Southern Cornbread

Simple & Sugar-Free

Southern-style buttermilk cornbread with a coveted chewy crust and zero added sugar. Make a large batch, make a small batch, either way, this savory cornbread mixes up and bakes in a hot-hot-hot skillet quick-quick-quick, mere minutes.
Plus a bonus: Six Tips for Perfect Cornbread, my latest "Kitchen Lesson" column – a series of occasional recipes with extra insider tips and ideas gained from long experience in a home kitchen.

Homemade Cornbread, Made from Scratch. Real Food, Fast & Flexible. A Southern Classic. Great Choice for Impromptu Homestyle Hot Bread for Dinner. Bake In the Oven or Over a Campfire.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipes ~

~ Skip Straight to Southern Cornbread ~
~ Skip Straight to Campfire Cornbread ~

COMPLIMENTS!

• "My husband declared it the best ever." ~ Cathy
• "This was perfect!" ~ Kim

BEST RECIPES!

• Simple Southern Cast Iron Cornbread was one of 2013's "Best Recipes"!
• All the Best Recipes of 2013

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This Yankee ♥♥♥s Southern Cornbread

Yes, ma'am, truth be told, I'm a Yankee through and through.

But when it comes to cornbread, Southern Cornbread is my go-to recipe. The recipe starts with a big batch for a large cast iron skillet but there's also a small batch for a tiny skillet, good if you're cooking for one or two and aren't excited about leftovers. I hope y'all love this recipe: it's one of a handful of "signature" recipes, the ones I'm really known for. Enjoy!

Cornbread Tips For Your Recipe or My Recipe

TIP #1 – For perfect cornbread results every time, bake cornbread in a cast iron skillet. Buy a new cast-iron skillet for $15-$20 or hunt for a bargain that needs a little seasoning and TLC at a resale shop, flea market or garage sale. These days, new skillets usually come pre-seasoned – it’s the "seasoning" that makes a well-seasoned skillet nearly as "non-stick" as your favorite non-stick pan.

RESOURCES Cast iron skillet ideas here (affiliate link)

My Disclosure Promise.

TIP #2 – Invest in stone-ground cornmeal. It’s a real treat and a "whole food", nothing more than coarsely or finely ground corn, nothing added, nothing removed.

Bob’s Red Mill cornmeal is easy to find in grocery stores, I’ve also ordered freshly ground cornmeal from War Eagle Mill in middle-of-nowhere Rogers, Arkansas and have even made the narrow, twisty-road pilgrimage to the mill, an operation from another time. The prices are great and I am in love-love-love with War Eagle Mill's Organic White Cornmeal, Fine Grind.

Do store stone-ground cornmeal in the freezer, double bagged to prevent freezer burn. Plan to use it within a few months.

Can you use plain "yellow cornmeal"? Yes, in fact, I often recommend it when children are at the table. It has less flavor and far less nutrition but, well, still makes very good cornbread.

RESOURCES Bob’s Red Mill & War Eagle Mill. FYI This is not a sponsored post, I just love these products!

TIP #3 – For a golden, chewy crust, heat your skillet in the oven until hot-hot-hot before adding a little oil or butter and the cornbread batter. What a difference this makes!

TIP #4 – For a head start, collect the dry ingredients in one bowl and whisk the egg-buttermilk mixture in another a few minutes or a few hours before baking. But don’t combine the two until the skillet is toasty hot. If you do, the baking powder and baking soda will do all their "leavening" work (that’s the lifting which makes cornbread light) in the bowl, rather than the skillet. And that means you’ll end up with flat, tough cornbread. And that means Mama ain’t happy.

TIP #5 – Know the difference between "southern cornbread" and "Yankee cornbread" aka "northern cornbread", then find your happy "border state" version.

First off, the big difference between southern and northern cornbreads is sweetness, you'll know which one you're eating with the very first bite. A southern cornbread is unsweetened, there's no (or little) added sugar. In contrast, a northern-style cornbread is sweeter and more cake-like.

A southern cornbread usually calls for white cornmeal, a small proportion of flour:cornmeal (and some times no flour at all), buttermilk, little to no sugar, bacon fat and just one egg. There's no mistaking southern cornbread for cake, it's not in the least bit sweet.

A Yankee-style northern cornbread usually calls for yellow cornmeal, a higher proportion of flour, sweet milk (that’s regular milk, not buttermilk), a good measure of something sweet like sugar or sorghum or honey, butter and two or more eggs. My recipe for a Yankee-style cornbread is Skillet Cornbread, it stays moist and sweet for days.

I have trouble finding white cornmeal so nearly always use stone-ground yellow cornmeal for both my southern cornbread and my Yankee cornbread.

TIP #6 – If you’re a fellow cornbread fiend, consult with the sage of cornbread, Crescent Dragonwagon. Really. There’s no making up such a name. She's the author of my own guide to all things cornbread.

RESOURCES The Cornbread Gospels (affiliate link) by Crescent Dragonwagon.

Why the Small Batch?

Families grow big, families grow small, it's the ebb and flow of family life. For example, right now, I mostly cook for two so am always on the look-out for half-size or even smaller cooking vessels. So far I've found a half-size angel food cake pan, a half-size Bundt pan and yes, for cornbread, a miniature cast iron skillet, just six inches in diameter.

It took a few tries to break down the cornbread recipe for the small cast iron skillet but now I never hesitate to make cornbread for dinner, knowing that the two of us can use all or most of it up. Besides, the mini wedges are just so cute alongside a small bowl of soup, a perfect "small bite" of warm bread!

Real Life. That's why my recipe includes both a large batch and a small batch.

The #1 Reason to Make the Large Batch

Southern cooks love their cornbread dressing! Often it's used to stuff a holiday turkey but me, I love the idea most for a Sunday roast chicken, a la Mom's Roast Chicken With All the Trimmings and Spring Stuffing with Leeks & Mushrooms, except substituting cornbread for the bread.

So even if you're having hot southern cornbread for two one night, it's easy to turn the leftovers into stuffing after a day or two.

Campfire Cornbread

Out in the wilderness, there's nothing more unexpected than just-baked bread. This recipe works great over an open fire or atop a Dutch oven. In the photo above, a stew was bubbling away in the Dutch oven below; I just added a cast iron skillet to the top coals! Cooking like this isn't as "precise" or as "controlled" as in your kitchen but still, mighty satisfying.

The last two falls, I even mixed up cornbread for a group of gourmet camp-cooks and elk hunters who (I’m told, no females allowed) devour the hot cornbread in minutes. Now, my grandmother would say, “Hunger is the best sauce,” but me, I'm 99% sure it's the fresh bread coming off a hot fire out in the middle of the wilderness.

RECIPE Campfire Cornbread

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KITCHEN LESSON:
SOUTHERN CORNBREAD

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes

LARGE BATCH
(for a nine or ten-inch cast iron skillet, makes 8 - 12 full-size slices)
• 1 tablespoon bacon grease or butter
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons (33g) vegetable oil
• 1-1/4 cups (280g) buttermilk

• 1 cup flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring or 125g
• 1-1/2 cups (250g) stone-ground cornmeal, white or yellow
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda

SMALL BATCH
(for a six-inch mini cast iron skillet, makes 4 large wedges or 12 mini wedges)
• 1 teaspoon bacon grease or butter
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup (67g) buttermilk

• 1/4 cup flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring or 31g
• 1/3 cup stone-ground cornmeal
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt or 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Heat the oven to 425F/220C. While the oven heats up, place a large or small empty cast iron skillet on the center rack. (Why? See TIPS.)

In a small bowl, whisk the egg with the fork until the yolk and white are combined, then whisk in the oil and buttermilk until well combined.

In a large bowl, with a fork, stir together the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda until well combined. (Stop here if mixing ahead of time. Why? See TIPS.) Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, use the fork to gently combine.

Pull the hot skillet out of the oven and rub bacon grease or butter across the bottom and up the sides, use a silicone brush if helpful.

Pour the batter into the hot skillet and immediately place in the oven. For the large batch, bake for 15 minutes; for the small batch, 10 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the cornbread is pulling away from the sides. Serve immediately hot from the oven. Best warm from the oven and should be eaten within 24 hours.

MORE VARIATIONS This has been my go-to simple cornbread recipe since 2010, a new batch every few weeks. That means that more often than not, now, I "play around" with the recipe. I go back and forth between all-purpose flour and 100% white whole-wheat, both are good. After a few batches, I decided I liked a little more leavening. But if your taste leans toward a thinner flatbread-like cornbread, use half the specified baking powder and baking soda. That said, two teaspoons is a lot of baking powder and, if your baking powder happens to include aluminum in an attempt to avoid that "tinny" flavor that comes from some baking powders. I mostly buy aluminum-free Rumford baking powder, that avoids the problem entirely. The other option is to make your own baking powder. For two teaspoons baking powder, mix 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch. Not everyone likes the texture of stone-ground cornmeal. To soften it, soak coarse stone-ground cornmeal in the buttermilk for about 3 hours or use fine stone-ground cornmeal. The recipe is an easy one to adapt, adding green chilies for a southwestern-style meal, fresh blueberries during berry season, toasted walnuts just because they were on the counter. Turns out? Walnuts are such a favorite, I add them every time now! When the cornbread is a little long in the tooth and dry, break it into pieces in a bowl, cover with milk, just like breakfast cereal!

NUTRITION INFORMATION Large Batch, assumes 8 slices, per slice: 103 Calories; 7g Tot Fat; 2g Sat Fat; 28mg Cholesterol; 529mg Sodium; 7g Carb; 1g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 2g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 3 & PointsPlus 3 & SmartPoints 3 & Freestyle 3 & myWW green 3 & blue 3 & purple 3

NUTRITION INFORMATION Small Batch, assumes 8 mini slices, per slice: 61 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 27mg Cholesterol; 147mg Sodium; 7g Carb; 1g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 2g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 2 & SmartPoints 2 & Freestyle 2 & myWW green 2 & blue 2 & purple 2

Campfire Cornbread

Just mix and carry the dry ingredients in a ziplock bag. Heat the well-greased skillet in hot embers or atop a Dutch oven with coals. Just before cooking, use a fork to mix in the egg, oil and buttermilk right in the bag and squeeze the batter right into the hot skillet. Put the skillet back into the embers, let cook until the cornbread is golden.

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Seasonal Cooking: Very Early Spring Across the Years

Lavosh (Armenian Cracker Bread) Banana Floats Mexican Gas House Eggs Personal Pan Lasagna Crockpot Lasagna Spinach Dip Chicken or Turkey & Wild Rice Soup Refried Bean Sauce with Eggs on Top Greens & Grits Weight Watchers, Meet Michael Pollan: How May Friend Ann Lost Thirty Pounds in Three Months Southern Corn Bread My Most-Used Kitchen Tool, a Garbage Bowl or Compost Bowl Spiced Preserved Lemons Red Beans & Rice Freezer Surprises: Surprising Foods That Freeze Well

This Week, Elsewhere

~ Warm Gooey Butter Cake ~
from Gentelin’s on Broadway
~ more St. Louis Restaurant Recipes ~
My Weekly Column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Winter Tomato Salad (Quick Pickled Vegetables)
~ more Recent Recipes ~
A Veggie Venture

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Hello, Fellow Cornbread Lovers!

more
~ cornbread recipes ~

• THE RECIPE Skillet Cornbread My first and still-favorite cornbread, stays moist for days.
• Sweet Cornbread Sweet and tender, absolutely delicous!

• THE RECIPE Summer Corn Bread with Fresh Blueberries Warm corn bread studded with fresh blueberries.
• ANOTHER TAKE Lemon Pudding Cake with Blueberries

• THE RECIPE Sweet Potato Cornbread
• ANOTHER TAKE Pumpkin Corn Bread

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Still Not Enough?

~ Cornmeal Muffins with Apple ~
~ Cornmeal Muffins with Peaches ~
~ Savory Cornbread Muffins ~
~ Chillin': Favorite Chili, Chowder & Cornbread Recipes ~
~ more cornbread recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade

~ Sweet Cornbread ~
~ Pumpkin Cornbread ~
~ Sweet Potato Cornbread ~
~ Supper Casserole with Pumpkin & Green Chile Cornbread Topping ~
from A Veggie Venture

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ buttermilk recipes ~
~ cornmeal recipes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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