Recipe Notes: All-Purpose Cornbread

5 January 2020

Recipe from America's Test Kitchen

Cornbread comes in two basic varieties: southern and northern. Among the distinguishing features is the absence of sugar in the recipe for the southern style. I have tried both, including a hybrid style from ATK, but I have not settled on any one recipe. After my recent cornbread failure I saw that the hybrid, all-purpose recipe made a list of the top 20 recipes in the 20 years of the America's Test Kitchen TV show. As I was planning to make a pot of chili it seemed like a good time to revisit this recipe.

This was an easy recipe to follow. Dry ingredients—flour, cornmeal (Bob's Red Mill medium grind), baking powder, baking soda, and salt—were whisked together in a bowl. The remaining ingredients were processed in a blender (as the food processor was dirty) until smooth: brown sugar, thawed corn kernels, buttermilk, and eggs. The wet ingredients were folded into the dry then melted butter was folded into the batter. This was baked in an 8-inch square pan at 400°. Total prep time was just 20 minutes and from start to dinner plate the time was just 70 minutes.

The cornbread had a good texture, coarse and rustic though the crumb was not so coarse as to be crunchy. The crust provided a good crunch when the bread was fresh. The bread had good corn flavor and was not too sweet. While eating this cornbread was not a wow! experience, this is a very practical, serviceable recipe.