About This Recipe
Bake a small pan of honey cornbread, dry it in cubes, then fold it into a savory milk-and-egg mixture with buttery onion, celery and sage. Honey goes into both the bread and the custard. Aim for a crisp top and a soft, set middle with some cornbread cubes still intact.
Recipe
Honey Cornbread Dressing with Celery and Sage
Bake cornbread from scratch, dry the cubes, then fold them into a savory honey custard with celery, onion and sage. Makes an 8-serving holiday side.
12Ingredients
Yield: 8 servings
- 150 g yellow cornmeal
- 90 g all-purpose flour
- 6 g baking powder
- 4 g table salt, divided
- 488 g whole milk, divided
- 150 g whole eggs without shells, divided
- 3 tablespoons honey, divided
- 70 g unsalted butter, divided
- 160 g onion, finely chopped
- 150 g celery, finely chopped
- 1 g ground sage
- 1 g ground black pepper
Ingredient amounts scale; instructions show the original batch. Cooking times and pan sizes may need adjustment. Season to taste. Honey grams use US measures at 20°C and 17.5% moisture, a density estimate; weigh your honey for precision.
Instructions
- 1Prepare the cornbread batterHeat the oven to 400 F (200 C). Line a 20 cm (8 inch) square pan with baking paper. Mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and 1.5 g of the salt. In a separate bowl whisk 244 g of the milk, 50 g beaten egg, 42 g honey and 30 g melted butter. Fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients just until no dry flour remains.
- 2Bake and cool the cornbreadSpread the batter in the pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the center springs back lightly and a skewer has no wet batter. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift onto a rack and cool for another 30 minutes before cutting. The cooling period is included in the total recipe time.
- 3Dry the cubes and soften the vegetablesCut the cornbread into roughly 2 cm (3/4 inch) cubes. Spread on a baking sheet and dry at 300 F (150 C) for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once, until the outsides feel dry rather than squishy. Meanwhile, melt the remaining 40 g butter in a skillet. Cook the onion and celery over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes until softened, then stir in the sage and pepper.
- 4Combine with the honey custardHeat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Whisk the remaining 244 g milk, 100 g beaten egg, 21 g honey and 2.5 g salt in a large bowl. Fold in the vegetables and dried cornbread, keeping some cubes intact. Let stand for 10 minutes so the bread absorbs the liquid.
- 5Bake the dressingLine a 23 cm (9 inch) square baking dish with baking paper and add the dressing loosely; do not compress it. Cover the dish and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the top is golden, the middle is set and a thermometer in the center reads 165 F (74 C). If the top colors too quickly, cover it again.
- 6Rest and serveRest for 10 minutes before spooning into eight portions. Scrape any browned pieces from the lined pan into the servings. Total time allows for cooling the cornbread, soaking the cubes and resting the finished dressing as well as active preparation and baking.
Estimated nutrition per serving
271.26 calories · 11.72 g fat · 35.35 g carbohydrate · 7.44 g protein · 350.26 mg sodium
Serving: 1 of 8 servings
Calculated from ingredient weights and USDA FoodData Central: 169697, 168894, 172803, 173468, 171265, 171287, 169640, 173430, 170000, 169988, 170935, 170931. Estimates use ingredient input weights; actual portions, brands and cooking losses vary. Omitted nutrient values are unavailable, not zero.
A Savory Dressing with a Little Honey
Three tablespoons of honey are divided between the cornbread and the custard. That amount gives the bread a recognizable honey flavor without making the dressing taste like cake. Clover keeps the flavor mild; a more assertive wildflower honey brings a floral finish. Use the chart as a tasting suggestion rather than a ranking of honey quality.
The ingredient list covers the whole batch, including the homemade cornbread. The finished casserole is divided into eight side portions; reserve a broad serving spoon or a thin spatula for lifting it from the pan.
Flavor intensity uses an editorial culinary scale: 1 is mild and 5 is bold. These are tasting suggestions, not laboratory measurements.
Sources: UC Agriculture and Natural Resources: Honey flavor and cooking; USDA: whole-grain yellow cornmeal; FoodSafety.gov: casserole cooking temperatures.
1 = mild, 5 = bold. Editorial pairing guidance, not laboratory measurements; jars vary.
- Clover
- Buttery cornbread
- Wildflower
- Celery and onion
- Buckwheat
- A bolder toasted crust
Get the Honey Buyer's Cheat Sheet (free PDF)
16 varieties on one page — color, flavor, best use and what a fair price looks like — from the 304 honeys we track.
Weigh Once, Then Divide the Ingredients
The ingredient list combines everything for the cornbread and the dressing. Measure 488 g milk into two 244 g portions. Beat three large eggs and weigh 150 g without their shells, dividing that into 50 g for the bread and 100 g for the custard. Divide the butter into 30 g and 40 g portions, and the honey into 42 g and 21 g portions.
Keep those portions in labeled bowls before you start. In particular, adding all the eggs or honey to the first batter leaves the dressing without its intended custard. The 4 g salt is also divided: 1.5 g in the bread and 2.5 g in the final mixture.
Why the Cubes Need Dry Edges
Fresh cornbread can crumble into paste when it meets the custard. Cooling it before cutting and drying the cubes gives you a mixture of tender middles and more distinct edges. Some crumbs are fine. Stop folding while you still have intact cubes.
Check the bread by feel as well as the clock. Cubes should have dry surfaces; they do not need to be browned all the way through. If you make the cornbread the previous day, you can start with the cubing step, but still dry it if the middle is very moist.
Pan Size, Timing and Serving
A 23 cm square dish gives the dressing enough depth to stay soft while leaving a broad area for a crisp top. A deeper dish takes longer to heat through, while a shallow sheet pan can dry the mixture before the center sets. Use the center temperature and texture together rather than treating the printed time as exact.
Serve eight side portions with roast vegetables or a holiday main. For another honey side, pair it with honey roasted carrots. This recipe is the dressed and rebaked casserole; the separate honey cornbread recipe is the simpler bread option.
Make-Ahead Plan and Nutrition Estimate
Bake the cornbread a day ahead and refrigerate it once cool, then cube and dry it before assembling the dressing. You can chop the vegetables ahead as well. Keep the egg-and-milk mixture cold until you are ready to combine and bake it, and refrigerate leftovers promptly in a covered container.
The nutrition estimate divides the listed raw ingredients by eight. It includes all the butter and honey but does not adjust for moisture lost during baking. A generous scoop will weigh more than a small side portion, so portion the finished dish evenly if you want it to match the displayed estimate.
Choosing the Honey
Use Clover Honey or Wildflower Honey for the flavor described in this recipe. See our honey selection guide for other culinary choices.
