Fluffy Cornmeal Biscuits with Buttermilk

A Southern dinner isn’t complete without a side of cornbread or a buttery biscuit. Try these easy buttermilk cornmeal biscuits for the best of both worlds! They’re moist and fluffy with a great cornbread taste.

When you Can’t Decide Between Biscuits and Cornbread

It’s as simple as a drop biscuit, and lighter than Mexican cornbread. These cheddar flavored cornmeal biscuits are just a little sweet, light as a biscuit but with a moist cornbread texture.

Cheese and butter combine to make a rich dense bread that still manages to be light. When I first made these, my first batch was a little crumbly and I didn’t cook it quite long enough. Don’t worry, that didn’t keep us from eating them. The cornbread makes this different from all of my other biscuit recipes.

The second time around, I increased the amount of buttermilk and let it cook about 10 minutes longer. They came out perfect! A hearty, slightly sweet, light and buttery cornbread recipe. Biscuit like, but with a cornmeal texture which gives the biscuits their memorable crunch as you bite into them. My family loves these, I’m confident yours will too.

Why You’ll Love Buttermilk Cornmeal Biscuits

• Easier to make than biscuits
• A slightly sweet rich buttery taste
• Not too crumbly
• Dense enough that you can eat it with your fingers
• You can make them ahead of time
• Even better with honey drizzled on top

Ingredients for Corn Biscuits

A full list of the ingredients can be found in the Recipe Card below.

• Cornmeal – either white or yellow cornmeal will work but try to find a coarser stone ground variety like we can get from our local mill, Old Guilford Mill. They will ship, or try Bob’s Red Mill medium ground.
• Buttermilk – I live in the South so of course it has buttermilk, it you don’t have any, see an easy substitute below.
• White cheddar cheese – you can use any type of cheddar, I love the flavor from an aged white cheddar.

How to Make Cornbread Biscuits

You treat this dough like you would biscuit dough, cutting in the butter and not handling the dough any more than you have to.  

Step 1: Start with cold butter

Process until you have pea size clumps of butter, just like with biscuits. Alternatively you can cut in the butter with a pastry cutter in a large bowl.

Step 2: Add buttermilk

Add cold buttermilk and process just until it comes together and a shaggy dough forms. Form it into a disc and chill for 1 hour.

Pro tip: Your biscuits will remain lighter and fluffier if you don’t overmix your dough. Once the ingredients are incorporated, form it into a disc and resist the urge to combine it further.

Step 3: Shape and bake

Press the dough into a nine inch square baking pan lined with parchment paper.

The result is a fluffy and light biscuit-like pan of cheesy cornbread. It’s so moist and buttery that you don’t need any butter on top.

How to Serve Sweet Corn Biscuits

The slightly sweet dough creates an amazing biscuit that seems to go with anything adn it won’t crumble apart when eat it.

• A slab of butter with some honey drizzled on each side of the halved biscuit is delicious.
• I think these biscuits are especially good withmy favorite short rib chili any soup recipe or a plate of ribs.

What if you don’t have buttermilk?

If you’re out of buttermilk there are three easy methods for how to make your own buttermilk depending on what you have in your pantry.

Store these cornmeal biscuits in an airtight container on the counter for 1-2 days then freeze any left over. to Reheat, wrap in aluminum foil and bake for about 10 minutes.

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Fluffy Cornmeal Biscuits with Buttermilk

Author: Barbara Curry

A Southern dinner isn't complete without a side of cornbread or a buttery biscuit. Try these easy buttermilk cornmeal biscuits for the best of both worlds! They're moist and fluffy with a great cornbread taste.

5 from 5 votes

Print Pin

PREP: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

COOK: 35 minutes minutes

TOTAL: 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 16

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 3 cups flour
• ▢ ¾ cup sugar
• ▢ 1 cup cornmeal
• ▢ 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoons baking soda
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ▢ 1 ½ cups aged white cheddar 6 ounces
• ▢ 1 cup butter 2 sticks, cut into 1 inch squares
• ▢ 1 cup buttermilk
• ▢ 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• ▢ flaky salt

Equipment

Food Processor

Pastry Cutter

Square Metal Baking Pan

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly coat a 9 x 9 pan with butter and line with parchment paper.
• Combine the dry ingredients in a food processor, add cheese and pulse to combine. Add cold butter and pulse until you have pea size chunks.
• Add cold butter and pulse until you have pea size chunks. Add cold buttermilk and pulse until dough forms. If it is dry, add more buttermilk, a tablespoon at a time.
• Form into a disc and chill for one hour.
• Gently press the dough into the pan and brush with cream and sprinkle flaky salt over the top. Bake until the top is golden brown and the sides start to pull away from the pan 35-40 minutes.

Video

Barbara’s Tips + Notes

• Don’t over mix the dough, stop mixing when it just comes together.
• Keep the butter and buttermilk cold until ready to add.
• If you don’t want to use a food processor, use a pastry cutter.
• You can refrigerate the dough for longer than an hour.
• You can freeze any left over biscuits. To reheat, thaw, wrap in aluminum foil and place in a 350º oven for 10 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 317kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 471mg | Potassium: 167mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 499IU | Calcium: 133mg | Iron: 2mg

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