Skillet Cornbread

Lightly sweet with a little crunch, this recipe also has a secret little trick.

Skillet cornbread with butter; griddled cornbread with butter and honey

Do you ever purposely not make something because if you do, there’s no stopping you from compulsively eating it all up? The concern isn’t because of any dietary reasons—it’s because your stomach pleads, “Please don’t.”

That’s me and cornbread. Butter and honey are on it 10 seconds after taking it out of the oven, and thirty minutes later I’m looking at a half-eaten pan. Like a Filene’s Basement sale in the late 80’s, there’s just no stopping me. It’s just all too good and irresistible. I can’t even think of many other foods that have this kryptonite hold over my appetite barring maybe a whole Thanksgiving dinner or Pad Thai. (A random assortment of things, I know.)

The thing about cornbread though, is that, straight out of the oven, is when it’s normally at it’s peak best. The cornmeal, being coarsely ground, slowly saps all of the moisture from the bread over the course of a day and it turns dry and crumbly by the next morning, especially made in combination with gluten-free flours which lack the elastic and moisture-holding qualities of wheat flour.

The fix: I add a little more liquid to the batter than most recipes call for. If you eat it straight from the oven it will seem a bit “wet”, for lack of a better word. But if you let it sit for 15 minutes in the pan, the heat will carryover cook the cornbread and the cornmeal will continue to absorb that extra moisture. Cornbread is a bit odd that way—it bakes up quickly as a skillet quick-bread, but it’s really not long enough for the coarse meal to cook. There’s a reason diners griddle your corn muffin - besides everything being better when griddled, the re-heating brings back that just-out-of-the-oven goodness that re-heating starches creates (like un-staling bread by heating a foil-wrapped loaf).

If you prefer your cornbread without sugar, omit. I like at least 2 tablespoons added, which I think gives you a “sweet corn” flavor that using only cornmeal doesn’t achieve.

To griddle, split the cornbread. Heat a skillet with butter and cook on medium-high heat, cut side down. Flip, griddle, eat.

RECIPE

Yields one 8-inch skillet

• 170g / 1 C cornmeal

• 125g / 1 C minus 1 1/2 Tbs GF flour

• 60g / 1/4 C sugar (optional)

• 1 tsp salt

• 1.5 tsp baking powder

• 1.5 tsp baking soda

• 2 eggs

• 240ml / 1 C water (see note if using an alternative to water + yogurt)

• 180ml / 3/4 C yogurt OR 420ml / 1 3/4 C buttermilk* (and no added water)

• 6 Tbs butter, melted

•1 Tbs butter to add to skillet

Preheat oven to 375ºf. Put your skillet in the oven while mixing the cornbread.

Combine dry ingredients. Whisk the wet ingredients together (except for the 1 Tbs butter at the end of the list) and add to the dry. Mix just until combined.

Add the 1 Tbs butter to the skillet and put it back into the oven just until it’s melted. Swish it around to cover the pan, and pour the batter in. Place back in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Let the cornbread sit for 15 minutes before eating. Store wrapped. At room temperature it will keep for 2 days; one week in the refrigerator.