Skillet Cornbread
By Cat, Jan 2008 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)
- See also: 1. Quick Breads, Muffins; 2. Corn Bread or Muffins: Sprouted Grain or Pre-Soak Method; 3. Lime water
- Includes: 1. Standard Method; 2. Pre-soak Method (Neither has been tested by me)
The most important consideration when making cornbread, is the source of the cornmeal. Since most commercial feed corn – the kind of corn used to make cornmeal and corn starch – is GMO, you want to be sure to purchase either “Organic” or “GMO-free” cornmeal (or masa in this case).
There are many different recipes for cornbread, some sweet and cake-like, others plain and bread-like. It can be made in a heavy cast iron skillet on top of the stove, or in a cast iron skillet/pan or regular baking pan in the oven (as in this recipe).
Masa (or masa harina) is cornmeal ground from hominy; hominy is corn that has been limed (by boiling with calcium hydroxide or pickling lime, then washed well, dried, and ground into flour); or it may be cornmeal that has been soaked in dolomite lime-water. See my article on Lime water for more on this, including the benefits of liming, and how you can lime regular cornmeal at home. This recipe uses masa, which is already limed.
Generally when using masa, you can use more of the masa and less wheat flour than recipes for regular cornmeal. This recipe uses a 3:1 ratio of masa to wheat flour.
Cornmeal to Flour Ratio
Some cornbreads are made with regular (fine-ground) cornmeal, coarse stone-ground cornmeal, or with a mixture, and usually with wheat flour (whole grain or white), which helps the cornmeal to form a dough. However, when you use masa instead of regular cornmeal, the masa can form a dough without the addition of wheat flour (though most recipes, including this one, include a smaller portion of wheat flour).
This recipe uses masa in a 3:1 ratio with whole grain wheat/spelt flour. It also uses fresh milk and baking powder as the leavening, but you could use buttermilk and baking soda as the leavening – I also provide amounts for this option.
Cornbread recipes vary on proportion of cornmeal to wheat flour (whole or white), when using 2 – 3 eggs and 1 to 1 1/2 cup milk. The following are from my various cookbooks/recipes (amounts in parenthesis are specified in the recipe); it’s all a matter of taste:
- Tassajara Bread Book (muffins): 1:1 (1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup flour; 2 cups total);
- Bob’s Red Mill: 1:1 (1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup flour; 2 cups total)
- Better Homes & Gardens (1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup flour; 2 cups total)
- Betty Crocker cookbook: 3:1 (1 1/2 cups cornmeal, 1/2 cup flour; 2 cups total);
- Chow.com’s Masa Cornbread: 3:1 (1 1/2 cups cornmeal, 1/2 cup flour; 2 cups total);
- New Vegetarian Epicure: 3:2 (1 1/2 cups cornmeal, 1 cups flour; 2 1/2 cups total);
- Nourishing Traditions: 2:1 (2 cups cornmeal, 1 cup flour; 3 cups total).
Masa Corn Bread
This recipe is adapted from chow.com (1). it has a 3:1 ratio of masa harina to wheat flour. Because there is not much whole wheat flour in this recipe, I don’t see a need to presoak it, but I provide that option in case you wish to try it.
Generally, I like to use buttermilk or sour milk, rather than fresh milk. Because the original recipe uses fresh milk, I provide instructions if you choose to use buttermilk/sour milk, or if you choose to do a pre-soak method.
The original recipe uses a 425°F oven, but everything I’ve read indicates that when using limed cornmeal (masa), a lower, 325°F oven setting provides a better result, but of course requires a longer baking time. However, the batter will brown better around the edges in the hotter oven. Only testing will reveal which is better.
I also provide a pre-soak method, but this has not been tested.
Makes 9 – 12 squares. I’ve not yet tested this recipe.
Ingredients & Equipment:
- 1 1/2 cup masa harina
- 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp unrefined sea salt
- 2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder (or 1 tsp baking soda and 1 – 1 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder, if using buttermilk/sour milk, as in the pre-soak version)
- 1 Tbsp Rapadura sugar or honey (optional)
- 1 1/2 cup milk or buttermilk/sour milk (approximate)
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
- Equipment:
- large bowl
- 9″ cast iron skillet
Standard Method
- Preheat oven to 425°F (or 325°F?)
- Sift dry ingredients into large bowl.
- Rub half the butter (2 Tbsp) into dry ingredients with fingers or pastry cutter. Put the other half into the skillet, in the oven, until butter melts.
- Beat eggs, optional sweetener, and 1 1/4 cup milk/buttermilk, and mix into dry ingredients, adding more milk/buttermilk as necessary to make batter of a good texture (takes more liquid than regular cornmeal bread).
- When butter in skillet is melted, spread out batter and bake until brown around edges and light brown areas on top, about 20 minutes in 425°F oven (or 40 – 50 minutes in a 325°F oven).
- Remove pan from oven and cool on rack. If you want to keep the bottom crust crisp, remove cornbread from pan after cooling just a tad.
- Serve with whipped butter and honey.
Pre-soak Method
For this version, you must use buttermilk or sour milk, not regular milk. And that means you must use the baking soda to neutralize the acid after the presoak; additional leavening must then be added. I calculate that as follows:
May need to redo this after testing, based on BS vs BP Pt 2 article: The original recipe calls for 2 tsp baking powder (1/2 – 1 tsp soda equivalent) as leavening, and 2 cups flour (including the masa). This is at the low-end of the general recommendation of 1/4 – 1/2 tsp soda equivalent per cup of flour. More leavening may be needed for the rise; I estimate 1 1/2 tsp baking powder (or about 1/2 tsp baking soda plus 1 tsp cream of tarter, for total of 1 tsp soda and 1 tsp cream of tartar), as indicated in the ingredients list above.
- Pre-Soak: Sift masa and flour into large bowl, but reserve 2 Tbsp of the wheat flour for the next day.
- Rub half the butter (2 Tbsp) into dry ingredients with fingers or pastry cutter. Reserve the other half for the skillet (next day).
- Stir in buttermilk/sour milk (do not use fresh milk) until just mixed. Press a sheet of waxed paper agains the surface of the batter, then place bowl into a plastic bag and let rest on counter overnight, or up to 24 hours.
- Next day: Preheat oven to 425°F (or 325°F?); place reserved butter in the skillet and place into oven until the butter is just melted.
- Make a shallow well in the top of the presoak mixture.
- Beat eggs with optional sweetener, and pour into the well. Sift reserved flour with 1 tsp baking soda and 1 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder over the bowl, then stir batter until just combined, adding more buttermilk as necessary to make batter of a good texture (takes more liquid than regular cornmeal bread).
- When butter in skillet is melted, spread out batter in skillet and bake until brown around edges and light brown areas on top, about 20 minutes in 425°F oven (or 40 – 50 minutes in a 325°F oven).
- Remove pan from oven and cool on rack. If you want to keep the bottom crust crisp, remove cornbread from pan after cooling just a tad.
- Serve with whipped butter and honey
References:
- Chow.com recipe (chow.com/recipes/11286-masa-cornbread)
