With Thanksgiving approaching I’ve been pulling out my own cookbooks to find recipes for our family dinner. Coming across the recipe for my Uncle’s cornbread I knew I couldn’t pass up including this in our holiday meal! My Uncle’s cornbread is a true northern variety – sweet and cake like, with a hint of vanilla (and sometimes even cinnamon).
There are two ways to make it, one which is delicious with dinner, and a slightly sweeter version that makes an amazing breakfast (or dessert if you can wait that long to eat it!). I make my cornbread in a cast iron skillet, but my Uncle has always made his in a baking pan, so I’ll include both versions here!
For the cornbread:
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 Cup Cornmeal
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Heaping teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1 Cup Milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon butter, softened
[warning]Variation: For a sweeter bread, which is our preference for breakfast, increase the vanilla extract to 1 Tablespoon and sprinkle cinnamon over the top before baking![/warning]
- In a large bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl combine egg, milk, vanilla and butter
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- If using a skillet: preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt a teaspoon of butter in your cast iron skillet over medium heat. Pour in the batter (it should sizzle) and cook for 1 minute, then transfer to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the cornbread is golden brown.If baking: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Pour batter into a greased 9X13 inch baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.
The cornbread is delicious on its own, or topped with a little butter. This time of year I especially love it with some whipped pumpkin honey butter! I love how quickly this comes together and that it doesn’t call for buttermilk, which I rarely have on hand. Give it a whirl, then head down to the comments to let me know what you think!
This looks delicious. My family loves cornbread with spaghetti, I’ll try this recipe out on our next spaghetti night. Thanks for sharing.