Sweet Cornbread

When I finally got around to seasoning the cast iron skillet that we bought years ago, I started looking for opportunities to use it. My first experiment was this sweet cornbread recipe from allrecipies.com. I have since cooked several batches and have tweaked the original just a little.



Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. As indicated above, I used a cast iron skillet. Freshly seasoned, there was no need for greasing it, but after a few uses, a thin coat of shortening on the pan helped avoid sticking.

Put all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and then mix them together fully. I like to leave a little volcano crater in the middle as a place to pour the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and beat until smooth ( I used an electric mixer). Pour the batter into the skillet and then bake for 15-18 minutes. Take it out of the oven once the edges start to brown and pull away from the side of the skillet. Check with a knife or toothpick to make sure that it is fully cooked in the center. Let cool, then cut.

I tried this recipe with regular milk, with a couple of tablespoons of butter, and with buttermilk. The buttermilk version was definitely the most moist, and I think the best. If you like your cornbread crumbly, stick with regular milk.

I'm thinking of adding some jalapeño next time for a sweet and spicy batch.