Cornbread 101

November 20, 2007 by Heather · 5 Comments

Dear Home Ec 101,

Do you have a good cornbread recipe or tips on baking cornbread? I
generally use a corn meal mix and it always comes out too dry and
“crummy”. I like for the outside to be crisp but for the inside to be
soft and to stay together instead of falling apart when slicing or
buttering it.

Signed,

~Feelin’ Crummy

Heather says:

Excellent timing. I needed to bake a couple batches for my cornbread and andouille sausage dressing. This is a plain rather than a sweet cornbread and holds together nicely.

Basic Cornbread

1/2 TBSP Butter or bacon grease (for your 9×13 pan)
8 TBSP (1 stick) Butter
4 large eggs
3 cups buttermilk
3 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 TBSP + 1 tsp baking powder
1 TBSP sugar
2 tsps salt
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 375 F. (I put the butter in a heatproof cup - not plastic!- and let the oven melt it while I combine the dry ingredients).

Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Stir with a fork until thoroughly mixed.

In another bowl briefly mix the eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter. Whisk to mix.

Place your 9 x 13 baking dish in the oven with the 1/2 TBSP butter or bacon grease.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined.

Remove the pan from the oven when the butter has melted and tilt the pan to coat the bottom.

Place the pan on a heatproof surface (it just came out of the oven) and pour the batter into the very center. The batter will push the grease to the edges and prevent sticking.

Bake at 375 for 30 - 40 minutes. The top will be golden and the edges will pull away from the sides of the pan. Set on a baking rack to cool for five minutes before cutting and serving.