Name: Honey Butter Cornbread
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 16
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter; 1 ½ cups cornmeal, medium-grind or finer*; 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour, regular whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour; 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt; 2 teaspoons baking powder; ½ teaspoon baking soda; 3 large eggs, at room temperature**; ⅔ cup honey or maple syrup; 1 ½ cups milk of choice (regular cow’s milk, almond or oat milk, etc.), at room temperature; Optional serving suggestions: additional butter, honey or jam

1 Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the butter in a large (12-inch) cast iron skillet and place the skillet in the oven to melt the butter, about 5 to 13 minutes (keep an extra eye on it as time goes on—we want it to get bubbly and lightly browned, but not burnt).

2 Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir to combine, and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and honey until fully blended. Add the milk and whisk until evenly combined.

3 Pour the liquid into the dry mixture, and stir just until moistened through (we’ll stir it more soon). When the butter is melted and golden, use oven mitts (the skillet is crazy hot!) to remove the skillet from the oven, and give it a gentle swirl to lightly coat about an inch up the sides.

4 Pour the melted butter into the batter and stir just until incorporated. Pour the batter back into the hot skillet, using a spatula to scrape all of the batter from the bowl into the skillet.

5 Carefully return the skillet to the oven and bake until the bread is brown around the edge, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with just a few crumbs, 25 to 30 minutes. Carefully (with oven mitts), place the skillet on a cooling rack. Let it cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving—perhaps with extra butter, honey or jam on the side.

6 This cornbread will keep at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 3 days, or up to a week in the refrigerator. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Gently reheat before serving.