Cornbread Lab250 recipes
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What goes into cornbread

The main ingredient list of all 250 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • Most cornbread recipes use butter (83%); 32% use oil, and 17% use both.
  • For sugar, 53% use white sugar alone, 32% honey or maple syrup (with or without sugar), and 7% no sugar at all.
  • For leavening, 45% use baking powder and baking soda together, 44% baking powder alone, and 7% baking soda alone.
  • For dairy, 42% use buttermilk alone, 30% milk alone, and 6% milk and sour cream together.
  • 46% add cheese, herbs or other savory, 9% fruit and 5% spice; 44% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 250 g of flour, the size of a typical pan. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical pan on every ingredient.

Butter, oil or both

Each recipe counted once, by the fats in its main ingredient list.

  • Butter only

    median 75 g fat · closest to typical: Jalapeno Cornbread (spendwithpennies.com)

    64%161 recipes

  • Butter and oil

    median 98 g fat · closest to typical: Easy Cornbread (twopeasandtheirpod.com)

    17%44 recipes

  • Oil only

    median 52 g fat · closest to typical: Jalapeno Cornbread (jessicagavin.com)

    14%37 recipes

  • Everything else

    3%8 recipes

Margarine and vegan butter count as butter (2 recipes). Oil includes coconut oil (2%) and olive oil (8%).

White, brown or a syrup

Each recipe counted once, by the sweeteners in its main ingredient list.

Coconut sugar counts as brown (1 recipe). "With honey or maple syrup" means any liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup and other syrup), with or without dry sugar.

Baking soda, baking powder or both

Each recipe counted once, by what it relies on to rise.

  • Baking powder and baking soda

    median 11 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Jalapeno Cornbread (spendwithpennies.com)

    45%113 recipes

  • Baking powder only

    median 11 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Homemade Cornbread Recipe (spendwithpennies.com)

    44%112 recipes

  • Baking soda only

    median 2.9 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Basic Cornbread (foodnetwork.com)

    7%18 recipes

  • Everything else

    2%7 recipes

Which dairy

Each recipe counted once, by the dairy in its main ingredient list. Butter is counted with the fats.

  • Buttermilk only

    median 232 g dairy · closest to typical: Jalapeno Cornbread (spendwithpennies.com)

    42%106 recipes

  • Milk only

    median 229 g dairy · closest to typical: Easy Skillet Cornbread (acouplecooks.com)

    30%75 recipes

  • Milk and sour cream

    median 263 g dairy · closest to typical: Cornbread Recipe with Honey Butter (natashaskitchen.com)

    6%15 recipes

  • Buttermilk and milk

    median 314 g dairy · closest to typical: Zesty Cornbread (kingarthurbaking.com)

    5%14 recipes

  • Everything else

    16%40 recipes

Evaporated milk counts as milk.

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 44% add none of these.

  • Cheese, herbs or other savory46%

    jalapeño or chile 24% · corn kernels 22% · cheese 22%

  • Fruit9%

    blueberries 3% · pumpkin 2% · dried cranberries 1%

  • Spice5%

    cinnamon 4% · nutmeg 2%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 250 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 250 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. Eggs100%

    250 recipes · median 85 g (about 1.5 large eggs)

  2. Cornmeal97%

    243 recipes · median 52% of the flour

  3. Salt93%

    233 recipes · median 3.3 g

  4. All-purpose flour92%

    231 recipes · median 48% of the flour

  5. Baking powder90%

    225 recipes · median 9 g

  6. Butter82%

    207 recipes · median 72 g

  7. Granulated sugar66%

    165 recipes · median 48 g

  8. Buttermilk54%

    136 recipes · median 232 g

  9. Baking soda52%

    131 recipes · median 2.9 g

  10. Milk45%

    113 recipes · median 199 g

  11. Honey26%

    67 recipes · median 51 g

  12. Jalapeño or chile24%

    61 recipes · median 50 g

  13. Vegetable oil23%

    58 recipes · median 46 g

  14. Corn kernels22%

    57 recipes · median 221 g

  15. Cheese22%

    55 recipes · median 167 g

  16. Brown sugar13%

    34 recipes · median 60 g

  17. Sour cream12%

    30 recipes · median 137 g

  18. Onion or chives11%

    28 recipes · median 39 g

  19. Olive oil8%

    21 recipes · median 28 g

  20. Black pepper5%

    14 recipes · median 1.6 g

  21. Herbs5%

    14 recipes · median 12 g

Toppings and extras

12% of recipes (30 of 250) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Butter5% (13)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out. Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 250 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.