Stuff Called Cornbread

When my husband and I first married, we thought it would be adventurous to live in Colorado.  So we moved to Colorado Springs.  I was there about three seconds before I realized that we had immersed ourselves into a culture far different than the Southern one in which we had grown up.  This earthy, tree-huggin', dirt-lovin' culture was full of chewy-crunchy granola-type people.  It took some getting used to.

One day, a special coworker recommended a restaurant to me, and then excitedly exclaimed, "And they have this stuff called cornbread there!  It's really good." 

I'm pretty sure I just stared at her.  I felt nothing but pity for her poor soul, having apparently lived a life without that stuff called cornbread.

A life without cornbread I cannot imagine.  Life would be less sweet without cornbread.  On that note, cornbread must be sweet.  And this cornbread is sweet.

This cornbread is everything cornbread should be.  It is thick and sweet and perfect and a little bit crumbly, because all cornbread is at least a little bit crumbly.  It would be awesome with chili since the sweetness would offset the spiciness of chili.  It is simply perfect with Green Beans, Sausage, and Potatoes.  If you want to be completely ridiculous, whip up some honey butter to slater on the warm cornbread.

Start with the dry ingredients.  Cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. 

Here's the cornmeal I used.  It's from Weisenberger Mill, where I get my stone-ground grits.  The cornmeal is coarser and gives the cornbread great texture.

But this stuff is fine too.

By all means, use a pot to mix the ingredients together since your bowls are packed. 

Now add the wet ingredients, but don't stir until you've added all of the wet ingredients to the dry.

Oil, buttermilk, vanilla and eggs.

Now stir it up.  Don't over-stir though.  We only need to stir enough to combine everything.

Now that it's all combined, let it sit on the counter for a few minutes while you spray your baking dish.

When the batter starts to get little holes on the top, that means that the baking powder has been activiated.  Activated for what, I'm not sure.  But it doesn't really matter because it's ready to go into the dish.

Bake it on 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. 

It's missing something, don't you think?

Much better.
Cornbread

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 T baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (buttermilk gives it a tangy flavor; use whole milk if you prefer)
1 tsp vanilla

Stir together the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl.  Add all of the wet ingredients and combine everything until it is just moistened.  Do not overstir.  Let the batter sit on the counter while you prepare the baking pan.

Spray an 8x8 glass baking dish with cooking spray.  When bubbles begin to form on the top of the cornbread batter, it's ready to pour into the baking dish. 

Bake it on 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.