Better cornbread

[kbreit]

I've been making a corn bread recipe (Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread - All Recipes) which I enjoy, but it isn't perfect. My feeling is that it's slightly bland and needs more corn flavor. It's quite sweet but just lacking depth.

Can anyone make any suggestions about how I can make it a bit better? Thanks.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Looks like a Cake recipe to me... not cornbread ....Leave the sugar out...use Corn oil instead of butter....Try using 2 cups of corn meal...Omit the Wheat flour.

 

[Katie H]

Here's one of my cornbread recipes, kbreit. See if you might like it:

KATIE’S BACON-FLAVORED CORNBREAD

(Serves 8 to 10)​

¼ cup bacon drippings
2 cups self-rising corn meal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 to 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, optional
1¾ cup whole milk
1 egg, beaten

Put bacon drippings into a 9-inch cast-iron skillet and put the skillet into the oven as it preheats to 425º and you prepare the batter.

In a medium bowl, combine corn meal, flour and sugar, if desired. Whisk together milk and egg and add to dry ingredients and mix until combined. Set aside.

Remove skillet from oven and swirl the melted bacon drippings to coat the bottom and up the sides of the skillet. Once the skillet is coated, pour the drippings into the batter. Whisk until well combined and pour bacon-flavored batter into the hot skillet.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Variations: For buttermilk corn bread, substitute buttermilk for whole milk and add ½ teaspoon baking soda to dry ingredients.

If you want to give the corn bread a Mexican-style flavor, add 1 (8-oz.) can of whole kernel corn, drained, and 1 (4-oz.) can of chopped green chilies, drained to the batter. Bake 5 or 10 minutes longer than bacon-flavored corn bread. As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle with ½ cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese.

 

[jet]

That looks a lot like my cornbread recipe, although mine uses slightly less butter. Try either substituting cornmeal for some of the flour, or try a different type of cornmeal.

 

[Kathy W.]

I love jalapeno cheese corn bread. Just use your corn bread recipe and add chedder cheese and chopped jalapeno's to your batter. Bake as usual. Serve hot with butter. Yummy!

 

[Constance]

Katie E's got got the recipe for my kind of cornbread.

DH loves things sweet, and his fave is Jiffy Cornbread.

I like both kinds.

 

[Constance]

My #2 husband's Aunt Lily made cornbread that the whole family loved. Since her mother was allergic to eggs, she didn't use any. She had no recipe, but I watched her make it enough times to learn her method. The family said I "came close."
I thought it was hard, old scratchy stuff, but there may be some of you who prefer this kind. Many people do.

• 1 cup buttermilk +
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup of bacon grease

Preheat oven to 375. Start heating the bacon grease in a 9-10" skillet on medium heat while you mix the above ingredients. Add a little more buttermilk to batter if needed.
Pour a couple tablespoons of the melted grease in the batter and mix in. Then turn up the heat until the grease in the skillet is hot. Remove from stove, pour in batter, and bake on top rack of oven until sides stand away from the pan and the top is browned.

 

[msmofet]

Here's one of my cornbread recipes, kbreit. See if you might like it:

KATIE’S BACON-FLAVORED CORNBREAD​

(Serves 8 to 10)​

¼ cup bacon drippings
2 cups self-rising corn meal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 to 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, optional
1¾ cup whole milk
1 egg, beaten

Put bacon drippings into a 9-inch cast-iron skillet and put the skillet into the oven as it preheats to 425º and you prepare the batter.

In a medium bowl, combine corn meal, flour and sugar, if desired. Whisk together milk and egg and add to dry ingredients and mix until combined. Set aside.

Remove skillet from oven and swirl the melted bacon drippings to coat the bottom and up the sides of the skillet. Once the skillet is coated, pour the drippings into the batter. Whisk until well combined and pour bacon-flavored batter into the hot skillet.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Variations: For buttermilk corn bread, substitute buttermilk for whole milk and add ½ teaspoon baking soda to dry ingredients.

If you want to give the corn bread a Mexican-style flavor, add 1 (8-oz.) can of whole kernel corn, drained, and 1 (4-oz.) can of chopped green chilies, drained to the batter. Bake 5 or 10 minutes longer than bacon-flavored corn bread. As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle with ½ cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese.

i am leading a sheltered life. i have never heard of self rising corn meal. is it just used for corn bread and quick breads? i wouldn't want my polenta rising i think it would freak me out

i want to make this it sounds yummy!! can i use regular corn meal?

 

[Hoot]

I reckon I was 14 or 15 before I ever saw baked corn bread. There was always cornbread on the table but it was a large pone fried on top of the stove.
All it had in it was white corn meal, water and a little salt.
Even now when I hear about corn bread that is the corn bread I envision.
It is mighty good too!

 

[katybar22]

I LOVE cornbread!! But I grew up on the savory type. I remember the first time I ordered it when out to dinner. What a disappointment...it really was sad. But I guess a lot of people eat the sweet type as some sort of dessert bread (?). I just know that pinto beans would not be the same without that yummy savory cornbread underneath them.

 

[Scotch]

Looks like a Cake recipe to me... not cornbread ....Leave the sugar out...use Corn oil instead of butter....Try using 2 cups of corn meal...Omit the Wheat flour.

In some parts of the country, we labor under the misconception that that's how cornbread is supposed to taste, and we like it that way! When I recently made Southern-style cornbread, such as what you describe, my wife wouldn't eat it. I guess what you're used to is what you like best.

 

[Uncle Bob]

In some parts of the country, we labor under the misconception that that's how cornbread is supposed to taste, and we like it that way! When I recently made Southern-style cornbread, such as what you describe, my wife wouldn't eat it. I guess what you're used to is what you like best.

The Op said:

My feeling is that it's slightly bland and needs more corn flavor

To which I suggested:

.

Leave the sugar out...use Corn oil instead of butter....Try using 2 cups of corn meal...Omit the Wheat flour.

IMO the amount of sugar in the recipe would/was overwhelm(ing) the corn flavor...The use of Corn oil would add Corn flavor....The omission of the Wheat flour and the additional Corn meal would enhance the Corn flavor which is what the OP was wanting -- I did not perceive Regional differences in cornbread to be the issue........


Have Fun & Enjoy!

 

[katybar22]

FWIW, my comments weren't directed at any region. I live in Texas and you find both sweet and savory cornbread here. I was merely speaking of my likes and dislikes. Even though both types are found here in my area, my preference is the kind I was raised on. I don't think anyones preference is wrong. IMO.

 

[babetoo]

i grew up in the south and cornbread was done in heavy iron skillet, in the oven. sorta flat and crispy. mostly now i make a knock off of marie callenders corn bread, kinda light and flaky and sweet. like each for its own merits.

 

[Russellkhan]

Try using 2 cups of corn meal...Omit the Wheat flour.

Wow, Really? I've never tried a cornbread without any wheat flour. I would have thought that the flour was necessary to hold it together.

 

[Kathy W.]

Hello, I am going to try msmofet's cornbread recipe with some lima beans & ham. Of course I will add my jalapenos. Sounds wonderful. Thanks, Kathy W.

 

[lifesaver]

Sounds great Constance, Thanks for posting.

 

[msmofet]

Hello, I am going to try msmofet's cornbread recipe with some lima beans & ham. Of course I will add my jalapenos. Sounds wonderful. Thanks, Kathy W.

hi kathy!! thats katie's recipe sweetie. you should also try her Katie's Black Devil's Food Cake TNT !! it is yummy!! i made it and topped it with cherry pie filling yum yum yum i made it 3X already and it NEVER lasts more than a day!

 

[MexicoKaren]

Here's my favorite:

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f23/best-cornbread-i-ever-made-53645.html

 

[Uncle Bob]

Wow, Really? I've never tried a cornbread without any wheat flour. I would have thought that the flour was necessary to hold it together.

Really! My personal experience of growing, harvesting, and drying corn to be taken to a grist mill for grinding into meal has shown me that the addition of Wheat flour is not necessary for cornbread. The nature of the grinding process creates a certain level of Corn flour within the meal itself. With the addition of a fat (I like Corn Oil), baking powder/soda, salt, milk/buttermilk and eggs to the meal a delicious cornbread can be made. If I feel additional flour is needed in some applications, I prefer to use Corn flour (not to be confused with Corn starch) rather than Wheat flour.

Enjoy!