I am a bit of a cornbread freak. Not that Mom was exactly known for cornbread — she used a mix and no one thought twice about it — but when she made chili, she made cornbread, and I ate both in spades.
Later in life, I found Crescent Dragonwagon’s recipe and my cornbread love reached new, cornier heights. More importantly, I came to appreciate cornbread that isn’t corncake. Which is, sadly, what you all too often get when you order cornbread: cloying, unnecessarily moist, and more like dessert.
When I gave up wheat, I despaired a little because while all-cornmeal cornbread is good, it wasn’t great. Then I discovered corn flour — a lighter, finer grind of cornmeal — and suddenly everything got better.
Why does it work? Well, cornbread is a quick bread, and gluten’s allure — creating that nice protein structure that gives sourdough its holes — isn’t really needed. Baking soda/powder will raise the quickbread just fine, with or without gluten along for the ride, so long as the batter isn’t too heavy. Which it isn’t, thanks to the corn flour! Bonus: your cornbread will taste even “cornier”. Whoo hoo!
So this is my cornbread now. It’s not too sweet, it uses blue cornmeal for extra protein, and whenever possible I bake it in a cast iron skillet (Crescent would be proud). I also use bacon drippings because I almost always have them on hand and butter, well, burns. This mix also works for muffins, just omit the drippings/butter and be sure to use muffin cups to prevent the batter from sticking.
If you don’t have a skillet, don’t despair — any 9×9″ pan will do, and I’ve even used cake pans in a pinch. I think the iron skillet makes a superior crust — and a gorgeous presentation — but you can still make a good cornbread without it.
This is great stuff, and worthy of sitting next to your favorite chili recipe…or all on its own, with a drizzle of honey.
[gmc_recipe 85]