is cornbread a dough or batter

Our favorite cornbread recipe! This easy homemade cornbread has golden-brown edges and a moist and buttery center. It bakes perfectly in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or an 8-inch or 9-inch baking pan (square or round).

Cornbread varies depending on where you are. This easy recipe falls right in the middle. Some people love sweet cornbread, while others wouldn’t even think of adding sugar to their batch. Our cornbread has some sugar, but it isn’t overly sweet. Instead, we add just enough for a tender, moist crumb. I love this cornbread so much that I have a hard time stopping myself from going back for a second slice.

It’s incredibly flavorful thanks to the cornmeal and tastes buttery thanks to some melted butter swirled into the batter. I love it, especially served next to a bowl of homemade chili.

Cornmeal is the main ingredient in cornbread. It adds a lovely corn flavor, texture, and when you use yellow cornmeal, that beautiful yellow color. Cornmeal is dried and ground corn — most likely dent corn.

You can buy cornmeal in various grinds such as fine, medium, and coarse. For this cornbread recipe, we prefer the results when we use fine or medium cornmeal.

When I set out to make Cornbread, since Im Canadian with no predetermined ideas of what it should taste like, I just experimented with different ingredients and amounts until I came up with a Cornbread with a taste and texture I enjoyed. First, I like to bake the cornbread in a fairly hot oven and while a baking pan does produce a nice cornbread, I prefer to use a cast iron skillet (called Skillet Cornbread) as it gives the cornbread a nice crisp and crunchy outer crust. Then, for the batter, I like to use 1 cup (120 grams) white cornmeal (can use yellow cornmeal) and 1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour. (You can change the ratios of cornmeal to flour. More cornmeal will give you a denser, more gritty and crumbly bread. More flour will give you a more cake-like bread.) Then, I have to admit, I like to add a little sugar, so feel free to leave it out. For the liquid I used equal amounts of buttermilk and milk. (You can change the ratios of these two liquids. Buttermilk gives a more bread-like texture to the cornbread, milk makes it more cake-like.) Then an egg and some melted butter (can use bacon fat or vegetable oil) are added for texture, flavor, and coloring. If you like you can add some fresh rosemary, ground cumin, chopped chilies or jalapeno peppers to the batter, or some grated cheese or fresh corn kernels. Before the batter is poured into the cast iron skillet, some butter (or bacon fat, shortening, lard, for oil) is put in the skillet and the pan is placed in the oven for about five minutes. This allows the butter to melt and heats the pan so it nice and hot. Then, when you pour in the batter, the extra butter is pushed up the sides of the pan which makes the outside crust of the cornbread so wonderfully crisp and crunchy.

In America, how you like your Cornbread can depend on whether you live in the Northern or Southern States. For example, Northerners normally prefer to use yellow cornmeal and also like to add a little sugar to the batter. Southerners, on the other hand, like white cornmeal, and no sugar is allowed.

Note: Cornmeal is made from white or yellow corn kernels that have been ground and dried. If some of the germ and hull are included in the cornmeal, it is called stone ground cornmeal. Stone Ground Cornmeal tends to have more corn flavor and a more gritty texture. Cornmeal, when used in baked goods, adds a slight crunch and gives it a coarser texture. You can use polenta or maize meal instead of the cornmeal.

Cornbread Recipe: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Then put 2 tablespoons (28 grams) of the butter in an 8-9 inch (20-23 cm) cast iron skillet (or baking pan) and place in the oven for 5 minutes (to heat the pan and melt the butter) while you make the batter.

Remove the skillet from the oven and tilt the pan so the butter coats the bottom and sides of pan. Pour the batter into the skillet and bake in the oven for about 20 – 25 minutes, or until the top is golden and cracked, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, place on a wire rack, and let cool for about 10 minutes before serving. This bread is wonderful served warm, whether with your meal, as a snack, or with butter and jam.

Our Tips for the Best Cornbread

Use flavorful cornmeal. We love stone-ground cornmeal for its texture and flavor. That’s because stone-ground cornmeal still has the germ and bran left. We use Bob’s Red Mill cornmeal, but when shopping for stone-ground, look for “stone-ground” or “whole grain” on the package.

Use butter in the batter. Our recipe below calls for 1/4-cup of butter, which adds flavor and color that you don’t achieve with oil alone.

Use oil in the batter. I know I just said use butter, but we also recommend using oil. The combination of oil and melted butter in cornbread batter guarantees the best flavor and a moist and tender crumb.

Let the batter sit before baking. I stumbled on to this trick after a few tests. We found that if you leave the batter to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before baking it, the cornmeal has some extra time to absorb flavor from the other ingredients and the leaveners (baking powder and baking soda) get a head start.

Now, we have not tested how long you can leave the batter past 15 minutes, but I’d imagine that as long as you bake the cornbread that day, you will still have good results. (I don’t think that letting it sit any longer than 15 minutes will improve the baked cornbread anymore, but as I said, we did not test this.)

Preheat the skillet or baking pan: Before adding the cornbread batter, we preheat the pan for about 5 minutes. This trick works best when making skillet cornbread, but you can use the same method when baking the batter in a pan. Using a preheated skillet or pan helps with that crispy, golden brown crust.

Amazing Cornbread Recipe

FAQ

What is cornbread considered?

What is cornbread batter made of?

Is cornbread a pastry?

Is cornmeal considered breading?

What does cornbread taste like?

Sweet and cakey Northern-style cornbread with a crisp, Southern-influenced crust. . Joshua Bousel Preheating the pan and coating it with butter creates a dark crust with a light, nutty flavor. Using sour cream along with buttermilk increases the mild tanginess and overall flavor of the bread.

Is corn bread gluten free?

Corn as a cereal comes under the category of gluten free foods. Gluten is a protein which is mainly present in cereals like wheat, rye, barley. Corn bread can be gluten free but checking for the ingredient list is important as other things added into it may contain gluten. So whenever ready to eat corn bread is available check the food label to understand whether it is 100 percent gluten free.

Is cornbread a good food?

Let’s talk about cornbread. It’s a marvelously American food—bread made of maize—that compliments other great foods of our cuisine. What is a bowl of chili without a slice of cornbread? What plate of ribs is not made better with a hunk of crisp-bottomed homemade cornbread? While box-mix cornbread is tasty, it has nothing on the homemade version.

Does cornmeal make a good cornbread?

The drying method changed from field drying to forced air drying. These new practices changed the texture and sugar content of the cornmeal, which affects baking. So, to truly replicate old style Southern cornbread, use a good quality stone ground cornmeal. If not, go ahead and add that sugar and flour!