BAKE: Southern Cast-Iron Skillet Cornbread

• Authentic Southern Cornbread Ingredients
• Equipment & Method for Perfect Southern Skillet Cornbread
• Southern Skillet Cornbread Recipe Variations:
• Related Links:

While I’ve spent over half my life now in Chicago, I spent most of the first half of it on a farm in the Ozarks, so I know a thing or two about cornbread. First and foremost, that there are as many opinions about what makes “perfect” cornbread as there are cooks to ask about it, and that most of them will defend those opinions vehemently. This southern skillet cornbread is my penultimate ideal of cornbread though, with a soft toothsome crumb that contrasts with the crispy crackling crust.

It has just a hint of sweetness, mostly from the cornmeal, along with a scant amount of sugar (you can also use honey). It is equally at home crumbled into a spicy bowl of chili or savory soup beans, or served on the side, split and slathered with butter and honey (or for sopping up sorghum syrup on a plate, mixed with butter, or more likely, Country Crock, if you want to get really down home about it).

Southern Skillet, Cornbread Culture

Cornbread is a staple of southern life, from everyday to the holidays. A double batch of this crusty cast iron skillet cornbread is the main ingredient in my Granny’s cornbread dressing, a version of which is on my Thanksgiving and Christmas table almost every year, though it’s delicious any time you dare heat up your oven (so, maybe not August afternoons).

This was the side dish to many suppers growing up, and one of the dishes my dad was a master of (along with grilled teriyaki chicken, anything fried but especially okra, and hearty breakfasts of pancakes or french toast, sausage or bacon, and eggs, that he’d make for us most mornings before we piled into the school bus at dawn, when we’d usually sleep off the sugar coma before class). He’s certainly not the first person to preheat the cast iron pan with the fat before pouring in the cornbread batter, sizzling as it crisped up into a nice crunchy but light crust, but it’s from him that I learned the trick. I wouldn’t make it any other way.

My dad likes his cornbread with sorghum, but my Poppy (his dad) wouldn’t touch the stuff. It was all they had for sugar when he was a boy, so it tasted like dirt-poor poverty (and sharing a tiny shack with no indoor plumbing and a big family on the same farm where I grew up). That cabin burned down long before I was born, but a double row of daffodils marks the little foundation along the road, and a sunken spot off to the side where the hand-dug shallow spring-fed well was filled in with stones.

Since I had to endure neither privation (though I did have to share a single bathroom with as many as seven people when all my siblings were home, which is hardship enough for my liking), I love sorghum too, when I can get it. That usually means picking up a jar when I’m down south visiting relatives, which doesn’t happen much these days.

But I digress. Cornbread! Sorry, but there are few shorter shortcuts to inducing nostalgia in a Southern expat.

Authentic Southern Cornbread Ingredients

Cornmeal:

You can use yellow or white cornmeal in a southern cornbread, as is your preference. Standard cornmeal will give you cornbread with a soft, tender crumb. Coarser stone-ground cornmeal bakes up into a more toothsome, crunchy cornbread. I like a mix of both fine and coarser ground if I have them on-hand.

Flour:

All-purpose flour makes a lighter cornbread, although you can also use whole wheat flour or a blend of the two. I prefer unbleached flour, but use what you can get or have on-hand- this is thrifty food.

Buttermilk or Milk:

Full-fat buttermilk or sweet milk make the moistest cornbread. If you are using sweet (fresh) milk, add a teaspoon or two of lemon juice or distilled white or apple cider vinegar to the milk and stir it in just before making the cornbread. It will curdle a little, but that’s fine. You can use 2% or (shudder) skim if that’s all you have on hand, or even canned evaporated milk (though you may want to thin the canned milk slightly, and the flavor will be different).

Egg:

One fresh large egg adds richness, flavor, and helps support the structure of the crumb.

Fat:

Neutral vegetable oil, melted butter, lard, bacon fat, or drippings… the thrifty Southern cook uses what they have at hand. I usually use melted butter, though oil is fine. Butter tastes better, though using vegetable oil will make a moister leftover cornbread, and a bit of bacon fat added will give a smoky flavor.

The real secret in getting a beautiful crust and tender moist center is in the fat, and specifically, how you add it to the batter. Rather than mixing it into the rest of the ingredients, preheat your pan in the oven with the fat until it is hot, and if you’re using butter, it begins to brown lightly and foam. Then, pour your batter into your scorching hot pan, and lightly mix the butter in as you level out the batter. Don’t mix it fully- the butter or fat will melt into the cornbread as it bakes, giving you delicious crusty edges and a golden top while the inside stays moist.

Baking Powder:

Fresh aluminum-free double or triple acting baking powder bubbles when mixed with the liquid and with the acid in the buttermilk, creating air bubbles that make your cornbread light. Always sift your baking powder through a wire sieve or strainer to remove any lumps. Check the expiration date on the can, as baking powder loses it’s oomph once it’s opened. Try to use it within six months of opening. It will still work after that, but will be less effective… storing it in a well-sealed container to keep out moisture will help it last longer.

Sugar and Salt:

Some purists will say that sugar has no place in Southern cornbread. Others (Yanks, mostly, ahem) make their cornbread so sweet, it might as well be cake. I’m in the moderate camp. I add about a tablespoon of sugar to mine, both for flavor, and to help make the cornbread moist.

Save the rest of the sugar for your sweet tea (though that’s where my tastes diverge- we drank our sun tea by the gallon but just barely sweet, and the standard stuff tastes cloying. Not gonna fight about it though, more sickly sweet tea for the rest of y’all).

Sugar is hydrophilic, meaning it attracts and holds moisture, so it will help keep any leftover cornbread from being as stale the next day, although crusty skillet cornbread is best when you run it from the stove to the table. Salt, of course, adds flavor and depth to baked goods, which taste flat without it.

Equipment & Method for Perfect Southern Skillet Cornbread

Cast Iron Skillet or Dutch Oven:

I usually bake this skillet cornbread in a 10″ cast iron pan. If you are making dressing or croutons out of the cornbread instead of eating it hot, you can use a larger pan to get more surface area on the cornbread before you crumble it. This will help it dry out faster and keep its texture (instead of turning into mush in your dressing).

You can also bake this in muffin tins (the heavier the better, and cast iron if you can get them), two corn stick pans, or one corn stick pan and one 6″ skillet.

If you’re using muffin tins or the corn stick pans, preheat the pans and melt your butter or fat separately. Brush the pans well with the melted butter or oil, then pour the sizzling fat into the batter and quickly mix it in before dividing it into the pans.

Mixing Bowl:

A medium sized mixing bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients. If you’re using corn-stick or muffin pans, make sure the bowl is heat-proof since you’ll be adding hot fat to the batter (carefully!).

Whisk:

A sturdy wire whisk is ideal for mixing the dry ingredients. You can use the whisk, a wooden spoon, or sturdy spatula to combine the milk and eggs with the dry ingredients and remove most of the lumps.

Small Wire Strainer, Sifter, or Sieve:

I always sift my baking powder into the dry ingredients to make sure there are no lumps! No need to sift the rest of the batter, just the leavening.

Spatula or Bowl Scraper:

To get all the batter out of the bowl and into your pan, a silicone or rubber spatula is handy, or a curved bowl scraper.

Southern Skillet Cornbread Recipe Variations:

Tex-Mex:

Add a can of corn (drained) and a small can of roasted diced green chilis (or a quarter to a half cup of seeded, peeled, and chopped fire-roasted or broiled anaheim or hatch chilis), and one to three teaspoons of chili powder. Mix into the batter with the milk and egg. You will need to increase the baking time slightly.

Jalapeno-Cheddar:

Add 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin to the dry ingredients. Then mix in 1/3 – 1/2 cup of seeded and diced fresh jalapenos to the dry ingredients after they’re combined, along with 2/3rds cup grated cheddar cheese. Use more for a spicier cornbread or for milder chilis, and less if the jalapenos are very hot.

This variation makes delicious hush puppies if you drop spoonfuls of the batter carefully into hot oil and fry until they are golden brown and float. Test one first, you may need to add a few tablespoons more flour or cornmeal to make the batter thick enough to stay together.

Related Links:

How to Make Butter-Swim Biscuit Mix for Fresh Biscuits in a Flash!

Cheese Grits with Chocolate Red-Eye Gravy and Cheddar Jalapeno Venison Summer Sausage

Southern Fried Cornmeal-Crusted Catfish Salad with Peaches & Pecans