My love for cast iron skillets is legendary. Cornbread made in said skillet? Another longtime love affair.
And a so-bad-it’s-good rhyme, pun, or alliterative alchemy? One more thing I can’t resist. Put it all together, and that’s basically my recipe for millet skillet cornbread.
Need I elaborate? It’s a universal truth that everything tastes better when cooked in a cast iron pan, and cornbread is one of the foremost examples of food elevated by this humble vessel.
You just can’t get those crispy edges, browned by the heat of sizzling bacon drippings, any other way.
(My dearly departed whalecat Harry was not so particular: he once ate the entire soft and springy middle out of a pan of jalapeño-laced cornbread that I stupidly left cooling on a rack, leaving the edges behind.)
So you’ve got undeniably perfect crispy edges, fragrant with savory bacon fat, balanced against the moist and tender crumb brought to you by the goodness of buttermilk. What could possibly make this more satisfying?
Bring the crunch of millet to this equation and you’re in for a triple treat.
If you’ve only known millet as a mushy hippie-era side dish or breakfast cereal, or as a seed that’s literally for the birds, let it showcase its snappy texture here.
A little more oversized than other seeds like sesame, flax, or chia, millet has a toasty, satisfying crunch when used as a whole, uncooked grain, adding a little pop to each bite of bread.
Because I’m a Northerner who loves to toast her cornbread and slather it with butter and honey for breakfast, I stir a touch of honey into my batter before pouring it into the skillet.
Far from making it a Jiffy-like cakey cornbread, it’s just a whisper of sweetness within the bread, a hint of caramel and clover.
Feel free to try different honey varieties, from rich chestnut or buckwheat honey to light and floral alfalfa or wildflower honey, to see which you like best.
Crumble this millet skillet cornbread for your Thanksgiving stuffing, serve it in thick wedges with your favorite chili or winter stew, or eat it with butter, honey, and jam for a morning indulgence.
Millet Skillet Cornbread
Yield: 8-10 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Millet skillet cornbread isn't just fun to say: it's a twist on classic cast iron skillet cornbread that brings an irresistible crunch to every bite.
Ingredients
1 cup (160 grams) fine yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup (80 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) millet
1/4 cup (42 grams) stone-ground polenta or cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons (63 grams) honey
1 large egg
4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons bacon drippings
Instructions
Place a 9- or 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Whisk the cornmeal, flour, millet, polenta, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large bowl.
In a separate large bowl, stir the honey and egg together with a spatula to loosen up the honey. Stir in the buttermilk, then the melted butter until incorporated.
Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined—don't overmix the cornbread batter.
When the oven has preheated for 15 minutes, carefully remove the skillet using an oven mitt.
Add the bacon drippings to the skillet and swirl until melted.
(If using a pre-divided cornbread pan, as I did for the above photos, melt the drippings and use a basting brush to coat each wedge. You'll likely have leftover batter; grease a 6- or 8-inch skillet or small ceramic baking dish with the remaining drippings and bake the remaining batter.)
Pour in the cornbread batter, smoothing the top, and return to the oven.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until the cornbread is well-browned and domed on top, and a knife or toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.
The nutritional information above is computer-generated and only an estimate.
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If your recipe calls for milk or water, try replacing it with creamed corn. This will give your cornbread a richer, creamier texture that will help it hold its shape for much longer.
Why is my cornbread dense? If you overmixed your batter or over-measured your flour, your buttermilk cornbread could turn out dense. Be gentle with your batter and make sure you know how to properly measure flour.
While regular cornbread is made by pouring batter into in a pan or skillet and baking it in the oven, for hot water cornbread, the batter is shaped into cakes and fried in hot fat in a skillet on the stovetop.
Cornbread is a quick bread made with cornmeal, associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States, with origins in Native American cuisine. It is an example of batter bread.
1Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). We recommend allowing cornbread batter to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before baking, so if you prefer, you can delay heating the oven until you make the batter. 2Melt the butter, and then set aside to cool slightly.
Using oil will make your cornbread tender and moist while butter will give you heavier bread. Why do you get such different qualities from these fats? This is largely due to the fact that at room temperature, oil is a liquid while butter is a solid.
Eggs are responsible for giving baked goods structure, which means the amount you use directly affects the resulting texture. Using too few eggs will make your desserts dense, but using too many will make them rubbery.
While not a professional chef, my experience with corn bread, be it packaged or made from scratch is if you over mix it, it's gonna fall! Also, let it sit for 4-5 minutes after gently scraping it into the pan and let the ingredients start their magic reactions. No peeking while baking!! That can make it fall too.
Can I substitute water for milk in cornbread mix? Yes, you can, but it may result in a less rich flavor. If you're out of milk, try using cream or half-and-half, evaporated or powdered milk, or even plain yogurt. If you have dietary restrictions, try soy milk or oat milk.
While both styles generally use the same ingredients -- cornmeal, flour, eggs, and baking powder -- the variance lies in the flavor and texture. Northern-style cornbread tends to be sweeter, moister, and cake-like compared to its Southern counterpart.
Jiffy cornbread mix, in case you really are standing in the baking aisle wondering, is wheat flour mixed with some cornmeal, a lot of sugar, lard, baking soda, and a handful of preservatives. (Note that because of the wheat flour, it's not gluten-free.) Use it to make creamy, cheesy Corn Pudding.
Among them was a version of Indian bread made of cornmeal, salt and water called pone or corn pone. The name came from the Algonquin word apan, meaning "baked." The Narragansett word for cornbread, nokechick, became no-cake and then hoe-cake.
While Southern economies thrived on cash crops like cotton, corn served a crucial purpose – it was a cheap, easy way to feed enslaved people. Cornmeal rations became a foundation for survival, and enslaved people turned their limited resources into a cornerstone of their diet: cornbread.
As with the Revolutionary Way, cornbread again played a vital role in feeding soldiers during the Civil War. You may have heard of hardtack, an unleavened bread made from only flour and water used to feed troops using as little resources as possible.
While not a professional chef, my experience with corn bread, be it packaged or made from scratch is if you over mix it, it's gonna fall! Also, let it sit for 4-5 minutes after gently scraping it into the pan and let the ingredients start their magic reactions. No peeking while baking!! That can make it fall too.
If your hot water cornbread is falling apart, the most common reason is the temperature of your grease or oil. You have to make sure that your grease or oil is hot enough. When you put the cornbread into hot grease, it needs to quickly form a crispy outer layer to hold everything together.
As for the best cornmeal for cornbread, either fine- or medium-grind cornmeal is a great choice. Medium-grind cornmeal will bring slightly more texture and grittiness to the batter, which you may or may not want (it's up to you!). You can use fine or medium cornmeal in these extra corny muffins.
MICROWAVE. When you're short on time, the microwave is a great option to warm up cornbread. Place the bread on a microwave-safe dish and cover it with a damp paper towel. This will help keep the cornbread moist.
Introduction: My name is Fr. Dewey Fisher, I am a powerful, open, faithful, combative, spotless, faithful, fair person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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