Cornbread is the best excuse to eat cake alongside your dinner. This is a slightly sweet, skillet cornbread recipe sweetened with maple syrup and boozed up with a splash of bourbon!

The first shot at this recipe was an EPIC failure. I’m talking trash worthy cornbread. I added cinnamon (just didn’t jive), not enough maple syrup, and WAY TOO MUCH bourbon. I love bourbon, but it was like inhaling bourbon fumes in every bite. I could eat it, but Patty could barely stomach it. Lesson learned, a little bourbon goes a long way.

This cornbread recipe has subtle maple and bourbon flavor. Think of your typical cornbread recipe with a little more caramel and darker flavor.

Here’s What I learned About Making Skillet Cornbread

• Buttermilk makes for better cornbread. It tastes better and it’s more moist than using whole or skim milk.
• You can use butter or oil at the fat. Oil tends to make the cornbread more tender and cakey. I thought butter yielded a solid result that was moist enough without being sticky or too crumbly.
• Around 1/3 cup of maple syrup is the sweet spot for slightly sweet cornbread, while remaining traditional cornbread sweet index. I used 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup, but I could be convinced to probably add an extra tablespoon next time.
• I used 2 tablespoons of bourbon, which adds a subtle bourbon essence, I wouldn’t use more than 3 tablespoons unless you want to breathe gasoline. A dark spiced rum would be really interesting too.
• Topping cornbread with honey and butter turns it into an addictive narcotic.
• This would go awesome with roasted bacon brussel sprouts.

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