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How to Keep Cornbread from Crumbling Download Article Learn the real reason your cornbread is so dry and crumbly 6 Recipe Ratings | Success Stories Reviewed by Maria Short
Last Updated: November 25, 2024 Approved
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Adjusting Your Cooking Methods
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Adding Dry Ingredients
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Tweaking Wet Ingredients
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Q&A
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This article was reviewed by Maria Short. Maria Short is a Baker and the Owner of Short N Sweet Bakery & Cafe in Hilo, Hawaii. With over 24 years of experience, she specializes in specialty desserts and wedding cakes. She graduated from L’Academie de Cuisine’s Pastry Arts Program with honors and studied at Baltimore International Culinary College. In 2019, Maria competed in the 6th season of the Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship. In 2010, she had a cake named one of “America’s Most Beautiful Cakes” by Brides magazine. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 100% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 135,982 times.
Cornbread is a classic Southern side dish, and there are hundreds of different recipes for it! One of the most common problems with homemade cornbread is crumbliness--dry, crumbly bread falls apart when you cut it. Learning how to prevent this is as easy as tweaking your cooking methods or adding a new ingredient!
Why Is My Cornbread Crumbly?
Cornmeal gives cornbread its classic color and flavor, but too much can make your bread crumbly. Try replacing a little bit of cornmeal with flour. The specific measurements will depend on how much cornmeal and flour is in your recipe, but you should try to have more flour than cornmeal in your batter.
Steps
Method 1 Method 1 of 3:
Adjusting Your Cooking Methods
Download Article
1 Avoid over-mixing the batter. Cornbread batter should still be lumpy when you put it in the oven. If you are mixing it until it’s smooth like cake batter, that could be the cause of your crumbly cornbread! Stop blending as soon as all the ingredients are mixed together.[1]XResearch source
2 Check your oven temperature. Your oven’s temperature may not be accurate. If your oven is baking at a higher temperature than the setting, you could be inadvertently drying out your cornbread. Get an oven-safe thermometer and check the temperature of your preheated oven. If it doesn’t match the setting, call a repair service.[2]XResearch source Advertisement
3 Time your baking correctly. Always set a timer for baked goods, and if the recipe gives you a range of baking times, check it after the earliest time. For example, if your recipe calls for 35-40 minutes in the oven, check your cornbread at 35 minutes.[3]XResearch source
4 Cook with cast iron. Cast iron pans are great for baking cornbread. They cook the bread more evenly than glass or aluminum pans and can shorten your baking time. If you make pan cornbread, try investing in a cast iron skillet.[4]XResearch source
Many recipes will have a specific time for cast iron pans. If yours doesn't, start checking your cornbread at least five minutes before the timer goes off.
Advertisement Method 2 Method 2 of 3:
Adding Dry Ingredients
Download Article
1 Adjust the proportion of flour to cornmeal. Cornmeal gives cornbread its classic color and flavor, but too much can make your bread crumbly. Try replacing a little bit of cornmeal with flour. The specific measurements will depend on how much cornmeal and flour is in your recipe, but you should try to have more flour than cornmeal in your batter.[5]XResearch source
Many traditional recipes have no flour at all. For these, subtract 1–2 tablespoons (15–30 ml) of cornmeal and replace them with flour.
2 Try a different brand of flour. Not all bags of flour are the same! If you’ve been baking with the same old flour and your cornbread is still crumbly, try switching to another brand. If you aren’t using all-purpose white wheat flour, switch to that type.[6]XResearch source
3 Add a handful of frozen corn. Frozen corn will add moisture to your batter during the baking process. Whole food additions don’t need to be precisely measured, but about a handful will be fine for most recipes.[7]XResearch source
4 Add shredded cheese. Melty, gooey cheese will hold your cornbread together and give it a fantastic flavor. Shredded cheddar cheese is best for most cornbread recipes, but you can try experimenting with another variety. Precise measurements aren’t necessary--a handful or two will do.[8]XResearch source
Advertisement Method 3 Method 3 of 3:
Tweaking Wet Ingredients
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1 Put in an extra egg yolk. Adding an egg yolk to your cornbread will help hold its shape while you’re cutting and serving it. You can add a yolk even if your recipe doesn’t call for any eggs at all--just put it in with the other wet ingredients.[9]XResearch source
2 Cut back on fat or grease by one third. Many traditional cornbread recipes call for bacon grease, shortening, or lard. It can add a delicious flavor, but it can also cause your cornbread to separate during baking. Try cutting your proportion of grease or fat by about a third.[10]XResearch source
3 Replace white sugar with a moist sweetener. If your cornbread recipe calls for white sugar, try replacing it with a moister sweetener. Light brown sugar, honey, or corn syrup will all add a little more wetness to the recipe. You can use the same proportions.[11]XResearch source
4 Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) more butter or oil. Adding about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of extra butter or vegetable oil can increase the moistness of your cornbread. You can do this even if your recipe doesn’t call for butter or oil.[12]XResearch source
5 Replace milk or water with creamed corn. If your recipe calls for milk or water, try replacing it with creamed corn. This will give your cornbread a richer, creamier texture that will help it hold its shape for much longer.[13]XResearch source
6 Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of sour cream. Adding 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of sour cream to your batter is a great way to moisten your cornbread. You can also use light or fat free sour cream to get the same effect without the added fat content![14]XResearch source
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Question Can I do all of these to one batch? Oriana Neulinger Community Answer When you add liquid, make sure you take out about the same amount. Other than that, experiment! I know I've definitely had cornbread with whole kernels, honey, and cheese all together, and although it's not something I'd make for myself, I didn't mind it. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 4 Helpful 11
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Reviewed by: Maria Short Baker This article was reviewed by Maria Short. Maria Short is a Baker and the Owner of Short N Sweet Bakery & Cafe in Hilo, Hawaii. With over 24 years of experience, she specializes in specialty desserts and wedding cakes. She graduated from L’Academie de Cuisine’s Pastry Arts Program with honors and studied at Baltimore International Culinary College. In 2019, Maria competed in the 6th season of the Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship. In 2010, she had a cake named one of “America’s Most Beautiful Cakes” by Brides magazine. This article has been viewed 135,982 times. 6 votes - 100% Co-authors: 5Updated: November 25, 2024 Views: 135,982 Categories: Breads In other languages Italian Spanish German
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Reader Success Stories
Richard B.
Jul 19, 2023
"I got the best results by using sour cream or plain yogurt in place of milk. Next Im going to try using some mayonnaise. My grandmother made the best cornbread with mayonnaise. And I totally forgot until just now."..." more Rated this article:
More reader stories Hide reader stories Share your story
Did this article help you?
Yes No Advertisement Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Reviewed by: Maria Short Baker Co-authors: 5Updated: November 25, 2024 Views: 135,982100% of voters found this recipe helpful. 6 votes - 100% Click a star to add your vote
Richard B.
Jul 19, 2023
"I got the best results by using sour cream or plain yogurt in place of milk. Next Im going to try using some mayonnaise. My grandmother made the best cornbread with mayonnaise. And I totally forgot until just now."..." more Rated this article:
Annabella Johnson
Feb 26, 2022
"I add 3 egg yolks, 2 tablespoons of any light beer, I can't believe how moist and delicious my corn muffins come out now! A must try!"..." more Rated this article:
James Alexander DC
Jul 10, 2021
"Creamed corn good idea." Share yours! More success stories Hide success stories
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Download Article Learn the real reason your cornbread is so dry and crumbly 6 Recipe Ratings | Success Stories Reviewed by Maria Short 
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Reviewed by: Maria Short Baker This article was reviewed by Maria Short. Maria Short is a Baker and the Owner of Short N Sweet Bakery & Cafe in Hilo, Hawaii. With over 24 years of experience, she specializes in specialty desserts and wedding cakes. She graduated from L’Academie de Cuisine’s Pastry Arts Program with honors and studied at Baltimore International Culinary College. In 2019, Maria competed in the 6th season of the Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship. In 2010, she had a cake named one of “America’s Most Beautiful Cakes” by Brides magazine. This article has been viewed 135,982 times. 6 votes - 100% Co-authors: 5 Updated: November 25, 2024 Views: 135,982 Categories: Breads In other languages Italian Spanish German 
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1 Avoid over-mixing the batter. Cornbread batter should still be lumpy when you put it in the oven. If you are mixing it until it’s smooth like cake batter, that could be the cause of your crumbly cornbread! Stop blending as soon as all the ingredients are mixed together.[1] 
2 Check your oven temperature. Your oven’s temperature may not be accurate. If your oven is baking at a higher temperature than the setting, you could be inadvertently drying out your cornbread. Get an oven-safe thermometer and check the temperature of your preheated oven. If it doesn’t match the setting, call a repair service.[2] Advertisement 
3 Time your baking correctly. Always set a timer for baked goods, and if the recipe gives you a range of baking times, check it after the earliest time. For example, if your recipe calls for 35-40 minutes in the oven, check your cornbread at 35 minutes.[3] 
4 Cook with cast iron. Cast iron pans are great for baking cornbread. They cook the bread more evenly than glass or aluminum pans and can shorten your baking time. If you make pan cornbread, try investing in a cast iron skillet.[4] 
2 Try a different brand of flour. Not all bags of flour are the same! If you’ve been baking with the same old flour and your cornbread is still crumbly, try switching to another brand. If you aren’t using all-purpose white wheat flour, switch to that type.[6] 
3 Replace white sugar with a moist sweetener. If your cornbread recipe calls for white sugar, try replacing it with a moister sweetener. Light brown sugar, honey, or corn syrup will all add a little more wetness to the recipe. You can use the same proportions.[11] 
5 Replace milk or water with creamed corn. If your recipe calls for milk or water, try replacing it with creamed corn. This will give your cornbread a richer, creamier texture that will help it hold its shape for much longer.[13] 
Oriana Neulinger Community Answer When you add liquid, make sure you take out about the same amount. Other than that, experiment! I know I've definitely had cornbread with whole kernels, honey, and cheese all together, and although it's not something I'd make for myself, I didn't mind it. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 4 Helpful 11 
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