go-to cornbread recipe! We love how (dare we say) moist it is, and the texture is cakier than most other recipes. BONUS: The leftovers hold up very well for several days, as compared to a more crumbly, drier cornbread. Excellent recipe, we loved it served with the turkey chili you featured recently. A keeper for sure!
Hi, Jenn,
We absolutely love this recipe. It freezes beautifully and I am so glad that you shared it with us. I usually serve it alongside homemade soups, and so I always freeze the leftovers and have an emergency meal in the freezer! I was wondering about this: I have used white whole wheat flour in lots of baking recipes, and wondered if you thought it would work in this recipe? We are trying to use mostly whole grains these days, but if you don’t think it will work, I will certainly keep on baking this recipe. Thank you!
So glad you like the cornbread, Sue! I do think white whole wheat flour would work well here. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
I definitely will let you know. I made this for dinner yesterday, so it may be a few weeks before I bake it again, but I will use the white whole wheat flour and let you know how it goes. Thank you!
Hi, Jenn! I finally made this recipe with the white whole wheat flour and also used coarse grind stone ground cornmeal. We loved how it turned out and I will definitely keep on using the white whole wheat flour. Thank you again for your phenomenal recipes and replies to questions. Take care!
So glad it worked out — thanks for the follow up! 🙂
Loved this recipe. It was simple to make with loads of flavour. The only change I made was to substitute corn for peas (my hubby hates peas). Thanks again!!
I made it without cheddar cuz i had none and I added more salt instead. I also used only 2 teaspoons of honey instead of the amount of sugar specified cuz its all I had. And I substituted polenta for cornmeal. My family loved it but i dont like it, I find it a bit bland and the polenta too crunchy. Should I have soaked the polenta in the mixture before putting it in the oven? I should have added sugar or bought a cheese. I live in a place where cheddar type cheeses dont exist. Do you think fresh farmers cheese could work?
Hi Lena, I wouldn’t recommend farmer’s cheese here, but if you can access jack or Colby, or Gruyere, any of them will work.
Flavour was really nice, the thyme amped it up, however I found it quite dry.
Hi Jenn: The metric tag doesn’t seem to work for this recipe—how much cheese by weight?
Sorry about that! I just added the conversions. Hope you enjoy the cornbread if you make it!
Can I make this in muffin tins as opposed to cake pan? I don’t want to lose the cake quality. I hate the dryness of most cornbread recipes.
Sure, Ann, that’s fine. Hope you enjoy!
Very good! I made this recipe exactly as stated except I used salted butter because that is all I had, and I made them into muffins to give some away and keep some! Baked at 400 for about 19min in my oven. The recipe is perfect amount for 12 Regular size muffins. Beautiful, puffy, golden. Delicious warm, slathered with butter with chowder, or cold next day with jam. I will definitely make again. If I am not pressed for time, I may try roasting the corn before adding next time for a deeper corn flavour but its delish as is too! And very easy to make 🙂