Cast iron skillet cornbread with blueberries and baked until golden brown. Whole wheat quick bread cooks in a pan for crisp edges, but with a moist cake center. Cornmeal adds a crunchy texture with each slice.
How to make skillet cornbread
Skillet cornbread is the best way to combine two of the tastiest summer ingredients, corn, and blueberries! I am a sucker for freshly baked cake, especially when it combines nutritious ingredients like whole wheat flour and antioxidant-rich fruit.
There is something so comforting and rustic about baking bread in a cast iron skillet versus glass or metal pan. Pre-heating a sizzling hot pan creates crunchy golden brown edges almost immediately. The batter then continues to bake in the oven until the rest of the cake is soft and tender. The cornmeal adds tiny bits of crunchiness to give the quick bread, which complements the whole grain flour nicely.
Using cornmeal, flour, milk, eggs, butter and leavening agents as the base, you can then add any extra ingredients that you like to your cornbread. Here are the essential steps for baking the batter in a skillet:
Pan Selection
Heavy cast iron pans have excellent heat retention properties for cooking. They require extra attention to prevent from rusting in between cooking by seasoning the pan with oil. The pan is preheated in a hot oven before baking, and then butter is added to season the pan.
This creates a nonstick surface for the batter mixture and adds a nutty browned butter flavor! This step is essential for even cooking, texture development, and easy release of the cake from the pan. The great thing about cast iron pans is that they last forever, I’m sure in many families some have been passed down from grandmas to younger generations! You just have to make sure you clean and store them properly, because they can rust if water is left in the pan after cleaning.
Leavening Agents
Cornbread is a fast and simple “quick bread” that doesn’t require yeast leavening. It uses baking powder, baking soda, and eggs as its leavening agent to instantly make the batter rise in the presence of water and high heat conditions.
Mix-Ins
Blueberries have fresh sweet flavors and add a beautiful contrast of color in the golden bread. As the berries cook in the batter, they become plump, juicy and almost burst with each bite. You can instead add cheese, bacon, or jalapeños for a more savory cornbread flavor.
I’m not shy about slathering each slice with softened butter and some honey. I served this blueberry cornbread side dish with my Memphis-style barbecue pork ribs and All-American potato salad. Everyone was incredibly stuffed and happy!
More bread recipes you might like
How to properly clean and store my cast iron pans
The pans from Lodge come pre-seasoned as the company has vegetable oil baked onto the iron at a high temperature. Seasoning creates easy-release properties. The more you cook, the better it gets. You should always hand wash the pan with a soft sponge and mild soap, then dry immediately to prevent rust. After drying, rub the pan with a light coat of vegetable oil after every wash, enough to restore the sheen without being too sticky. If rust does occur, just scour the rust, rinse, dry and rub with vegetable oil. According to Lodge, because you create, maintain, and even repair the seasoning, your cookware could last 100 years or more!
Skillet Cornbread with Blueberries
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups corn meal, coarsely ground
- ¾ cup white whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ⅓ cup whole milk
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup honey, or granulated sugar
- 1 cup blueberries
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Place an 8-inch cast iron skillet on top of a sheet pan inside the preheated oven to heat while you make the batter.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Whisk in the whole milk, eggs, and honey until just combined.
- Whisk in almost all of the melted butter, reserving about 1 tablespoon for the skillet later on.
- Reserve about 15 blueberries to press into the top of the cornbread just before baking. Fold the remaining blueberries into the batter, and then add the reserved blueberries to the surface of the mixture.
- Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F.
- Coat the bottom and sides of the hot skillet with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.
- Pour the batter into the skillet and place it in the center of the oven on top of the sheet pan.
- Bake until the surface is golden brown, the center is firm, and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes and serve.
Equipment
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Tee says
I added blueberries on top of the pan just before putting it into the oven at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. I also substituted almond milk w/tsp lemon juice to mix. Awesome turnout! Thanks.
Jessica Gavin says
The extra blueberries sound delicious! Thanks for sharing your milk substitute, I’ll have to try it.
Mindi Miller says
Made this for my celiac brother with GF flour. Also used buttermilk as a sub for milk. It was wonderful. He’s asking for more to freeze. The gluten free flour was 1:1 “Just About Foods”. Easy, perfect.
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you for sharing your gluten-free substitutions! Thrilled to hear that your brother enjoyed the cornbread.
Mrs. Poe says
I DON’T HAVE INSTAGRAM. I AM MAKING THIS TODAY. I substituted some of the milk for sour cream, added more sugar and butter. Cast iron was on point. THANK YOU!
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you for your feedback! Glad to hear that the substitutions worked well for the cornbread recipe.
Michelle says
This is my second time making this. It is awesome! Love it! The best corn bread recipe I ever made!
Mary Koss says
Please explain why the cast iron pan is set on a sheet pan.
This recipe sounds good but I don’t have a sheet pan here.
Jessica Gavin says
The skillet gets very hot and is a bit heavy, so it’s a little easier and safer to handle on the sheet pan. If you don’t have one, just omit it, but please be careful!
Vina says
How can I increase this recipe to fit a 10 1/2″ or 11 1/2″ cast iron skillet?
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Vina- I think you could either use the same recipe and check for doneness around 20 minutes at 375F, then every few minutes after. However the cornbread will be not as tall. Other wise you can try to increase the recipe by 25%. In addition to the quantities in the recipe, add in the following: 1/3 cup cornmeal, 3 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon baking soda, 1/3 cup milk, 1/2 an egg, 1 tablespoon honey or sugar, and 1 tablespoon butter. Let me know how it goes!
Dara Rexroad says
I made this recipe with all purpose flour and I definitely recommend sticking to the whole wheat. The coarse ground corn meal was much heavier than the flour and it separated in the oven. Still tastes good, but not as pretty and very dense.
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you so much for your feedback Dara!
Sara says
Just curious, how do you figure out nutrition information? Do you add up the individual component ingredients?
Matt says
The texture looks absolutely perfect! Exactly how I like it
Jessica Gavin says
Thanks Matt! Yes, this if definitely a keeper!