If I had to pick my all time favourite side, it would probably be cornbread. I just love how sweet yet savoury and slightly crunchy yet moist it is! It’s a shame that cornbread is not a staple in all BBQ restaurants (at least in Canada), or restaurants in general. Needless to say, I was craving some cornbread a few weeks ago and decided to develop my own recipe. It’s been a hot minute since I last posted about a recipe, and it was so much fun cr[eating] this one! This cornbread recipe makes a sweet, moist yet fluffy treat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Ingredients:

¾ cup yellow cornmeal

¾ cup AP flour

½ cup sugar 

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

Salt (about a pinch)

1 cup buttermilk

5 tbsp brown butter (or melted butter)

2 tbsp oil 

2 eggs 

Splash of maple syrup

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Grease an 8×8 baking square with butter
3. Sift AP flour, cornmeal, baking powder and baking soda in a large mixing bowl
4. Add sugar and salt to the dry ingredients after sifting
5. Mix well to incorporate 
6. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, brown butter, oil, eggs and maple syrup together well
7. Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients and mix until incorporated, try not to over mix the batter 
8. Pour the mixture in the baking square, spread evenly and tap the square a few times to let any bubble burst
9. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown

Substitutions:

I don’t typically have buttermilk in my fridge so I thought it was important to test out alternatives. Around 1 cup plain yogurt (greek or regular yogurt) works well with a little (~3 tbsp) almond milk. The almond milk helps loosen the viscosity of the batter. Bake in a 400 degree fahrenheit over for 27-32 minutes or until the cornbread is cooked all the way through. Using the substitutions doesn’t change the taste, but I did find the crust was thicker and crunchier while still keeping the inside of the cornbread moist. 

Always,

K

P.S. If you’re just starting to learn how to bake, keep it up! Baking could be intimidating at first between the measurements, temperatures and reactions, but it’s also the most fun way to experiment. I made about 7-10 cookie batters before I ever made a decent one. It taught me that failing could be fun sometimes. What matters more is how you can still find a way to creatively think of remedies.