Real Cornbread: Life after Jiffy
Real cornbread isn’t dry, tasteless, or heavy. It certainly isn’t the cupcake-sweet pale Jiffy muffin of my college years. Real cornbread is light, but has a nubbly texture. A thin, lightly browned crust over a deep gold interior, flecked with amber. The taste is complex, slightly sweet, nutty, and warm. Split open while still warm, it screams for butter and wild honey. Or a fried local egg and a few drops of hot sauce.
You have a brief window to experience real cornbread. Go to Farmers’ Market this Saturday and buy Sabrina Green’s non-GMO, stone ground Calais Flint cornmeal.
Grown right here on Bainbridge Island, the pigment in the golden-hued corn cobs of Calais Flint are indicative of high concentrations of beneficial phytonutrients called carotenoids which, along with a high protein and fiber content, pack a nutritional punch.
Use the recipe below for Sunday breakfast and tuck a second bag of cornmeal away in the freezer for a very merry Christmas morning treat.
Heather Burger
Executive Director
Friends of the Farms
Heather's Corn Bread
- 1-1/2 cups (1 bag) Sun & Bee Farm Cornmeal
- 1/2 cup organic unbleached white flour
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup Grace Harbor buttermilk
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 400°.
Butter a 9-inch pie dish, springform pan, or iron skillet.
Whisk cornmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl.
Place melted butter in medium bowl and whisk in eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly combined. Slowly whisk in buttermilk. Add dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to gently but fully combine. Batter will be very thick.
Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake approximately 25 minutes until light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let stand 10 minutes. Cut in wedges and serve.
