Cornbread is one of the few foods documented as served at the first Thanksgiving dinner. Of course, the essential ingredient in the cornbread dressing we customarily serve is a great cornbread recipe. Baking the bread in a cast-iron skillet gives it that wonderful, lightly crunchy bottom and sides, perfect for crumbling.
This old quick bread is a year-round favorite of southern cooks, who often serve it with chili and other stew or soup dishes. When serving cornbread as a side, I brush it with melted butter as soon as it comes out of the oven. Enjoy.
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow or white cornmeal
2 to 4 Tbsp. sugar (per personal preference)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
¼ cup oil for batter
1/8 cup oil for skillet
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, beat together eggs, milk, and oil. Add to flour mixture and stir just until batter is smooth. Do not over-process the mixture.
In 9-inch cast-iron skillet, put the 1/8 cup of oil and place the skillet in the preheated oven. When skillet is very hot but not smoking, remove from oven. Immediately pour batter into hot skillet and return it to the oven.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown, and a thin knife or toothpick inserted, comes out clean.