Ingredients
1 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. bacon fat (or canola oil)
2 c. cornmeal (yellow or white)
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. honey
1 egg
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
6 tbsp. butter, melted
Preparation
Step 1Preheat oven to 400°. Warm a 9" or 10" cast iron pan over medium heat and melt bacon fat. Leave pan over low heat while you prepare other ingredients.Step 2In a medium bowl, whisk together cornmeal, baking soda, and salt.Step 3In a separate medium-size bowl, whisk together honey, egg, buttermilk, and butter. Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix to combine. Spoon batter into the hot cast iron skillet and smooth top with a spatula. Step 4Place skillet in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.Step 5Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing, slicing, and serving.
In the North it’s super sweet, more like a squishy muffin than the crumbly, savory cornbread of the South. Northern cornbread is usually made with milk and butter, while Southern-style starts with bacon fat and is (almost) always baked in a cast-iron skillet. Don’t be intimidated by baking in your cast iron— here’s how we like to season ours to guarantee it won’t stick. We usually prefer the Southern-style cornbread as a dinner side, and opt for Northern cornbread for breakfast in muffin form instead, but it’s totally up to you! You may have noticed, cornbread can have a bad tendency to go stale quickly. To avoid this when you’re not serving it immediately, make sure the cornbread has completely cooled, then tightly wrap it in plastic wrap before storing it. You can keep it at room temperature for up to 24 hours, and in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can even freeze it for up to 1 month— we like to use thawed leftovers to make recipes like cornbread stuffing or dressing. Made this? Let us know how it went in the comments below.
