Sourdough Cornbread: Recipe and Baking Tips

Sourdough cornbread is a tender, crumbly bread made with cornmeal and sourdough starter or discard. Cornbread is a quick bread recipe featuring dried, ground corn. Originally made by Indigenous Americans, who used ground corn (maize) for thousands of years, cornbread later gained popularity with European settlers. Cornbread has since become a Southern food staple.

Sourdough discard is a key component of this spin on classic cornbread. To keep a sourdough starter alive, you have to feed it regularly, which involves discarding a portion of the starter—called the sourdough discard—each time. Harnessing the flavor of that discard in a cornbread recipe adds flavor, body, and lightness to traditional cornbread. However, the bread gets most of its lift from chemical leavening agents (baking soda and baking powder).

Here are some ways in which you might enjoy eating your sourdough cornbread:

1. 1. As a stuffing base: Use sourdough cornbread cubes as the base of a Southern-style turkey stuffing or dressing. Try Chef Mashama Bailey’s cornbread dressing with Creole sauce.
2. 2. Dunked into gumbo: Seafood gumbo is a thick stew of shrimp stock, vegetables, shrimp, oysters, crab, sausage, and okra that pairs well with cornbread. Try this classic gumbo recipe, or make a more vegetable-forward variation with Chef Mashama Bailey’s gumbo z’herbes.
3. 3. For breakfast: Sourdough cornbread is a great way to start the day: Serve it with eggs, use it as a vehicle for a breakfast sandwich, or enjoy it with sausage gravy or crispy bacon. If you prefer a sweet breakfast, it’s hard to beat butter and honey, jam, or maple syrup. Top the quick bread with some flaky salt to bring out its flavors.
4. 4. Served with chili: Chili is one of the most popular dishes to eat with wedges of cornbread. A hearty, saucy bowl of smoked brisket chili goes well with the sweet taste of cornbread.
5. 5. With a barbecue meal: Dunking wedges of sweet bread into smoky, spicy barbeque sauce creates a wonderful contrast of flavors. BBQ pulled pork shoulder, ribs, and chicken all taste great with slices of cornbread. Learn how to smoke pork ribs with pitmaster Aaron Franklin.

Once you get the hang of it, making cornbread is straightforward. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

1. 1. Mix the batter until just combined. Stirring activates gluten, which makes batters chewy and tight. For cornbread batter that contains wheat flour, err on the side of caution and mix until just combined and not a minute more. A few lumps are okay.
2. 2. Cook in a cast-iron skillet. To achieve crispy, golden-brown edges, use a cast-iron skillet instead of a regular baking dish. Grease the skillet well with butter or nonstick cooking spray and pour the batter into the skillet. Spread the batter out into an even layer and bake according to the recipe instructions.
3. 3. Use a toothpick to check for doneness. For moist cornbread, avoid overbaking. Insert a toothpick or cake tester into the cornbread once it reaches the end of the recipe’s cooking time. If the toothpick comes out clean, with no wet batter clinging to it, the cornbread is ready to come out of the oven. Cooking beyond this point could result in a dry cornbread.
4. 4. Add mix-ins. Cornbread is fantastic with cheeses like grated sharp cheddar. Green chile or jalapeño also works beautifully with cornbread. Simply fold your favorite mix-ins into the batter just before baking.
5. 5. Take it plant-based. For a vegan or lactose-free crowd, omit the egg, butter, buttermilk, and sour cream. Instead, use a flax egg, increase the amount of sourdough discard, and add about a cup of store-bought vegan sour cream or coconut cream. You can also make homemade vegan buttermilk by adding a little vinegar to almond milk, oat milk, or your favorite nondairy milk. Use this vegan cornbread recipe as a guide.