Saturday Share: Recipe for Perfect Cornbread

When I was growing up, my Mom made biscuits from scratch every morning for breakfast.

For supper, our evening meal, Mom made cornbread from scratch.

I make biscuits occasionally by popular demand of Darling Hubby.

I make cornbread whenever our dinner menu calls for it. For example, any time I make vegetable soup, beef stew, beans and rice, it gets paired with cornbread because that's what we both grew up eating.

The cornbread Mom made was not sweet. This was before foods seemed to have added sugars. Just about everything you eat in today's world is sweet. We personally don't care for that much sweet food.

Cornbread is not difficult to make from scratch, but there's a shortcut you can use that makes it even easier. Use Aunt Jemima Self-Rising Corn Meal Mix, but do not use the recipe on the package. Use mine instead.

Perfect Cornbread

Makes 6 wedges. ( I bake cornbread in a skillet that's 8 inches in diameter across the top.)

2 tablespoons cooking oil or bacon drippings if you're into that.

1 cup Aunt Jemima Self-Rising Corn Meal Mix

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

Turn the oven on and set at 400 degrees F.

Put the oil in the skillet and turn the heat on to medium.

Immediately mix together the corn meal mix, egg, and milk.

Pour all but a trace of the hot oil into the mixture and set the skillet back over low heat.

Mix the batter well.

Turn the heat off the skillet. Pour the batter into the hot skillet and place it in the oven.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes. When I remove it, I flip the cornbread over so the top becomes the bottom, and let it set about 5 minutes so the hot skillet browns it nicely. (My skillet is well-seasoned for years so the cornbread comes out easily.) 

That's all there is to it. If you want to make a softer cornbread, substitute buttermilk for the milk and add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to the dry ingrediennts. Do everything else the same.

Takeaway Truth

This recipe using Aunt Jemima Self-Rising Corn Meal Mix takes about 5 minutes to put together and 18 to 20 to bake. Comes out perfect every time. Serve hot and delicious with butter if desired. Store any leftover cornbread in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave.