Southern Cornbread Recipe

"Southern cornbread recipe to make a Southern-style savory cornbread, baked in a hot iron skillet. This Southern cornbread recipe has cornmeal, flour, and milk."

The thing that distinguishes Southern cornbread from, say Yankee cornbread, or any other cornbread one is likely to eat outside of the southern states, is that it is savory, not sweet, and it is made mostly with cornmeal. Northern cornbreads tend to be more cake-like, on the sweet side, with a finer crumb due to more flour in the mixture. Southern cornbread is flavored with bacon grease, and cooked in a cast iron skillet, a perfect side for barbecues, or chili.

Southern Cornbread Recipe

Yield : Serves 8
Prep : 15 minutes
Cook : 20 minutes

Southern Cornbread Ingredients :

• 1 egg (optional)
• 2 cups cornmeal OR 1 1/2 cups cornmeal and 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon bacon drippings
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions :

1. Put the bacon fat in a 9 OR 10 inch cast iron skillet and put the skillet into the oven. Then preheat the oven to 400° with the skillet inside. (If you don't have an iron skillet, you can use an uncovered Dutch oven or a metal cake pan.)

2. Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat the egg and buttermilk until combined, then mix that into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir in the melted butter.

3. When the oven is hot, take out the skillet (carefully, as the handle will be hot!). Add the cornbread batter and make sure it is evenly distributed in the skillet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the edges are beginning to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

4. Let the bread rest for 10-30 minutes in the skillet before cutting it into wedges and serving.

Thanks to www.simplyrecipes.com for Southern Cornbread Recipe !!