Cornmeal Toaster Cakes
Happy New Year everyone. We made it to 2023.
I hope the new year is off to a great start for all of you. As I usually do every year, I decided to take a short blogging break to recharge from all the flurry of baking that I do for the 12 Days of Christmas. But also as with every other year, I come back…usually with carbs, interestingly enough.
I’m a little tickled by how this, and next week’s recipes came about. I was making a pot of collard greens for New Years’ Eve, as eating them at the start of a new year is supposedly good luck. In my house, eating greens with cornbread is non-negotiable, so I was also making some cornbread to go with it.
I ended up making two ‘types’ of cornbread to go with our greens, the first of which I’m sharing today, and the second I’ll be sharing next week. If you’re familiar with and fond of American cornbread, then you probably know which two types I’m talking about. It’s actually somewhat of a debate that boils down to region, ingredients and taste preferences.
First, there’s ‘Southern’ stye cornbread that is mostly comprised of cornmeal and as such, is pretty coarse and crumbly texture wise. It’s also not sweet, and leans more on the savory/salty side. Second is ‘Northern’ style cornbread. Northerner cornbread is more moist and ‘cakey’ texture-wise, and it also tends to be on the sweet side.
Some people have very strong feelings about their cornbread and what it should and should not have. I happen to enjoy both types, and as such, I decided to kick the year off by sharing renditions of both on the blog. The North is up first.
Northern-style cornbread is pretty akin to that mass-produced baking mix that comes in the blue and white box. You know the one I’m talking about. Again, I have nothing against it, but it is just as easy to make your own. And if you’ve got a muffin top pan, it can be even tastier (because everyone knows the muffin’s top is the part we all like the most) .
The batter for these muffin tops comes together in minutes, and they also bake very quickly. From start to finish, you’ll probably be done and eating them in 45 minutes. And as the name indicates, they are at their very best and tastiest when sliced and toasted. I crumbled mine up in a big bowl of collard greens, and they made for the absolute best ‘croutons,’ but they’re just as yummy eaten all by themselves spread with butter and or jam.
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Cornmeal Toaster Cakes
Recipe Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/3 cup (59g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons liquid bacon drippings
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray the cavities of a muffin top pan (Mine makes 12 at a time) with cooking spray.*
In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, sugar, and pepper. Stir together with a fork and set aside.
In another medium size bowl, combine the eggs, milk, butter and bacon drippings.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients, mixing until just combined.
Spoon the batter into the cavities of the muffin top pan. It should be just enough to fill all twelve.
Bake for 15–20 minutes, until golden-brown. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool.
Split and eat warm, or cool to room temperature, split, and toast.
*Note: You can make these in a regular muffin pan, I would just add an additional 1/4 cup of milk to the batter.
Sharing at Fiesta Friday #466.
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