This recipe makes enough to fill a 12” round cast iron skillet, or a 9x13” cake pan if your skillet isn’t that big. We’re using the muffin method where we mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet in the other, and then add the wet to the dry and mix until just incorporated. Yes, there will be some lumps, don’t freak out. Also, this recipe works best when you use bacon fat. You can use canola or vegetable oil, but your cornbread won’t taste as good.
With those notes out of the way, let’s get started!
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1 ¼ c. buttermilk
½ c. half & half (or ¼ c. each milk & cream)
2 c. cornmeal
½ c. rice flour
½ c. gluten-free all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. xanthan gum
2 tbsp. bacon grease, canola oil, or vegetable oil (bacon grease recommended)
Directions:
- Place skillet or pan into oven at 375° to preheat. In one bowl, measure cornmeal, flour, sugar, leavening, salt, and xanthan gum. Combine before adding wet ingredients. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add in melted butter, buttermilk, and half & half and whisk to combine.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry, then fold until incorporated with rubber spatula. Some lumps are fine, do not overmix.
- Open oven door and pull rack with pan partially out to fill hot pan. Start by adding 2 tbsp. of bacon grease or oil, and allow that to get hot. Pour batter in on top of hot fat, being careful of splatters. Spread batter into pan quickly with rubber spatula, then push rack and pan back into oven and close the door.
- Bake at 375° approximately 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely before serving, especially if using Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose flour.
Super-important note about that last step: if you eat your cornbread while there is still steam coming off of it, it will likely taste metallic and gross. While it’s hot, the chemical leaveners may still be working until they’ve been completely used up. Let the leaveners finish their reactions before digging in, and you’ll have some delicious cornbread. Cut in too soon, and you will have to brush your teeth about five times to get that taste out of your mouth.
So there you have it, delicious gluten-free cornbread! Super-easy, super-yummy, and super-savory! That’s right. Cornbread isn’t sweet, it’s dry and crumbly and is really just a vessel for a buttload of softened butter so you can choke it down. At least, that’s how it was in my family growing up. I’ve added a little extra moistness with the fat from the half & half, which also helps it hold together a little better.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my take on cornbread. Leave your thoughts in a comment below, or get in touch with me directly by filling out the form on the contact page.
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