Cornbread

We had corn muffins last night with "Hot Dog Soup" (what my kids call Lentil Soup). I love cornbread...it probably comes with the territory of having a parent from the South. However, there are several different camps in the cornbread camp.

Southerners usually prefer white cornmeal to yellow(though not always), and Southern cornbread is NOT SWEET. Many don't even put a smidgen of sugar in the cornbread. While I love a good, crusty piece of Southern cornbread, I feel adding a single tsp of sugar brings out the flavor of the cornmeal. It's not enough to make it sweet, but it lends a depth of flavor.

Westerners usually prefer yellow cornmeal over white (though not always), and western cornbread is SWEET. Like this could basically pass for a piece of cake kind of sweet. And it's often served with honey butter for extra sweet amazingness. While adding additional sugar makes for a wickedly good piece of cornbread, to me it feels like more of a dessert bread. So, I compromise and try to meet the two worlds somewhere in the middle.

Making cornbread safe for MSPI isn't difficult: Make sure you use canola, safflower, or your favorite oil instead of melted butter, and use rice milk instead of regular milk or buttermilk. Now, without further ado...

1 c flour
3/4 c cornmeal (yellow or white)
1 tsp sugar OR 3 Tbsp sugar (depends on if you like your cornbread savory or slightly sweet)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp oil
3/4 (ish) c rice milk

Blend flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl combine eggs, oil and rice milk. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until combined (don't overmix!). *FOR SOUTHERN STYLE CORNBREAD* Preheat cast iron skillet or baking pan. Add several Tbsp oil and coat bottom and sides of pan (be generous). Pour batter into preheated, greased skillet or pan. Place in oven at 375 until golden brown and crusty (the preheated pan with plenty of oil will help form an amazing crust). *FOR WESTERN STYLE CORNBREAD* Pour cornbread into a greased or sprayed baking pan. Bake at 375 until sides are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. For muffins: Pour batter into greased or lined muffin tins (3/4 full) and bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.