Orange and Cranberry Cornbread Recipe

Honey the balances out the tart fresh cranberries and bright orange zest in this Northern-style cornbread.

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated November 03, 2022
Cross-section view of orange cranberry cornbread.

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

Why It Works

  • Preheating the pan and coating it with butter creates a dark crust with a light nutty flavor.
  • Adding honey enhances the sweetness, which balances out the tart cranberries.
  • Using sour cream along with buttermilk increases the mild tanginess and overall flavor of the bread.
  • Adding a little oil to the batter results in a more cake-like moistness.

If you’re looking for a Thanksgiving twist on Northern-style cornbread, this one was inspired by my cranberry sauce experience. I picked up a bag of fresh cranberries and roughly chopped a cup of them to mix into my batter.

Knife-chopped fresh cranberries on a wooden cutting board.

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

Since fresh cranberries are so tart, I upped the sweetness level to balance things out. I started by swapping the white sugar for light brown sugar, to impart a little molasses flavor, and then added 1/3 cup of honey on top that. Finally, since cranberry and orange have been such a great pair in my cranberry sauces, I added in the zest from one orange to cash in on that fruitful marriage.

This ended up being one of my favorites of all of the cornbread recipes I made (if you’d like to make a few more variations, try maple walnut, jalapeño, roasted red pepper, or cheddar bacon scallion). The honey adds a really nice sweetness, while the brown sugar gives that light molasses touch I was looking for. Both are enough to keep the cranberries from coming across as bitter or astringent. Instead, they're transformed into pleasing pockets of mild tartness that contrast brightly with the otherwise sweet bread.

November 2014

Recipe Details

Orange and Cranberry Cornbread Recipe

Active 15 mins
Total 40 mins
Serves 8 to 10 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 3/4 cup sour cream

  • 1/2 cup buttermilk

  • 1/3 cup honey

  • 2 large eggs

  • 3 tablespoons melted butter, cooled slightly, plus 1 additional tablespoon for pan

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil

  • 1 cup roughly chopped fresh cranberries

  • 1 tablespoon zest from 1 orange

Directions

  1. Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet on the middle rack of the oven and preheat to 425°F (220°C). In a medium bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, buttermilk, honey, eggs, 3 tablespoons melted butter, and canola oil. Pour wet ingredients into bowl with dry ingredients and whisk until completely combined. Stir in cranberries and orange zest.

    Whisking orange cranberry cornbread batter.

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

  2. Using pot holders, carefully remove hot pan from oven. Place 1 tablespoon butter in skillet and swirl to completely melt and coat inside of pan. Pour in cornbread batter and place in oven. Bake until skewer inserted into middle of cornbread comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 5 minutes, then carefully turn out to wire rack and let cool an additional 10 minutes. Serve immediately. Reheat any leftover cornbread before serving again.

    Orange Cranberry Cornbread in a cast-iron skillet with a slice removed to reveal cross-section

    Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

Special Equipment

10-inch cast iron skillet

Read More

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
283Calories
12gFat
40gCarbs
5gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 10
Amount per serving
Calories283
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g16%
Saturated Fat 5g27%
Cholesterol 60mg20%
Sodium 373mg16%
Total Carbohydrate 40g15%
Dietary Fiber 2g6%
Total Sugars 20g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 3mg13%
Calcium 105mg8%
Iron 1mg8%
Potassium 131mg3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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