How to Make Cornbread
Cornbread connoisseurs have a long line of people to thank for making this quick bread a mainstay in American cooking. In fact, this staple of Southern and Southwestern cuisine may be one of the most truly American foods there is. Native Americans used corn, or "maize," in cooking all sorts of dishes--including cornbread--for thousands of years before colonists first set food in what we now know as the United States. Since cornbread is leavened with baking powder instead of yeast, it was easy for early settlers to master how to make cornbread even with limited resources. So, it's no wonder the dish caught on. Its unique flavor and texture have kept it a favorite over the years.Fresh-baked cornbread is the perfect accompaniment to chili, red beans and rice and other Tex-Mex and Southern dishes. While the basic recipe yields perfectly good results, it also lends itself to add-ins, such as finely chopped jalapeno or Serrano peppers, chopped onions, whole kernels of corn, shredded cheese and a variety of seasonings that complement the rest of the meal. It also makes a great topping for casseroles and has the perfect texture for stuffing.
Transcript
Hi, I'm Miranda with Recipe.com, and today, I'm gonna show
how to make cornbread. This is such a classic dish,
so amazing with chili. It's good. You could just eat
on its own, but maybe a little bit of salad
on the side. It's incredibly easy to make, so tasty,
and have all the ingredients laid out here. So, follow
along if we make corn bread. We have 1 cup
of corn meal,
1 cup of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of corn
flour, 2 eggs, 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of
butter milk. We have 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 2
teaspoons of salts. We have 1/2 of a teaspoon of
baking soda, and we're using 1 tablespoon of canola oil.
You could also use baking grease in place of the
canola oil, but if perhaps you don't eat pork, you
might wanted to stick with the canola oil.
So, we're going to start by combining our dry ingredients
in this bowl here. Now, as a note behind me,
the oven is preheated at 350 degrees, and I have
this 2-quart baking dish grease. You could also use a
10-inch cast iron skillet if you wanted, one obviously that
can right to the oven, but today we're using just
baking dish, so and goes the flour, the corn flour,
all of our little other ingredients, just pop this all
in, perfect.
Right, we're just gonna give this like a nice little
toss together and just get these all incorporated, and then
the next step is in a separate mixing bowl, we're
going to combine wet ingredients, so just gonna set to
the side, grab another bowl, okay. I'm going to start
with my eggs, I'm just gonna whip these, and I'm
using this tiny little adorable baby whip today [unk] kitchen
so much more fun.
And goes the milk, lovely, and the butter milk, just
so extra creamy, and then we are going to add
in the canola oil or this is when would add
in the baking grease in lieu of the canola oil,
so we're just gonna mix this all together. So, now
we are going to put in our dry ingredients. So,
we don't wanna over mix.
So we're just gonna pop them in, so pop, pop,
pop, and then we're gonna fold, literally like fold to
incorporate. We're not over mixing this. It would like really
tough or just gently incorporating. This is like a very
gentle height just to meet your flour, your 2 eggs,
that's perfect, but this is looking pretty good. So, not
what we're gonna do is move over
to our grease and I used butter just like buttered
2-quart baking dish or would use your cast iron can
right now, and we're just pop in here and I
like to use the spatula to help get all the
goodness of the edges, just pour that in, here we
go and just kind of smooth this out. So, it's
evenly distributed. Beautiful. Now, we're gonna pop this in the
oven again, which has been preheated at 350 degrees,
and we're gonna let it cook for 20 to 25
minutes until we insert either a like a toothpick or
fork in the middle and it comes out nice and
clean. So our cornbread cooked at 350 degrees for 25
minutes and look at it. It's beautiful. A toothpick right
in and right out again, super clean and it's smells
fantastic. Now, I'm ready just to cut right in there,
slather it with some butter, and just leave as is,
or be amazing with a little bit of chilli on
the side. No matter how you wanna enjoy your cornbread,
I'm sure you're gonna love this absolutely delicious version.
So, how simple is that. So easy, so yummy. You'll
never go back to box version, and there you have
it, that's how you make corn bread, and for more
great recipes and savings, be sure to visit us at
recipe.com.
What You'll Need
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup corn flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon bacon grease or canola oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup milk
Step By Step
1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or butter a 2-quart baking dish; set aside.
2
In a mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, corn flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, mixing well.
3
In a separate bowl, combine eggs, bacon grease, buttermilk, and milk. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Pour batter into prepared skillet or baking dish.
4
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Considering the long tradition of cornbread-making in this country, learning how to make cornbread is a hands-on lesson in American history.
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