Is Sugar in Cornbread a Northern Thing?

Northern Cornbread: History and Recipe

She notes that Northern cornbread is sweeter, lighter, and more cake-like than Southern cornbread. Not surprisingly, it includes sugar (or molasses, in the earlier centuries), unlike traditional Southern cornbread.

Is cornbread supposed to have sugar?

So I'm just going to say it: sugar has no business in cornbread. Neither, for that matter, does wheat flour. One might make something quite tasty with well-sweetened wheat flour mixed with cornmeal, but be honest with yourself and call it a dessert. Cornbread is something else.

Why do you add sugar to cornbread?

The change in production made the meal more dry -- which maybe made cooks add sugar, according to the article. But now, there are many people offering coarse-ground cornmeal that mimics the traditional meal, there's really no reason to add the sugar -- unless you're just stubborn.