Sweet Skillet Cornbread
Here in the American South, it is debatedoften whether cornbread should be sweet or
savory.
Me, I’m usually disappointed when I eatcornbread that isn’t this cornbread, and
what’s even more crucial than the sugaris the pan.
This is my heavy, 10-inch non-stick skilletthat I use for basically everything.
If it wasn’t non-stick, the bread mightbreak apart on the way out.
Feel free to use the traditional, well-seasonedcast iron pan instead.
I’ve got no time for pans that I can’tput in my dishwasher.
Pre-heat your oven to 400 Fahrenheit, andthen here’s where the magic happens: pre-heat
the pan with the oven.
Seriously, that’s the secret.
Like, you could just stop watching the videoright now if you wanted to, but please don’t.
For the batter, I start with an egg and athird of a cup of vegetable oil.
Whisk that together, then add three-quartersof a cup of sugar and a cup of milk.
I always measure my wet ingredients over thebowl, that way if I spill something, it spills
into the food.
Whisk whisk whisk, then dump in a cup of flour.
The order here matters basically not at all,by the way.
Then eyeball like three-quarters of a teaspoonof salt.
Whenever I do a full teaspoon it’s a hairtoo salty.
Then a heaped tablespoon of baking powderto make the bread fluffy, and then a cup of
cornmeal.
That is normal, finely-ground cornmeal.
I played with the fancy stone-ground stufffor a while, but the grains were just too
big, they would hurt my teeth.
Now, whisk this together just until smooth.
The bread will come out tough if you over-mix.
Now, coming up is one of the very few timesin my life when I am sure to use unsalted
butter.
I’ll tell you why in a minute.
Get the hot skillet out of the oven, and thenquickly, before it cools down, drop in maybe
a tablespoon of unsalted butter.
Swish it around to get it melted, then takea paper towel and use it to grease up the
sides.
This is doing two important things: one isgreasing up the sides, but the other is absorbing
any excess butter.
Too much butter gives me a crust that tastesdeep-fried.
Not a fan.
Now, pour in the batter.
Look, you can already see the pre-heated pancooking the sides.
Throw that in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
It’ll puff up in the middle and you shouldsee a few cracks opening up before you test
it, but be conservative about your bake timehere.
This stuff overcooks and dries out reallyfast, so test it sooner rather than later.
Jab a skewer or a toothpick in there.
If it comes out clean, it is done.
Now, we want to get this out of the pan beforethat crunchy crust goes soggy, but if we tried
to turn it out now, it would fall apart.
Let it sit and solidify for a few minutes.
I want this on a cooling rack, but if I turnedit out onto a cooling rack it’d be upside
down and the top would get lines pressed intoit.
So I turn it out onto a plate.
Slides right out.
Then, from the plate, turn it back out ontoa rack.
Easy.
Let that cool for a good 10 minutes so itwon’t go soggy on the cutting board.
Oh by the way, whenever I get invited to apotluck, I bake the exact same batter in a
couple muffin tins.
I preheat them in the oven, same as the skillet,but I’m too lazy to butter every cup so
I just use nonstick spray.
Those are great.
Easy to grab in a buffet line.
And there we go.
Now, look at what the hot buttered skilletgets you.
Look at that crunchy, dark brown crust aroundthe edge.
That is insanely good.
But if you use regular salted butter in thepan, that crust comes out way too salty.
And I’m a guy who likes salty bread.
It’s too salty even for me.
Use unsalted butter.
Cut that up into wedges and have a bite.
Yes, cornbread purists, this absolutely occupiesa murky area between bread and cake, what
with all the sugar.
But I am comfortable with that.
I am owning that.
Screw it, I gotta eat that crunchy crust arrrarr rarr rarr!
Sweet Skillet Cornbread Makes six wedges For the batter: 1 egg 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 cup milk 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 heaped tablespoon baking powder 1 cup flour 1 cup cornmeal For the pan: 1 tablespoon unsalted butter Directions: Place a heavy 10-inch nonstick skillet (or a well-seasoned cast iron skillet) in the oven and pre-heat to 400 F. Whisk together all the wet batter ingredients with the sugar until smooth. Whisk in the flour and corn meal until just smooth. Don't over-mix. When the oven and pan are hot, take out the pan and put in the butter. Swirl it until it's melted. Use a paper towel to smear butter around the edges and also to absorb any excess. Pour in the batter and return the pan to the oven. Bake 20-25 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Be careful not to over-bake. Let rest 5 minutes before turning out to cool on a wire rack. MY COOKING PHILOSOPHY: I don't like weighing or measuring things if I don't have to, and I don't like to be constantly checking a recipe as I cook. I don't care that volume is a bad way of measuring things — it's usually easier. I like for a recipe to get me in the ballpark, and then I like to eyeball and improvise the rest. If you're like me, my goal with these videos is to give you a sense of how the food should look and feel as you're cooking it, rather than give you a refined formula to reproduce.