Cornbread

Cornbread is a versatile dish, equally good with a big bowl of chili and as a holiday side dish for Christmas or Thanksgiving.

I've tried lots of different cornbread recipes, both plain and stuffed full of lots of different ingredients, but always come back to my favorite: those Jiffy boxed mixes. The little blue boxes are dirt cheap, and the slightly sweet flavor works well plain or with additives.

In this Instructable I've made a spicy southwest-style cornbread, but you can substitute most any combination of cheese, herbs, and vegetables - just be sure to modify the liquid balance accordingly.

I'll give some more ideas for alternate versions in the last step: it's dead easy. Just combine your favorite cheese + herbs/spices, and add a vegetable if you like. You'll end up with a classy dish that complements most any style of meal.

Step 1: Basic Recipe - from the box

The basic recipe from the back of the box is simple:

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1/3 cup milk
1 egg

Stir together, and cook at 350F in a greased/buttered pan until the center is set. (Exact time varies on size/shape of the pan.)

Here I'm using two boxes, so 2/3 cup milk and 2 eggs.

Comments

[imakeit]

Uhmmm I always wanted to try this, I have not had any since I was a kid, thanks for posting this, will try it~~~~

[Darkstar]

Cornbread is a great and versatile quick bread. One suggestion I'd make is to procure a cast iron skillet to bake it in. Preheat your oven with the skillet in it and mix your batter. Pour batter into hot skillet and bake. The edges get brown, crusty, carmalized, and delicious. Also it's very easy and just about as cheap to make cornbread from scratch. Enjoy this excellent food!

[DebH57]

Sounds yummy Canida! 5/5 I will give it a try.

[LinuxH4x0r]

Cheater! You can't use a mix! Still not bad. 4/5

[canida]

Bwahahaha. Watch me. ;) I kept trying to make a better cornbread from a non-mix, but finally realized I shouldn't bother being a purist on this one.

[kill-a-watt]

Yes but, why would you need to preform partial hydrogenation on lard? And is it still cornbread when there's more wheat flour than anything else? I do like the boxed stuff, but for savory dishes, unsweetened cornbread batter poured into cast iron cookware where a goodly amount of bacon grease is already smoking hot will produce a mallard reaction that's well worth the effort.

[canida]

Oooh, put up an Instructable!

[kill-a-watt]

well, I'm still using a dutch oven because I haven't found a decent cast iron skillet with a ground-smooth interior. It works, but it's not very photogenic.

If I did do one, I'd just be ripping off Junior's page. The only thing I do differently is to preheat the entire cast iron thing in the oven. It seems like he uses the stove, which looks like it works fine.

Oh, and I won't chuck you off the page if you try this, like it, but still like the stuff with the box that has scare quotes around "jiffy", and not around "corn bread", which is where those quotes really belong. (i.e. the more wheat flour than corn issue)

[LinuxH4x0r]

Good point. I should make an ible next time my mom makes some

[bruno13069]

I'll do a 2 box batch with a 1/3 cup of honey added to make a mock JohnnyCake. Excellent when warm and smothered with butter. :)

[Punkguyta]

I remember going on a field trip when I was a young lad, it was some pioneering history segment. We made cornmeal break (without stuff like meats and green onion), and also made butter in a jar simply by filling it with creame (maybe buttermilk im told?) and shaking it for about 15-20 minutes and butter will start to form :p

[aliceownsj00]

ooo *drool* I love cornbread (yes, I was raised in the south) and that makes it even better.

[shooby]

Mmmmmm delicious. I love melting gross quantities of butter into a piece of warm cornbread, so good. How much is one box of that Jiffy stuff by the way?

[canida]

I've seen it anywhere from 50-75c/box normally to 8 boxes/$1 during holiday sales. Relatively cheap stuff.

[Lithium Rain]

Yummy! 5 *s. I had cornbread made from Jiffy mix today, with cheese added in. With a big bowl of chili.

[GorillazMiko]

Man Woman, that sounds delicious.

_{The chili part.}

[Lithium Rain]

Haha! It sure was.

[gmjhowe]

Ive never had any.. good ible btw. even if you did use mix.

[GorillazMiko]

I remember when I mistaked cornbread for cake. What a tragic, tragic day..

[GorillazMiko]

By the way, +5/5 stars.

[Lithium Rain]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!