I doubt I will ever post another chocolate chip recipe, but there are some things that require continued tweaking, revising and innovation.  Cornbread is obviously one of those.  Its very simplicity begs for some kind of added complexity in the form of bacon, jalapenos, or anything that might give it a personality that separates it from being just ‘corn cake.’   For me, it’s about being moist and sweet.  I know there are people who don’t like sweet cornbread (or corn muffins) and they are entitled to their opinons but not welcome to bring such cornbread to my barbecues.   In any case, I found a recipe on a terrifc site called “Baking a Moment” and I naturally found it needed a few tweaks, including more sweetness in the form of both sugar and molasses, added real corn, the use of buttermilk and of course, a final butter melt for the last two minutes of its cooking.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, sifted
  • 2/3 cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup sugar (2/3 cup in the dry ingredients and 1/3 in the wet ingredients)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ~1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (plus extra to melt on top)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup canola oil 
  • 1 cup of supersweet corn (I used canned, drained)
  • EGG REPLACER
    • 2 tablespoons of Egg replacer
    • 6 tablespoons of room-temperature water
    • 1 tsp of blackstrap molasses
    • mixed well and left for about 5 minutes
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, spray a 9×13-inch pan (I prefer metal over glass here).
  2. Make the egg replacer, set aside for about five minutes, until it is a cohesive glop.
  3. In one large bowl, sift and combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt together.
  4. In another bowl, combine your melted butter, milks, oil, and egg replacer mixture together.
  5. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and stir together until combined: DON’T OVERMIX.
  6. Transfer to your sprayed pan, knock on the counter a few times to take out air bubbles, and bake for 35 minutes.
  7. Open the oven at 35 minutes (!) – Cake should spring back to your touch and be browned around the corners. Cover with about two tablespoons until melted, and bake for another five minutes.
  8. Take out, cool and cut.
  9. For maximum effect, toast before serving (gives it a slightly crispier crust).
Advertisement

Published by Robert Deutsch

Digital Impresario, content strategist, mobile developer, marketing wunderkind, team leader, SEO adherent, baker, PTA president.