- If you're looking for the perfect cornbread
with a moist tender crumb
with notes of brown sugar and butter
and a crisper than crisp edge, you're in the right place.
My cornbread recipe is beyond easy,
and you will never use the box stuff again.
Hey, you're watching "Preppy Kitchen"
where I, John Kanell, teach you
how to make delicious homemade dishes
to share with your family and friends.
This cornbread will be ready before you know it.
So let's get started.
First off, get that cast iron skillet out
and pop it into the oven.
Then set the oven to 425.
We want this screaming hot when the batter goes in,
because that is the only way
to get a perfect crisp cornbread edge.
While that's getting screaming hot,
we're gonna add our dry ingredients into a large bowl,
starting with one cup or 120 grams
of all purpose flour,
followed by two cups of cornmeal.
And I'm using a stone-ground cornmeal,
but use what you have on hand.
Two and a half teaspoons of salt,
and it might seem like a little bit much,
but it adds so much flavor to the cornbread.
It's really important.
I like mine a little bit on the sweet side.
You could add a couple tablespoons of sugar.
I'm adding a full quarter cup of tightly-packed brown sugar.
I'm also adding in a quarter teaspoon of black pepper.
I love the combination of a little bit sweet
but with a little bit of a kick.
Our last dry ingredient is for the leavening,
two and a half teaspoons of baking powder.
Okay, let's give that a whisk
and also break up the brown sugar.
Brown sugar is a delight
as it adds a ton of flavor, but those clumps.
I can't even tell you how much I'm annoyed by them.
You can use your hands to break them up.
Whisk, whisk, whisk and set aside.
Okay, now it's time for our wet ingredients.
For the wet ingredients,
we're adding two cups or about 480 milliliters of buttermilk
into a bowl along with two large eggs,
no shells please,
and a quarter of a cup or 70 grams of melted butter.
Whisk it up just to combine.
So by the by, this is more of like a traditional cornbread
with a kiss of sweetness.
But if you like the sweet stuff
with the corn kernels as like a pudding,
click up here for my cornbread pudding recipe.
That stuff is just the most amazing thing ever.
It has the cheese,
the corn, the cream is like, ah!
You've gotta make it.
It's one of my favorites.
Before I mix the wet and dry ingredients,
I've got to get the skillet out of the oven.
So get a trivet out.
It's very hot.
Ah, it's hot. (laughs)
Okay, right now, one generous tablespoon of butter.
That's what you wanna hear, hot!
And a tablespoon of vegetable oil.
Swirl it around and pop it back into the oven
while you complete the batter.
What happens is that melts, gets really hot,
we pour the batter in, and it creates like fried cornbread,
which is amazing and delicious.
So it's a very important part of the steps.
Now let's mix that batter up.
That is cooking up a storm.
I will not mind if it gets really hot
and the butter starts to brown.
That's an extra depth of flavor there.
But in the meantime, let's just make a well
in the dry ingredients
and pour in all of this delicious buttermilk,
melted butter situation.
We're gonna mix until just combined.
Don't overmix this.
If you don't have a cast iron skillet, don't worry.
You can make this either in a cake tin
or a regular baking dish,
but be careful if you're using like something enameled,
because it doesn't like going into the oven empty
and then getting stuff poured on top when it's hot.
I have not learned that the hard way.
This is nice and mixed.
I don't see any lumps.
We're gonna get our skillet out,
but work on top of the stove, because it's hot, hot, hot.
It's time to pour all of our batter in.
Do you hear the sizzling sound?
That's what you want to hear. Perfect.
We're gonna pop this back into the oven at 425
for 20 to 25 minutes or until the center is set and springy.
25 minutes later, my cornbread is golden brown
and just the smell is amazing.
but we're not done yet,
because this has to come out of the pan fairly quickly.
So plop it out and just wow.
This bottom is nice and crisp,
but if you left it in the pan,
steam would come out and it would just soften up.
We want to keep it nice and crisp.
So let it cool on a cooling rack.
I like the top to be unmarred.
So I'm gonna be returning it back.
There we go.
This can cool down now.
(finger tapping)
I don't know if you can hear that,
but the sound and taste and texture will be amazing.
Okay, time to slather on the butter.
It's the time for a bite.
But before I do, if you like this video,
check out my side dish playlist,
all my favorite side dishes in one playlist for you.
Now it's time for a bite.
And I'm having the edge with all the fried butter part.
That's the best.
It's hard to describe,
but you can taste the temperature it was baked at,
if that makes any sense to you,
like I can taste the sizzling butter,
and that crumb is so nice.
You've gotta try this recipe.
If you like my videos, hit that like button and subscribe,
and I'll see you in the next side dish video.