As soup season approaches, it’s best to be armed with a quick and easy and reliable sourdough cornbread recipe!
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Sourdough cornbread takes 5 minutes to mix together in one bowl, and can be on the dinner table 20 minutes later. It’s such a fast side dish to get going, and it’s gone even faster! No matter the meal, my family is always excited when they see a skillet of golden cornbread on the table, with a slab of butter pooling on top! Top it with a little bit of honey or freezer jam, and our favorite side quickly becomes an awesome dessert!
For a little extra fall flavor, check out our Sourdough Pumpkin Cornbread Recipe!
If you’ve got leftover cornbread, it’s just as good the next day—especially warmed up with a pat of butter and a drizzle of honey! Store it in an airtight container or Ziploc bag on the counter or in the fridge depending on how long you plan to keep it.
Why You’ll Fall in Love with Sourdough Cornbread
This quick and easy recipe is made with 100% starter. No unfermented flour is added to this recipe, meaning there’s no waiting! This is a mix and bake recipe with all the benefits of fermented grains. If you are someone who maintains a good amount of your own sourdough starter, then you’ll be able to whip this up in no time. Alternatively, if you keep a small starter on hand you will want to feed it up to two cups the day before.
We love a one bowl recipe that’s on the table in 30 minutes! As a sourdough baker, we get used to cooking slow and prepping ahead. But sometimes that doesn’t happen, or plans change. Everyone should have a couple of easy sourdough recipes in their arsenal that are quick, nutritious, and crowd-pleasing—and this is just that.
Sourdough cornbread is perfectly sweet and a beautiful compliment to just about any meal. A good recipe should be functional but also delicious. Trust me, it’s so much fun to put out on the table, and so much fun to watch everyone enjoy it! Whether you’re making sweet cornbread in a skillet, or sourdough cornbread muffins in a muffin tin, this one hits the mark.
This easy cornbread recipe has the perfect balance of sweet and tangy flavors thanks to maple syrup and an active sourdough starter. With simple ingredients and no fuss, it’s the perfect side dish to serve with chili or stew.
Check out our favorite, easy sourdough discard recipes!
Assemble Your Ingredients:
Sourdough Starter
The foundation of this recipe is the active starter or sourdough discard, and it makes up the bulk of the ingredients. Because of this, you want to make sure the starter is not too sour or it will leave your cornbread tasting acidic. To make sure this doesn’t happen, use starter that has been fed within the last week and stored in the fridge. If you keep your starter at room temperature, you’ll want it to have been fed in the last 24 hours. Using starter that is overly ripe can impart stronger sour flavors and make your cornbread too soupy! This is a great use for leftover sourdough starter.
Baking Powder and Baking Soda
In this recipe, we use sourdough starter because we want the grains to be fermented. However, the starter does not act as a leavening agent. This means that the cornbread gets its rise from the addition of baking soda and baking powder. For best results, make sure both are fresh and not expired.
Cornmeal
Use your favorite cornmeal here! Feel free to use white cornmeal or yellow cornmeal. I have had a lot of luck with this brand.
Maple Syrup
Maple syrup adds a beautiful sweetness to the cornbread and balances out the acidity of the sourdough starter. The result is a delicious cornbread that can be eaten crumbled up in a bowl of soup or enjoyed with honey as a dessert. You’re welcome to substitute honey in place of maple syrup. That said, maple syrup is truly what gives this classic cornbread its signature moist crumb and subtle sweetness. It’s such a great way to elevate homemade cornbread.
Salt
Use kosher salt or sea salt. Salt is so important in balancing and bringing out flavor in so many recipes, and cornbread is no exception. Don’t skimp on the salt 🙂
Egg
An egg ensures that your cornbread turns out fluffy and light.
Butter
Add the melted butter last, right before popping the skillet in the oven. You can also try using olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable oil, or canola oil if needed. A neutral oil works fine, but melted butter gives the best flavor.
Can I Use Fresh Milled or Whole Wheat Flour?
You can absolutely use freshly milled or whole wheat flour for sourdough cornbread. The way to do this is simply to use whole wheat flour the next time you feed your starter. If you typically use whole wheat flour to feed your starter, then you won’t have to make any adjustments. Just feed your starter as usual and follow the recipe.
If you’re not used to feeding your starter with whole wheat flour, you may notice a slight difference. Whole wheat flour is very active and full of enzymes that cause fermentation to happen more quickly. As a result, it’s easier for starter to become overly acidic.
Making Your Sourdough Cornbread
The first thing I do when I’m getting ready to make sourdough cornbread is to preheat my oven to 400 degrees F and place a cast iron skillet in the middle rack. A 10-inch cast-iron skillet is perfect for this recipe. When the oven is preheated, I carefully place a stick of salted melted butter into the skillet and leave it in the oven to melt while I mix the rest of the ingredients.
Go ahead and mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. That’s the cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir those together with a wooden spoon or fork until they’re nicely combined. In a separate bowl or medium bowl, mix together your wet ingredients—your sourdough starter, maple syrup, and the egg. I use the same fork and whisk those, making sure the starter is broken up nicely.
Next, pour the wet ingredients (except the melted butter) into the dry ingredients and stir until everything is well blended. At the very end, carefully remove the skillet from the oven and pour the melted butter into the cornbread batter. Stir gently until the melted butter is incorporated, and you can no longer see it floating around the edges of the bowl.
Baking
Pour the batter into the hot skillet that should be well-greased with melted butter, and place it back in the oven. After 20–25 minutes of baking time, check to see if the cornbread is golden brown and done. To do this, insert a butter knife into the middle of the cornbread. It should come out clean. I like to gently tap the top of the cornbread with my finger. It should feel soft but set, and the edges should be beautifully brown!
Let your moist cornbread cool slightly on a wire rack or serve fresh from the baking dish. You could also bake this in a square pan, square baking pan, inch pan, or even portion into muffins using a muffin tin.
Tips for Feeding Your Sourdough Starter with Fresh Milled Flour
- Make it thicker: Because fresh milled flour is such a great food source for your sourdough, things can happen more quickly and the yeast can really eat through the flour. To slow this process down and prevent too much acidity, try feeding your starter to a thicker consistency. I like to use a 1:2:3 method (1 part starter, 2 parts water, 3 parts flour).
- Refrigerate after 12 hours: At room temperature, whole wheat flour ferments faster. After 12 hours, I toss mine in the fridge to avoid stronger sour flavors.
- Expect different behavior: Whole wheat flour behaves differently than white flour. You may see fewer air bubbles, but this doesn’t mean your starter is weak—often it’s more active! The added weight of the bran can make the starter look denser than you might be used to.
If you’ve been thinking of jumping into fresh milled flour, but aren’t sure where to start, here are some of our favorite resources. You can definitely do it!
Sourdough Cornbread
Ingredients
- 1 cup cornmeal 160 grams
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups sourdough starter 360 grams
- 1/2 cup maple syrup 155 grams
- 1 egg
- 1 stick butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place a cast iron skillet in the middle rack. A 10-inch cast-iron skillet is perfect for this recipe.
- When the oven is preheated, carefully place a stick of butter into the skillet and leave it in the oven to melt while you mix the rest of the ingredients. Check periodically to make sure the butter doesn't burn, and remove it from the oven when it's fully melted.
- In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together with a wooden spoon or fork until they're nicely combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix together your wet ingredients—your sourdough starter, maple syrup, and the egg. I use the same fork and whisk those, making sure the starter is broken up nicely.
- Next, pour the wet ingredients (except the melted butter) into the dry ingredients and stir until everything is well blended.
- At the very end, carefully remove the skillet from the oven and pour the melted butter into the cornbread batter. Stir gently until the melted butter is incorporated and you can no longer see it floating around the edges of the bowl.
- Pour the batter into the hot skillet that should be well-greased with melted butter, and place it back in the oven.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until you insert a butter knife into the middle of the cornbread and it comes out clean. It should feel soft but set, and the edges should be beautifully brown!
- Cool slightly on a wire rack or serve fresh from the baking dish! Happy Baking!
