“I was raised on and still love Cornbread and milk and many times this constituted the whole meal. I prefer sweet milk, even though my Mom loved Butter Milk I could never get it to go down I told her I’d rather have my milk before it soured. I love to chop up a good Vidalia Onion in mine also. I also like saltine crackers in milk and usually have this when I’m having trouble going to sleep, it usually works wonders in that it seems to relax me and I drift off into a peaceful slumber. Just last week my wife and I were tired of all the rich holiday food and had just Cornbread and milk with onions chopped up in it for supper, it was wonderful.”

—Bill Burnett


At least once a month someone asks me if I’ve ever seen anyone eat cornbread crumbled in milk. It was one of Pap and Granny’s favorite things to snack on. Granny especially loves hers in buttermilk just like Bill’s mother.

Over the years I’ve heard folks say they like all sorts of things added to their glass of cornbread and milk. Things like honey or sugar and even black walnuts.

I don’t eat it as much as Granny but I do like cornbread and milk more than I did when I was a child. And much like Bill I like to sprinkle chopped onion on top of my glass before I dig in.

Last night’s video: Trying to Garden too Early; Matt Shows Off His Present; & Why Old Cars Embarrassed Tipper.

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58 Comments

  1. My dad occasionally indulged in a bowl of cornbread with milk (“sweet milk,” as Bill Burnett and several commenters mentioned) for dinner, something from his childhood with his mother and grandmother from Appalachia.

  2. Cornbread is one of my favorite things to eat but I did not always like soup beans. I have only recently come around to them and do enjoy eating it along with cornbread. I have not yet had cornbread with milk but I imagine it is a good snack so I may try it sometime.

    When I was a very small child my grandmother would fix for me a skillet of fried potatoes that most likely contained lard in it and so when I watched your YouTube video of the secret to making good cornbread and you mentioned lard it made me think back long ago to a wonderful memory of my grandmother who always made such good food.

  3. I didn’t receive this daily post in my email today. I am signed up for it. Just wondering if there is an issue. It’s always a sweet spot in my day! Thanks

    1. Jennifer-I bet the email is going into your spam or junk folder. Check there and if you don’t see it let me know and we’ll investigate further 🙂

  4. My Daddy always ate bread in milk or crackers….My husband Bill loved cornbread, bread or crackers and milk for a snack.

  5. I remember butter milk and cornbread that my mother would have for supper many,many days especially if her ulcers were acting up..it was her go to relief…She was from Lincoln County Tennessee and it was a stable of her generation…thanks as always for the post..they are a daily delight

  6. As Nancy said I don’t think there is a bad way to eat cornbread. When my sister and I were little we always wanted bites out of our dad’s glass of cornbread and milk because it tasted better than ours. Then we caught him adding cream to his glass and knew his secret!

  7. I like cornbread and milk, crackers of most any kind and milk, and even light bread and milk, as long as you chop up a big onion in it. Never tried the buttermilk with any of these because Mom used our buttermilk for recipes, I like buttermilk for drinking so would probably like it with all these.

  8. I like half sweet milk with half buttermilk in a glass with cornbread. I used to fix it in a mason jar to take for my lunch at work. My husband loves saltines- well, really any kind of crackers and he loves milk but I don’t know if he’s tried the 2 together. His comfort snack is light bread wadded up and dipped in cold milk.

  9. I’d never heard of eating cornbread with milk but because of your stories it’s become a treat. I have eaten saltine crackers in milk. Often times, as kids, “cracker cereal” was all we had available to eat but we thought it was good and didn’t really notice our lack of other options.

  10. I had cornbread and milk last night for my dinner but I eat onions separately. I either sprinkle salt on the onion or dip in salt. I just recently found your page and I love it because it is the way I was taught to cook by my Mom. I live in North Georgia.
    Thanks for sharing.

  11. I absolutely love cornbread and milk and reminds me so much of my childhood. Sometimes that’s all we had for supper for a family of 12 kids! I make it almost identical to the way you do and love to heat up left overs in air fryer to make crunchy then add to cold milk. I love saltine crackers w/milk as well, one of my mom’s favorites

  12. There’s nothing better than hot cornbread with butter. I never drink buttermilk but I like cooking with it. You have to have buttermilk for making cornbread and biscuits!

  13. My dad would often have saltine crackers and milk as a before bed snack. It is good to know that it wasn’t just him that did this but is common for many people in the hills.

  14. I like cornbread and I like milk…but I never have had a taste for mixing them together. Now some cornbread with soup beans and a spoonful of mayonnaise mixed together, that’s what I like!

  15. Makes my mouth water thinking about my gramma’s cornbread. I think it’s my very favorite thing she made, nothing better. I never did have any use for buttermilk besides making biscuits, but I’d give nearly anything to have my gramma back and sit down with her at the table for a big piece of still warm cornbread and a glass of milk. No sweetened cornbread for me, just the real thing like my gramma made. Mine never tastes as good as hers.

  16. Cornbread and milk! Just love it!!

    Tipper, as I was watching last night’s video I was admiring the mugs you and Matt were drinking out of. You mentioned in a past video (I am unable to find) about where you got the beautiful mugs. Can you tell me please where to find them? Thanks!!

  17. Whenever I hear cornbread & milk mentioned it takes me back to my childhood sitting @ the dinner table in our 2 bedroom house in Va watching my dad crumble up cornbread and mixing it w/ milk. But none for me!! I liked cornbread & milk….but not mixed. I was one of those weird kids who did not like my food to be ‘mixed’…for that matter, I did not like my food to even touch one another!

  18. I can still see Daddy eating sweet milk and mama’s delicious cornbread as a dessert. It seemed to be one of his favorites.

  19. Growing up in the Midwest, cornbread was simply part of a meal, mostly fresh made. And soda crackers with milk was something my dad ate if his stomach was bothering him. I tried it a few times but not a usual habit for me. I prefer a banana before bedtime to avoid acid problems or leg cramps from disturbing my sleep.

  20. I love cornbread! Nothing like a big pone of cornbread with a pot of soup beans, fried potatoes, greens & a big ol’ onion! Then with the leftover cornbread, that’s dessert topped off with butter, honey, sorghum or jam. So Thankful for my Appalachia roots!

  21. Oh how I love cornbread and milk! I usually have it with sweet milk, but I love buttermilk too. My dad loved cornbread more than anybody I’ve ever seen. Life would be poorer without cornbread any way you like to eat it.

  22. I like cornbread crumbed up in my cooked beans, or just with butter on it. I’ve never tried it crumbled up in milk of any kind. My dad use to crumble his cornbread in buttermilk to eat. Maybe one day I’ll try it in regular milk just to see what it’s like. Good memories from Bill, Tipper and all those that commented.

  23. Hi Tipper
    I love cornbread and milk also! My husband likes his cornbread with butter on it with warm milk.
    I also like buttermilk if I have it on hand with cornbread but my husband doesn’t care for buttermilk.
    I hope granny is doing ok! Continued prayers for her.
    Have a blessed day!
    Joanna

  24. I so enjoy reading all the comments! The best cornbread I’ve ever had was still hot from the oven with plenty of butter and thick slices of tomato still warm from the garden with a huge glass of tea. Summer on a plate.

  25. I love cornbread! The old fashioned kind. This sweet cornbread is considered cake in my kitchen! Nothing better than a big pone of cornbread with soup beans, fried potatoes, greens & a big ol’ onion to top it off! Then what was left is dessert with a big ol’ slab of butter topped with honey, sorghum or jams & jelly. So Thankful for my Appalachia roots!

  26. Hi Tipper! I have loved corn bread all my life of 74 years. That along with an ice cold glass of milk is out of this world good!! But, I’m a purist I guess because I like my cornbread with just butter…oh yum!!! I am hoping Granny’s results come in soon from the doctor…maybe I missed them…and may God bless you and your delightful family and all your followers!

  27. My ex-mother-in-law would only buy Hudson Cream cornmeal and flour that was sold in nearly every grocery store in Pike County. When I went to visit I would buy enough to last until I went back the next time. About the time it became available here in the Louisville area, I discovered Weisenberger stone ground cornmeal is the best money can buy. I can’t imagine eating homemade vegetable soup without cornbread. The only way to enjoy cornbread and milk is to eat it from a drinking glass.

  28. I am a connoisseur of cornbread and sweet milk. However, herelately I haven’t been eating it because I get strangled on it easily. I can eat cornbread with chili or soup poured over it and that doesn’t happen. I can eat cornbread soaked with pot likker and it doesn’t happen. Maybe it’s that with milk it’s cold and the others its hot but I’m skeered to experiment.

    I love cornbread and buttermilk too, just not mixed together. I’ve tried it that way but it don’t work for me.

    1. I have already said too much today, but your comment about cornbread and pot linker made me think of my Granddaddy. He would soak cornbread in his pot linker, but would also crumble cornbread up and soak it in strawberry juice from their homegrown fresh strawberries for desert. I ask my niece if she had ever ate cornbread and pot linker back on New Year’s Day. She didn’t know what pot looker was. I feel sorry for today’s uneducated, underprivileged children!

  29. Oh I love cornbread and milk! My kids eat it now to they call it cornbread milk no “and” my mother got them eating it when they were little. Just nothing like it. Blessings to granny❤️

  30. when I was talking to my daughter -in-law about sweet milk, she said oh, sweetened condensed milk.She didn’t grow up in the country like I did.

  31. When I was growing up my family ate corn bread and milk together but I just couldn’t do it!! Guess I was the weird one!

    It’s cold here in the Tennessee valley, but I do see sunshine trying to peek through! Everyone have a great day. Blessings to all.

    I’m the weird one!

  32. My grandma loves her cornbread and buttermilk. I used to sit as a little girl watching her just love it but it never appealed to me at all. I’ll enjoy them separately

  33. I have always loved cornbread and milk since I was a kid. When I make cornbread I’m the only one who eats it my husband only likes sweet cornbread. He will eat jalapeño cornbread as long as it’s made with sweet cornbread too. My Granny always made cornbread and my Mamaw always made biscuits both of which I loved.
    I make your biscuits all the time Tipper and my family all love them and now my momma is making them too! Hope you all are doing well sending prayers for you all .

  34. My mamaw and papaw ate cornbread and milk alot. Occasionally, if I have any leftover, I really enjoy a glass of really cold milk with still warm cornbread crumbled up in it. It takes me back to another time.

  35. Cornbread with fresh pork cracklin and chopped onions cooked in. Pour some sweet milk over it oh my word it’s just great. Every now and again I will open a can of creamed corn and put maybe 3/4 can in my batter, boy that’s some kind of good too. I’m as country as cornbread.

    1. Mike I love cornbread but even though will killed our own hog and had our own cracklins and would eat cracklin cornbread I was never crazy about it. For some reason I have never put onions in my cornbread but do like them in hush puppies. I like your last sentence, I am just as country as cornbread too! This is not cornbread, but I would ask for this for my last meal if I was on death row, fried out fatback/streaked meat, milk gravy (hunky doo in my family) made from the fatback grease along with some big homemade cat head biscuits. We ate this at least 2-3 times a week for breakfast when I was growing up. We would have plenty of fatback from our hogs that would weigh at least 500 lbs when we butchered them.

  36. My husband’s parents enjoyed eating leftover cornbread in coffee with lots of milk and sugar. It was actually a delicious breakfast.

  37. I haven’t watched all of the video, I have places to go and people to see early this morning. My father in law loved working in his big garden . After retiring he would plant a smaller early garden. He called this his “frost garden”, he said there will usually be a cold spell and kill it.

  38. I think milk and cornbread or buttermilk and cornbread were staples in the diets of both parents growing up. Throughout my life, Mama and Daddy often had milk and cornbread for Sunday supper. Daddy’s sisters and brother would cook a pan of cornbread and keep it on the kitchen table to snack on. Daddy taught me to make cornbread. I usually make a couple of pans every week. Sweet tea and buttered cornbread is a good afternoon snack. Or, sometimes sweet milk and cornbread.

  39. I too love corn bread as a snack. I heat it a bit and add butter. With a milk intolerance I never drink milk and actually I never remember actually liking it. Corn bread yes ma’am. I sometimes add onions chopped fine right into the batter, Humm wonder how finely chopped garlic would taste…….

  40. We had cornbread and buttermilk for our snack night for last. my favorite is sweet milk, but we had buttermilk that needed to be used. It was getting quite wiggy. I love crackers and milk. Momma would also give us graham crackers and milk if we were feeling bad.

    I surely enjoyed the video of you and Matt chatting last night. My husband listened in too. Brought up lots of memories for us…. and whew doggy what a beautiful hatchet Matt received. What was the handle made of? Looked like dark wood, walnut? You certainly did good with that.

    Thanks for sharing! God bless all y’all!

    1. Becky, I have heard soakie used in our family, or the term ‘sop’. It might consist of cornbread, or biscuits, and buttermilk, sweet milk, or coffee would be used as the liquid.

  41. I love my cornbread and milk. When my Mom got up in years she wanted cornbread and milk a lot and now that I’m older I do the same thing.

  42. Here we are getting right on into the new year. We don’t have frozen soil, but just anticipating all the planting is exciting. I do appreciate the demo on Matt’s new ‘hatchet’ and he looks like he is already enjoying it. Prayers for Granny and you guys.

  43. I don’t think there is a bad way to have cornbread. I guess my favorite is with red beans and rice or with chili or by itself with butter; I just love cornbread, breakfast, lunch and supper, and I love it with milk and sugar, too.

  44. I love cornbread hot and slathered with butter and milk on the side. My mom used to make breaded tomatoes as a meal. I hated it so I never took to putting milk over cornbread. My dad did put cornbread in milk and loved it! He loved breaded tomatoes too…yuk. Have a great week Tipper!

  45. I’ve always liked cornbread and milk. When I was growing up and got hungry between meals, I would tell my mother there was nothing to eat, and she would recite a list of all the things I could choose from: crackers and milk, graham crackers and milk, bread and milk, toast and milk with sugar on it. I still like all of those options. There was usually shredded wheat in the house, too… the big biscuits. There wasn’t any spoon-sized shredded wheat back then.

  46. I to grew up eating cornbread crumbled up in sweet milk. I don’t like it in buttermilk. However my Granny and Papaw ate it with buttermilk. I still eat it this way to this day.

  47. My mama loves corn bread and sweet milk for a snack. Leftover corn bread never goes to waste. She also loves to drink buttermilk. I have never loved drinking buttermilk, myself, but I sure love using it in recipes like my mama’s red velvet cake. Hubby and I enjoyed your video about the old cars last evening. You two were so relaxed and funny—It felt just like having a conversation with you guys. He had a 1964 Plymouth Belvedere when we were dating back in high school. His older brother gave it to him. He dearly loved that car—we sure wish we had it now.

  48. Cornbread and milk, one of my favorite things to eat. Like Bill, I only want sweet milk, my Daddy would only drink buttermilk. Anytime there is cornbread on the table, I am going to eat a bowl of cornbread and milk, no matter whatever else is there with it. I have also ate cornbread and milk for my meal many times. My grandparents along with many of the older country generations ate cornbread and milk for their supper time meal. I only eat true unsweetened cornbread, none of this sweet Yankee/Jiffy Mix stuff. Sweet cornbread reminds me of a pound cake. I have said this before, but will say it again, my wife could make the best cornbread I have ever ate. She didn’t use a recipe, she just mixed up her ingredients and knew when it was like she wanted it and cooked it in a cast iron frying pan that is now 50 years old. Back on New Years Day, after eating dinner with my sister in law, I brought a chunk of her cornbread home with me to eat with milk for my supper.

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