Corn flour is corn starch.

Baking flour must be baking powder.

Sounds interesting, let us know how it is. Cake-like maybe? I have a cornbread recipe that uses yogurt and is always very moist.

Here's the Joy of Cooking Cornbread recipe:

Preheat your oven, with your cast iron pan in it, to 425F

Sift together

3/4c All purpose flour
1 and 1/2c Yellow Corn Meal, the good stuff
4t Double Acting Baking Powder
2t Salt
3T Cane Sugar
1/4t Cayenne Pepper

Whisk together
1c Milk
2 Eggs

Melt or Soften in the now hot Skillet
1/4c Butter, but Bacon Drippings would be better

Combine all of the above and mix together

pour into the skillet and bake for 25 minutes

This option was posted by mcgillicuddy and it is very good:

"The recipe was a standard one from Joy of Cooking, but I subbed olive oil for the melted butter, added 1/2 cup of the ricotta, and some crumbled dried sage."

Here's a recipe from Tyler Florence:

Cornbread (Tyler Florence)

4 strips thick-cut bacon, chopped
2 cups stone-ground cornmeal, white or yellow
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 large eggs
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Put the bacon into a cold 10-inch cast iron pan and cook over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon bits are crisp. Do not let it burn. Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Keep the bacon fat in the pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl beat the eggs with a whisk until foamy; whisk in the milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Fold in the bacon bits, and chives. Pour the batter into the cast iron pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Here'a another version from Arabella:

Caribbean Corn Bread (arabella)

1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 lb butter, room temp
3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups canned creamed corn
1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or mild white cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 325

Butter and flour a 9 in. square glass cake pan.

WHisk together the flour, corn meal, baking power and salt and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and beat well. Add corn, pineapple, and cheese and mix to blend. On low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just blended.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour - should be golden brown and a tester should come out clean from the center.

Michelle

My daughter really likes the cornbread served at Montana's. It has a lemony flavour. No corn niblets in it either.

One persons perfect isn't the same as another persons perfect. Especially when it comes to cornbread. LOL!

Here are a few of my favourite cornbread recipes.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Cornbread Loaf
==============
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
6 tablespoons melted and cooled butter
8 tabelespoons melted and cooled vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups milk
.

preheat the oven to 400. sift into a mixing bowl the cornmeal, flour,
sugar, salt and baking powder. Beat the eggs lightly, add the melted
butter and shortening, and stir in the 1 1/2 cups of milk. Pour into
the bowl of dry ingredients and beat together for about a minute, or
until smooth. Do not overbeat. Lightly butter an 8 x 12 inch shallow
baking pan and pour in the batter. Bake in the center of the oven for
about 30 minutes, or until the bread comes slightly away from the edge
of the pan and is golden brown. If you wish you make bake the
cornbread in a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. increase the baking time to 45
minutes.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Cheddar Cornbread with kernels and Chives

=========================================
Source: Newspaper recipe

1 ear of corn, roasted (I used canned corn)
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs separated
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup snipped chives
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425°F

If using fresh corn, but the kernels off the cob.

Grease a 9 inch square pan.

Mix the cornmeal and milk together. Stir in egg yolks.

Beat Egg whites to soft peak stag.

Mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together.

Add flour mixture to the cornmeal mixture and stir in the butter. Add the chives and the corn. Fold the egg whites into the batter. Pour mixture into prepared pan and top with cheddar cheese. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes until golden and cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Serve warm.

I made corn bread a few months ago using sour cream....don't know if it was someone's recipe, or if I invented it...it was very very good!
Linda C

The recipe I use for cornbread:

Sundowner Cornbread

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup unsifted flour
1/2 cup sugar (I use 1/4 cup sugar)
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoon butter

Mix all together just enough to blend. Pour into greased 8" x 8" pan and bake at 425 degree oven about 20 min. Cut into squares. Serve hot with butter. I often use a round 9" x 9" pan.

From: The Complete Yogurt Cookbook by Karen Cross Whyte

Sour cream or buttermilk in place of the yogurt would probably yield similar results.

Ann T, you're right. One person's "perfect" isn't the same as another person's "perfect".

I grew up on sweet cornbread, Grandma called it Johnny Cake, and I love it that way. I like cornbread with no sugar too, depending on what I want at the moment, if it isn't sweet I'll add crumbled bacon and some jalapenos.

My favorite though? Jiffy Mix Corn Muffins. LOLOLOL Yup, it's what I grew up on and I still love 'em, hot from the oven with butter and jam.

Here, though, just for comparison is my cornbread recipe without sugar, compliments of Elery's sister Susan, who lives in Tennessee and tells me that cornbread shouldn't' have sugar, LOL. It also has no flour, because of a family member who is gluten intolerant.

Southern Style Cornbread

12 Servings

2 cups cornmeal
2 large eggs beaten
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups buttermilk (no substitutions)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons bacon drippings, oil or melted butter

Heat oven to 450. Grease a well-seasoned 9 inch cast iron skillet with 2 tablespoons oil or bacon drippings. Leave oil in bottom of pan. Place pan in oven to heat. Combine dry ingredients, mix. Combine wet ingredients, mix. Add wet to dry and mix. Pour into hot skillet.

Bake at 450 for 35 minutes or until golden brown. For a crispier bottom crust, sprinkle a little cornmeal into pan before adding batter.

This is what I use for cornbread salad, but for breakfast or just eating, I want the stuff with sugar in it.

Annie

Thanks so much

I'm so glad I got a new cast iron pan to try ALL these recipes in.

...just call me Porker!

This morning Giada, Foodnetwork, made an Italian Cornbread and she used the Jiffy Cornbread Mix...gosh it looked good!

Spicy Italian Corn Bread

1/2 tablespoon butter
2 (8 1/2-ounce) packages corn muffin mix (recommended: Jiffy)
1 tablespoon chili powder**
2/3 cup whole milk
2 large eggs, stirred to blend
1/2 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Whisk the muffin mix and chili powder in a large bowl to blend. Mix in the milk and eggs. Stir in the tomatoes. Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake until the corn bread is firm to the touch and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly. Cut into squares and serve hot.

**I would cut down on the chili powder to just 1/4 tsp for a first time and then increase if I think it is needed.

One of my all time favorites is to cut a piece of cornbread in 2 and toast it. Then spread with tons of butter and homemade apple butter....yummy!

Michelle

You're inviting a holy war here. The definition of 'cornbread' varies greatly depending on your location.

If there is flour or sugar in it, there are a lot of people (myself included) who would say it ain't cornbread. Corn cake, corn pudding, corn confection, but it ain't cornbread. I grew up in the deep south and my dear wife grew up in Illinois. After 17 otherwise blissful years of marriage we still agree to disagree.

I'm like Annie, open a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix... But I add a little more milk, some sugar and put a lot more butter in the pan... lol

Rita

Arley, If there is sugar in the mix we always called it Johnny Cake. Is that what you mean by not being cornbread?

Michelle

I am in the no sugar camp! If I want sweet, I'll make poundcake. : p

Michelle: I agree. I briefly lived in Rhode Island and those slightly sweetened corn thingies were johnnycakes--although they were like little pancakes.

I think a lot of southern cooks look at cornbread as a savory item to be used to sop up juices of meats and beans and greens; a sweet cornbread would be icky for that application.

And if you use fresh cornmeal, the cornbread is a little sweet anyway.

we like the Fannie Farmer recipe for cornbread.

My MIL's Johnny Cake was completely different from anyone elses. She was from western Mass, with family roots in southern VT. Her Johnny Cake has very little corn meal (1/2c) to 2 c flour and contains molasses-so it is moist and dark. they always ate it crumbled in a bowl with fresh blueberries, saltine crackers and poured milk over all! It sounds weird, but it is quite the comfort food to dh and his sibs!

Corn Bread
Fannie Farmer Cook Book (1951)

3/4 c corn meal
1 c. flour
1/3 c sugar
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 c. milk (I generally use skim as it's what we have)
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp shortening, melted (I use butter)

Sift dry ingrednients. Add milk, egg and shortening.
bake in shallow buttered pan (8 x 8) for 20 min at 425*.

this comes out moist and little bit sweet (I don't like dry crumbly corn breads)

My standard is also the 1951 Fanny Farmer recipe...but I have discovered that how it comes out largely depends on what kind of corn meal you are using. One brand I sometimes can get its tone ground and has some fairly big bits and lors of flourey parts...and a good corn taste!

Also, my grandmother with the Massachusettes roots said that Johnny cake was a corruption fo "journey cake" and it was made with no flour at all and no milk...it was pretty much just corn meal mush baked in a frying pan and would keep a while....good for teking on a journey.
And then there's Annadama bread....
Linda C

My grandmother called her cornbread Johnny Cake too. But it was more like what Annie's grandmother made. As far as I'm concerned, all of the above recipes are "cornbread" and there is no right or wrong. Just personal preference.

Linda, I often substitute sour cream or even yogurt for some of the milk in corn bread. Makes it very moist.

Ann

Ann
Can you make your cornbread muffins in a cast iron skillet?
I'd love to try them; they look and sound as wonderful as everything you make.

Thanks so much.

Yes, there are regional differences. Vive la difference! Otherwise we'd be eating a diet as predictable as McDonald's.

If anyone would like to try an authentic Southern (i.e., non-sweet) version of cornbread, this recipe I posted a while back is my favorite version.

I will grant a point to those who use 'adulterants' (grin) like sugar and flour: unless the quality of the corn meal is very good, cornbread made with just corn meal can be bitter. Meal can go rancid and stale pretty quickly. But cornbread made with fresh cornmeal, preferably stone-ground locally, is plenty sweet on its own.

I generally only buy small quantities of cornmeal--just enough to make whatever recipe I'm making, and I buy it at a store that seems to have a good turnover of product. (That means not buying it at a gourmet store. No telling how long that stuff has been on the shelf.)

Fortunately in my area of South Carolina there are a few grist mills not too far away that supply the local stores.

Bernard Clayton's 'New Complete Book of Breads' actually has a listing for 2 different breads. One he calls "Yankee Corn Bread" (sugar, flour, yellow corn meal) and the other is Southern Corn Bread (white corn meal, no sugar or flour.)

I find, though, that the freshness of the meal is more important than whether it's white or yellow.

For those with access to good fresh meal I recommend this recipe from Clayton:

Southern Corn Bread

2 eggs, room temp
2 cups buttermilk, room temp
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups white cornmeal (but yellow is okay, too)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven and baking utensil (skillet or 9 x 9 pan) to 450 while mixing batter.

In a small bowl beat the eggs and mix in the buttermilk. In a mixer bowl, mix the baking soda, cornmeal and salt. Pour in the egg-buttermilk mixture and mix well until smooth.

Pour batter into the preheated pan, return to oven for 20 to 25 minutes. It's done when a knife inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean & dry.

I use this recipe when I make cornbread dressing for Thanksgiving; a quadruple recipe just barely fits into a 5 quart KitchenAid mixer bowl, and into an 11 x 14 pan. Absolutely delicious.

This is what you use to soak up the pot juices from cooking black-eyed peas or greens. I always called those juices 'pot liquor' but my wife wondered what the heck I was talking about when I used that term. I guess that's southern as well.

Corn flour is also called Masa Harina down here in Houston where it is used for making tamales also and there is a very large Hispanic population.

And LindaC, I love the idea of substituting sour cream. I plan to definitely give that a try. Thanks.

Happygram, yes, you make the muffin or the loaf recipe in a cast iron pan. I've done it.

Ann

I mad a corn casserole yesterday for dinner, it used creamed corn and was a lot like a dense souffle or pudding. Kind of looked like Ann T's cheddar cornbread. I had forgotten how much I love cornbread (any kind, except if I eat the no sugar kind I like lots of butter and honey, or savory add-ins.)

I think I'll just have to save this thread and try them all, lol! What, besides chili, goes well with cornbread? Baked beans maybe? I suppose some kinds of meat things, but that's not me.

Masa harina is an entirely different corn product. The Spanish word for "dough," masa is the traditional dough used to make corn tortillas. It's made with sun- or fire-dried corn kernels that have been cooked in limewater (water mixed with calcium oxide). After having been cooked, then soaked in the limewater overnight, the wet corn is ground into masa. To use masa harina, just add water and salt (optional).

The soak in limewater is what gives it the distinctive taste. I also use masa harina for making tamales.

/tricia

Great thread and the timing is wonderful. I'm from the north, with European immigrant parents and know zip about cornbread LOL!
Since its cold chili weather I have been thinking about trying to make some for the first time. I was wanting to heat it up a bit with some jalepeno's. Does any extra liquid ruin the recipe's? I am also trying to cut down on sugar, prefer not too course a texture and easy! I like easy. Out of the above recipe's, which is best to add the peppers to? Should I just start with Jiffy's?

Re the message "Posted by msafirstein (My Page) on
Fri, Jan 18, 08 at 22:55"

Michelle,

Is there perhaps some error in this recipe? Or am I misreading it?

I followed it, and it was inedible due to the high salt content.

Am I correct in reading "t" as teaspoon?

Anyway, I used 1/2t salt and 3t baking powder the next time I made it, and it was beautiful!

Cheers,

William A. T. from Australie.