Bread Recipe: Cornbread

Cornbread is one of the bread varieties that is categorized under the quick breads or those that are leavened not by yeast but by chemical leavening agents. This is the staple bread in the United States but is more popular in the southern states.

There are varieties of regional names for this type of bread. This includes skillet bread, johnnycakes or johnny cakes, ashcake, corncake, battercake, journey cake, Shawnee cake, hoe cake, jonakin, mush bread and pone. The origin of the name however is indefinite. Possibly, journey cake pertains to how travelers can easily make cornbreads or from an Indian word of forgotten etymology.

Yankee cornbread, the more typical name known among contemporary bread recipes normally contains half wheat flour, milk, half cornmeal, eggs, leavening agent, salt, and sugar. This recipe produces a cornbread that is slightly lighter and sweeter than its traditional counterpart which is made primarily from cornmeal, salt, buttermilk, eggs, leavening agent and bacon or lard fat. The southerner versions of cornbreads are denser since they are meant to complement a main course rather than be eaten on their own.

In its hometown, cornbreads bread recipes are typically made from a mixture of white cornmeal and the ingredients as stated above. For variety and added taste, other ingredients used in making cornbread include shredded cheese, cracklins, fresh corn and hot peppers. In traditional cooking, a cast iron is used in making cornbreads.

While the basic ingredients in most cornbread recipes are similar, no one is still certain why cornbreads of the north and south differ largely in taste.

We have prepared an example cornbread recipe here from the south. It is good to note that southern cornbreads naturally contain minimal amount of sugar and sometimes have no sugar at all. However, some southerners would like to sweeten their breads a bit. Here are the ingredients:

2 cups of yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of salt

2 tablespoons of sugar (optional)

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (for skillet)

3 eggs, beaten

2 cups of milk

1/4 cup of melted butter

1 1/2 cups of flour

melted butter to brush the top of the bread with

Instructions:
You would have to preheat the oven first to 42 degrees F. In an iron skillet, brush shortening or vegetable oil. Place the skillet inside the oven while preparing the cornbread mixture.

In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients including sugar. On a separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients namely milk, eggs and butter. Combine all these ingredients in a single bowl and stir until the mixture is evenly moistened. The resulting batter will become like a pancake batter, only thicker.

Take out the iron skillet from the preheated oven and brush the inside with generous amount of oil. Pour the cornbread batter in and return the skillet into the oven. Bake the bread for 20 to 25 minutes or until the surface is brown. To check if the bread is already cooked, it would be best to use a toothpick, which must be inserted, into the center of the bread. This should come out clean once pulled.

The same ingredients and procedure is usually done in all other cornbread recipes. Only slightly different in some essential parts that are required to preserve or to cook certain ingredients such as corn in Buttermilk and Corn recipes or cheddar cheese and green chili peppers in Mexican cornbread varieties.

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