This Honey Butter Cornbread recipe is a tasty combination between sweet and savoury. It’s best when served straight from the oven and drenched in the honey butter sauce, so make sure there’s enough sauce to go around. I like serving this dish with roast meats, vegetables etc. it’s the perfect starchy option on the feasting table.
You can easily add some sautéed bacon bits, chives, onions, mushrooms etc. to the filling – so feel free to make it your own version of cornbread. For those who don’t already know, I love the idea that you can try the cornbread recipe my way and then make your own tweaks if needed. Ultimately, you’re the chef 🙂
Adding the cayenne pepper to the mix adds a teeny tiny “bite” to the flavour profile but, again, add any additional spices that tickle your fancy.
If you enjoy dishes using maize meal then I’d highly recommend you try my South African Paptert recipe. It isn’t traditional but is OH-SO-TASTY! Since I’ve been a kid I’ve absolutely despised paptert but the versions that have the ‘slap pap’ layered with the tomato relish and cheese. It just never looked appetizing to me so I made a version I actually prefer. If you give it try then let me know by commenting below the paptert recipe on the blog.
“South African-style cornbread, also known locally as “mealie bread”, is a hearty and flavorful dish made from maize (corn) meal, which is a staple in South African cuisine. It’s slightly different from the American cornbread as it often incorporates fresh corn kernels, giving it a moist and slightly chunky texture.”


Honey Butter Cornbread | Mieliebrood (VIDEO)
Ingredients
Cornbread / Mieliebrood
- 1 ½ cups maize meal/mielie pap
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ tsp fine salt
- 1 can cream style sweetcorn
- 1 large egg
- 400 ml milk
- ½ cup cheddar cheese grated
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
Honey-Butter
- ⅓ cup salted butter
- ⅓ cup honey
Instructions
- Add the maize meal, all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, cayenne pepper and salt together. Mix until combined.
- To the dry ingredients, add cream style sweetcorn, egg, milk, cheddar cheese and vegetable oil together. Mix until well combined.
- Pour into an ovenproof dish and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes (coat the top of the cornbread with some of the honey butter after its baked for 25 minutes). Note: This size I used was 28Lx21Wx5H but you can definitely use a bigger ovenproof dish as these were nice and big (not complaining though).
- Removed from the oven, poke the sponge using a toothpick, and generously coat with more of the honey butter. You can never have enough honey butter so make sure to make extra if you want.