Cheesy Skillet Cornbread - Deliciousness! · (2025)

I mentioned that I’d post about a skillet cornbread days ago. My bad and apologies (especially to my Sis who I kinda/sorta told it would be up already). Time escapes me. I’m working on a sweet project right now that I’ll be sharing on the 23rd and am feeling a bit behind in my progress towards completing my task at hand…stay tuned!

There is cornbread and then there is cornbread. This is certainly the latter. What sets the two apart?

1. First: It’s homemade (no boxes here!).
2. Second: The use of low-fat buttermilk and addition of some sweet corn.
3. Third: The addition of cheese and possibility of kickin’ it up several notches with some chopped up jalapeño.
4. Fourth: What the butter does to the exterior of this bread.
5. The real reason that sets this cornbread apart is baking it in a cast-iron skillet.

Now wait a minute all you veteran cast-iron skillet users! I know it’s not a new method of doing things with this treasure of a heavier than thou pan…but it is new to me and I LOVE IT! I can’t wait to add a couple more skillet sizes to my kitchen {non-subtle hint to Hubbs}.

So besides the novelty of baking this cornbread in a skillet, what makes it more special? You start off by placing the butter in the skillet and transferring it to the oven to melt. You’re not brown-buttering it, but as soon as it melts, you remove it from the oven and pour the batter into the skillet. This pushes some of the butter to the top (are you visualizing this?). While the cornbread is baking, the butter caramelizes on the top, creating a beautiful golden color crust. The rustic bread is moist, but has a fantastic textured exterior due to that butter and the evenness that the skillet promotes. The aroma and flavor of the butter on the top, bottom and sides of the bread is reminiscent of that nuttiness and richness of brown-butter. Last, but not least, the sweetness and texture of the corn you use in the bread and the cheesy surprise throughout the bread are the additional treats.

This will be my go-to recipe from now on for cornbread. How can it get any better?

Teenie Notes

• Added 1/2 cup frozen sweet corn to batter.
• You can use cheddar or sharp cheddar. As another variation I used Colby-Jack cheese.
• Want a bit of a kick to this cornbread? Add some canned or fresh jalapeños to the batter for a spicy kick!
• This recipe is for use with a 9-inch cast-iron skillet OR you can use an 8-inch square metal pan.
• I didn’t have a 9-inch cast iron skillet so an 8-inch cast-iron skillet was used instead. Fill batter up to 2/3 of the skillet and reserve the rest of the batter to make 4 regular sized muffins (For the muffins: Lower oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for about 15-17 minutes). Note: I did not add butter to the muffin-sized portions and they tasted fine, just minus the nutty-buttery flavor.

Have a great week…and please don’t forget to stop by on Thursday, the 23rd for a post about a sweet treat!