I’m excited to share one of my all-time favorite recipes: hot honey cornbread. I love taking familiar comfort foods and pushing them just far enough to make them feel special, and this cornbread does exactly that.
This recipe starts with a classic cornbread batter: cornmeal, flour, buttermilk, eggs, and just enough honey to bring a subtle sweetness. Before baking, the batter takes a short rest in the fridge, which helps hydrate the cornmeal and guarantees a lighter, fluffier texture once it hits the oven. That alone would make a solid cornbread, but we don’t stop there.
Instead of baking it traditionally, this cornbread is cooked upside down in a pool of honey butter layered with thinly sliced jalapeños. As it bakes, the honey butter bubbles and caramelizes, glazing the peppers and creating a sticky, golden topping that becomes the top of the cornbread once it’s flipped out of the pan.
Once out of the oven, the warm cornbread gets finished with more honey butter and a generous pinch of flaky salt. Every bite hits the perfect balance of salty, sweet, and spicy — soft crumb, crisp edges, mellow heat from the jalapeños, and that unmistakable honeyed finish.
Trust me: once you try this hot honey cornbread, plain cornbread just won’t do it anymore.
Hot Honey Cornbread
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter 1½ sticks, divided
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup honey divided
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup corn kernels
- 3 –4 jalapeños thinly sliced
Instructions
- Melt ½ cup (1 stick) of the butter. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter. Add the granulated sugar and ¼ cup of the honey and whisk until smooth.
- Add the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and kosher salt. Fold until no streaks of flour remain, then fold in the corn kernels.
- Cover the batter and refrigerate for 20 minutes to rest. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line and lightly oil a 9-inch round cake pan.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter with the remaining ½ cup honey until fully combined. Reserve ¼ cup of the honey butter for finishing.
- Pour the remaining honey butter into the prepared pan. Arrange the sliced jalapeños evenly across the bottom of the pan.
- Gently spoon the rested cornbread batter over the jalapeños, smoothing the top without disturbing the peppers.
- Place the pan on a baking sheet to catch any overflow and bake for 40–45 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then invert onto a plate or platter.
- Brush with the reserved honey butter and finish with flaky salt before serving.
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