Southern Cornbread

My granddad makes the best corn bread on the planet. Period. End of story. Growing up, there really was not much better than a bowl of chili and some homemade cornbread. I waited a while to make it for Parker because he grew up eating sweet cornbread. This is southern cornbread, so I knew it was going to be different from what he was used to. If you are a fan of sweet cornbread, head on over to my Kentucky Spoonbread recipe right this minute. If you're a fan of the good old country southern stuff, this recipe is for you. Parker really liked this recipe, and I felt 10 different kinds of nostalgic eating it. 

 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup yellow corn meal

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup Crisco

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

2. Grease a cast iron skillet well.

3. In a large mixing bowl, mix thoroughly yellow corn meal, flour, and salt.

4. Add baking powder and baking soda to your corn meal mixture and stir. 

5. Add egg, buttermilk, milk, and oil and stir until well combined.

6. Drop your blob of Crisco into the middle of a cast iron skillet and place in the oven for about 10 minutes. You want it to get good and hot. Once the crisco is translucent and completely melted, remove the skillet from the oven.

7. Drop a spoonful of cornmeal batter into the skillet. If it sizzles, add the remaining batter and place in the oven. If it doesn't sizzle, place the skillet back into the oven and heat 1-2 minutes more before adding the remaining batter.

8. Check your cornbread after 10 minutes. If it looks like it's browning too quickly, drop the temperature down to 425 degrees and continue baking another 10 minutes. 

9. Remove your skillet from the oven, invert, and let cornbread cool on a plate. Serve with butter and enjoy!