Southern Cornbread Dressing Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between southern and northern cornbread? ›

In contrast to the dryer, less-sweet nature of Southern cornbread, Northern cornbread is much more cakey and sweet. Indeed, colonial Americans made their cornbread with molasses to sweeten it. Also, Northern cornbread sometimes uses milk rather than buttermilk.

A quick Google search will tell you that Southern cornbread is oftentimes devoid of any sugar, while its Northern counterpart is light, sweet, buttery and cakelike.

So stuffing is cooked inside the bird. Dressing is cooked outside the bird, usually in a casserole dish. Additionally, dressing, especially in the American South, is often made with cornbread instead of pieces of a baguette or plain ol' white bread.

Dressing: Dressing typically includes ingredients like cornbread, white bread, or biscuits, mixed with vegetables, herbs, spices, and sometimes sausage or other meats. It is often moistened with broth or stock and baked in a casserole dish until it forms a crust on top.

The most common theory is a change in cornmeal itself. Until early in the 20th century, Southern cornmeal was made with sweeter white corn and it was water-ground. When industrial milling came along, that changed. The steel-roller mills used yellow corn that was harvested before it was ripe, so it had less sugar.

Cornbread Ingredients

Cornmeal: Opt for yellow cornmeal for this recipe, as it's sweeter than its white counterpart. Sugar: Use ⅔ cup white sugar for the perfect amount of sweetness. Baking powder: Baking powder acts as a leavener, which means it helps the cornbread rise.

Jiffy cornbread mix, in case you really are standing in the baking aisle wondering, is wheat flour mixed with some cornmeal, a lot of sugar, lard, baking soda, and a handful of preservatives. (Note that because of the wheat flour, it's not gluten-free.) Use it to make creamy, cheesy Corn Pudding.

Hot water cornbread

This type of cornbread is often known as "hot water" or "scald meal" cornbread and is unique to the American South.

That being said, this is YOUR Sweet Cornbread recipe, so use as little or as much sugar as you would like. Here is the breakdown: 1 cup sugar = sweet. 1 ¼ cups = definitely sweet.

The stuffing mixture may be cooked separately and served as a side dish, in which case it may still be called 'stuffing', or in some regions, such as the Southern US, 'dressing'. This is from Wiki. Basically, everyone except a tiny percentage of Black people with family in Alabama calls it stuffing.

Why is my cornbread dressing mushy? ›

One potential reason for gummy cornbread dressing could be using cornbread that is too moist. It's best to use cornbread that has been left out overnight or is slightly stale to ensure a drier texture.

There could be a few reasons why your cornbread dressing turned gummy. One reason might be that you used too much chicken stock, which made the bread absorb too much moisture and caused it to become soggy. Another possibility is that you didn't bake the cornbread long enough, resulting in a dense final product.

Vegetable broth – To moisten the bread. Eggs – They add richness and moisture, helping to create the stuffing's irresistible gooey center.

Hot water cornbread

This type of cornbread is often known as "hot water" or "scald meal" cornbread and is unique to the American South.

A Johnny cake recipe makes a thinner batter that is fried into rounds, essentially making cornmeal pancakes. Cornbread is made with baking soda or baking powder to give it a bread-like lift and texture and is oven-baked in a baking dish and cut into squares for serving.

While regular cornbread is made by pouring batter into in a pan or skillet and baking it in the oven, for hot water cornbread, the batter is shaped into cakes and fried in hot fat in a skillet on the stovetop.

While it's typically made with cornmeal, which offers some nutritional benefits like fiber and certain vitamins, it can also be high in calories and carbs depending on how it's prepared. Moderation is key, but hey, enjoying a slice of homemade cornbread now and then can definitely lift the spirits!