cornbread

Honey Butter Cornbread

May 16, 2018

I don’t know about you, but as a kid I loved cornbread! My mom and I would make cornbread maybe once a week (okay, maybe not that often) from the Marie Calendar cornbread mix. It was our go-to!

Lately, I haven’t been eating as much cornbread, but sometimes the meal (and mood) just calls for it! Particularly when I make our favorite turkey chili. How can you have chili without cornbread!? You really can’t.

So I went about trying to replicate my old favorite, with a few tweaks. For instance, I swapped the sugar for honey because honey and cornbread are a match made in heaven. The honey gives the cornbread so much more flavor and depth. Not to mention, it cuts out the processed sugar. Win-win.

I also added in some frozen corn kernels (specifically, roasted corn kernels from Trader Joes, just because that’s what I had on hand). This ingredient is totally optional, but I love the little bits of corn in the cornbread which add a little bit of extra moisture to an otherwise dry bread.

The coup de gras is the little bits of butter that baked right on top of the cornbread to give it this extra crunchy and delicious crust on top. Hense why I call this honey butter cornbread.

This honey butter cornbread was so good I was eating leftovers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Top it with a little more butter (or better yet, honey butter), and you won’t even need the chili!

How to Make It

Cornbread is actually a pretty simple recipe and easy to make from scratch, provided you have everything on hand. Like other quick breads, it’s as simple as mixing together the dry ingredients, then pouring in the wet ingredients.

In this case, first mix together the cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder.

In a separate bowl or cup, mix together the wet ingredients: milk, honey, melted butter, and egg.

Then mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Mix until all the ingredients are just combined.

Then, if you so choose, mix in the frozen corn kernels. I used roasted corn kernels because that’s what I had available, but roasted corn is not necessary.

Finally, pour the batter into an 8″-9″ square or round pan, pressing the thick batter all the way to the edges to ensure an even bake.

And for the butter piece of the honey butter cornbread, top the entire pan with little pieces of butter. As the bread bakes, the butter melts right into the top forming a crunchy, buttery top which is oh so good!

Once out of the oven, you will have to restrain yourself from digging right in! But I insist on letting it cool down a little otherwise the bread will just crumble to pieces.

Like this. Because I couldn’t help myself and just cut right into a slice.

It was still delicious though!

Supplies and Recipe

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Cornbread Stuffing and Turkey Bake

November 21, 2016

Ok, let’s clear something up. I realize I have titled this post “Cornbread Stuffing and Turkey Bake”, when most people would not consider this stuffing. It has not been stuffed anywhere. The cornbread and sausage mixture was baked in a baking dish, which most people would consider “dressing”. Who the heck came up with those rules, anyways? Why can’t we all just come together and decide to call it one or the other. And if I have a vote in this proceeding, my vote is for “stuffing”. Dressing sounds like something we should be putting on a salad.

Whatever you call it (I am going to call it stuffing from here on out), I’ll venture to guess that it is one of your favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. It is certainly mine! Which is why I decided to make my husband and I a little pre-Thanksgiving feast that is basically 75% stuffing, and 25% turkey.

My favorite kind of stuffing is cornbread stuffing. One that is slightly soggy, but still has some drier chunks, and loaded with lots of savory vegetables, some sausage, and some slightly sweet fruit, like apples or (in this case) cranberries.

I could literally forgo all other Thanksgiving foods and just eat a plate of stuffing. Okay, maybe I will save some room for green bean casserole. Those little crispy fried onions are delicious!

But I digress…

As for the “turkey” and the “bake” of this cornbread stuffing and turkey bake, I first seared off some large turkey breasts that had been marinating in the same herb mixture I used for the stuffing. Then I just stuffed the turkey right into the stuffing (see what I did there?), so they were almost completely covered.

I find that cooking the stuffing/dressing this way gives you the best of both worlds. You have the stuffing that is directly around the turkey that soaks up all the turkey flavor and stays nice and moist. Then you have then stuffing around the edges of the pan that is drier, and a little bit crispy.

When it comes out of the oven, you basically have your entire Thanksgiving meal in one pan. I should have called this “One Pan Thanksgiving”. Oh well, I’ve already come this far….

This would not only make a delicious Thanksgiving meal for just a small group, but it would also make a great diner for those days when you are just craving some comforting turkey and stuffing. Which for me, is about once a month.

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Cheddar Bacon Cornbread Muffins

November 4, 2016

Did anyone notice anything different about the cornbread in Wednesday’s Turkey Chili post? If you looked closely, you might have been able to see that they were actually studded with bacon! And not just bacon, but bacon and cheddar cheese! Don’t you like how I make my chili healthier by swapping in turkey, then make my cornbread more unhealthy by adding bacon! Oh well!

Sometimes it’s truly about balance. You have to give up some fat in the chili to add some fat to the cornbread. And let me tell you, it was worth it. I couldn’t stop at just one cornbread muffin, they were so addicting!

I followed a basic cornbread muffin batter recipe for the base, but added in a little bit more sugar to balance out the saltiness from the bacon and cheese. Once the batter was whipped up, I folded in the bacon and shredded cheddar. It was so easy I wondered why I hadn’t been adding more fixin’s to my cornbread ages ago! I mean, corn bread is just fine on it’s own, but it can also be a great canvas to add some other wonderful flavors!

Next time I may try:

Jalapeno
Roasted corn kernels
Chorizo
Orange zest and cranberries
Rosemary and garlic

I am sure there are unlimited options out there, but the bacon and cheddar may be my favorite. Sure, I am probably biased. But it’s good y’all (Man, the Southerner is really coming out in mean writing about cheddar bacon cornbread)! The cornbread is sweet and soft, the bacon is salty with a bit of a crunch, and the cheese just adds an extra layer of saltiness and cheesy goodness.

Plus, if you are eating these with chili, there is a good chance you may be adding these toppings to your bowl anyways, why not have them all in one spot?!

PIN NOW, MAKE LATER

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