No, there are no actual dead men in Dead Man’s Cornbread! The name came about one day at work, when I brought this sweet cornbread into the office for a potluck. One of my co-workers told me that if he was on death row, my cornbread would be part of his last meal. It has since netted other great compliments, including, “it was heaven in my mouth!” at a potluck this past weekend. And, “If I hadn’t seen you make it, I would have sworn it was from a bakery.”
It is sweet, so it pairs well with spicy foods (like my chili recipe). It is so moist that it is often mistaken for cake. It is easy to make. And best of all, it is customizable, so you can follow some of my recommended modifications to make it your own! Fair warning: as with anything fiendishly yummy, this is not diet food :-O
It all starts with a very basic slightly sweet cornbread recipe…
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup yellow corn meal
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8-inch square baking pan.
Combine flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, if mixing by hand. However, if you own a food processor, I recommend whirring these dry ingredients for 10 seconds. That will aerate them for a fluffier end product, with an amazing texture.
Combine milk, eggs, vegetable oil and butter in a large bowl; mix well. Add in flour mixture, a little at a time; stir just until blended.
Pour into prepared baking pan.
BAKE for 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Now for the modifications!
FOR MUFFINS:
SPOON batter into 18 to 20 greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool slightly. Serve warm.
JENNIFER’S TIPS:
- Increase the sugar from 2/3 cup to 1 cup, or more, up to DOUBLE the sugar! I know this sounds scary, but it seriously increases moisture and sweetness. It also increases baking time.
- Use REAL, salted butter for the very best flavor.
- Optional sweet mix-ins: a teaspoon of vanilla, lemon zest, or lime zest.
- Optional savory mix-ins (don’t double the sugar): bacon crumbles, diced ham, corn kernels, jalapeños.
- I love the crunchy, crusty crust that forms when you DON’T leave the cornbread to cool inside it’s pan. I always take it out of the oven, let it cool in the pan for no more than 10 minutes, and then remove from pan to cool the rest of the way.
- To make a pretty cornbread that has even more of that crisp crust, I like to bake mine in a bundt pan.
- To feed a crowd, I double the recipe and bake in a bundt pan, several loaf pans, or a large springform pan. This will require MUCH more cooking time due to the sheer volume of the loaf. If yours begins to brown too much and the center is not set, cover the baking bread with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.
- Serve warm or room temperature, with butter and honey.
- If you actually have leftovers, I suggest placing a few slices under the broiler or in the toaster oven until crisp and brown on top and along the edges.
I promise to take more photos the next time I bake this. In the meantime, I hope you’ll try it and tell us how yours came out. Better yet, send us pictures and tell us how you modified it!
Feel free to leave a comment or send us an email to jenn@jfriedmanfast.com
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