Cornbread

You’ve got to continue to grow, or you’re just like last night’s cornbread - stale and dry. Loretta Lynn

In the past, I had not been a fan of cornbread. I had never made it myself, and the versions that I tried were dry and tasteless.

One of my colleagues, Johanna, posted a cornbread recipe in the COVID cookbook this week, so I decided to give it a go. 

And boy, I was glad that I did.  This cornbread was moist and tasty, and especially good served warm with a little butter.

I added a cup of  frozen peas and corn to my batter, and grated a quarter of a cup of cheddar on top.  Johanna also suggests adding tinned corn, creamed corn, cheese or chilli to the batter.

If you would like to try Johanna’s cornbread, you will need:

125g butter
150g sugar (or a little less if you prefer)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
175g cornmeal or polenta
150g plain flour
250ml buttermilk
pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and grease and line a 1 litre capacity loaf tin.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Set aside.

Put all of the dry ingredients except the sugar into a large bowl and stir to combine. Stir through any add ins that you want to use.

Put the butter into a medium saucepan and melt over low heat.  Add the sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat.

Beat the eggs into the butter mixture with a fork, then fold in the buttermilk with a rubber spatula.

Pour the butter mixture over the dry ingredients, and use a rubber spatula to just combine.

Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf tin and level the top.  Grate cheese on top if desired.  Place the tin into the oven and bake for 50-55 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove the bread from the oven and cool completely in the tin on a wire rack before unmoulding.  

Slice and serve spread with butter.