Minnie Utsey's No-Fail Cornbread Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What does adding an extra egg to cornbread do? ›

The yolk will make the texture more dense and smooth, a bit brownie-like, while the fact that your original batter was too thick means that the additional liquid will help the baking powder achieve better leavening, giving you an airier texture.

Adding about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of extra butter or vegetable oil can increase the moistness of your cornbread. You can do this even if your recipe doesn't call for butter or oil. Replace milk or water with creamed corn. If your recipe calls for milk or water, try replacing it with creamed corn.

The thing that distinguishes Southern cornbread from, say Yankee cornbread, or any other cornbread one is likely to eat outside of the southern states, is that it is savory, not sweet, and it is made mostly with cornmeal.

Ways To Upgrade Cornbread Mix

To personalize the cornbread, the box also features this tip: Mix in 1 cup shredded Cheddar, 1 (4-ounce) drained can chopped green chiles, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne before baking for a zesty spin.

Eggs are responsible for giving baked goods structure, which means the amount you use directly affects the resulting texture. Using too few eggs will make your desserts dense, but using too many will make them rubbery. The explanation for this lies in the fact that eggs are made up of protein.

Note: We recommend allowing cornbread batter to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before baking, so if you prefer, you can delay heating the oven until you make the batter.

As for the best cornmeal for cornbread, either fine- or medium-grind cornmeal is a great choice. Medium-grind cornmeal will bring slightly more texture and grittiness to the batter, which you may or may not want (it's up to you!). You can use fine or medium cornmeal in these extra corny muffins.

Cornbread, or any baked good, will fall in the middle if it is not completely baked, or if you add too much leavening, which causes it to rise more than the structure of the batter can sustain. Always use a tester inserted in the center of your cornbread to make sure it's done.

It is commonly called "cornbread" in the Southern United States and is not known by a different name in this region. Cornbread is a simple bread that is made by mixing cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, and milk to form a batter, which is then baked in the oven.

Why do Southerners not put sugar in cornbread? ›

The most common theory is a change in cornmeal itself. Until early in the 20th century, Southern cornmeal was made with sweeter white corn and it was water-ground. When industrial milling came along, that changed. The steel-roller mills used yellow corn that was harvested before it was ripe, so it had less sugar.

The name came from the Algonquin word apan, meaning "baked." The Narragansett word for cornbread, nokechick, became no-cake and then hoe-cake. Because cornbread traveled well, some began calling it journey cake, which evolved into the name Johnny cake. But whatever it was called, it was all cornbread.

While oil can make cakes and quick breads luxuriously tender, I find the cornbread lacks flavor if butter isn't present. Because butter doesn't make the bread as moist as oil does, I pair it with buttermilk. Buttermilk: Buttermilk makes cakes, muffins, and breads extra moist.

Pour batter into prepared pan. The batter will be lumpy. Overcome the urge to mix until smooth. Overmixing can cause the corn bread to peak and have tunnels, resulting in a tough texture.

Why is my cornbread dense? If you overmixed your batter or over-measured your flour, your buttermilk cornbread could turn out dense. Be gentle with your batter and make sure you know how to properly measure flour.

Eggs also contain a variety of proteins that create the structure of a cake, and when beaten, they can act as a leavening agent by adding air to the cake batter. However, if you add too many eggs to your cake batter, then your end result could be spongy, rubbery, or dense.

If you use too few eggs, your cake won't hold together well, but using too many will result in a cake that is more dense, spongy, and rubbery than it should be. Adding just one extra egg is enough to add moisture and richness.

Normally, you supplement the boxed mix with 1 egg and ⅓ cup milk. Stir, transfer to a greased 8-inch pan and bake at 400°F for 20 to 25 minutes.