What's the best way to bake corn bread?

I’m from a family of cornbread makers and eaters. In a bowl mix 1 cup self-rising corn meal, .5 cup self-rising flour, one egg, .25 cup canola oil, 2 tablespoons sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and enough milk to make it like a thick pancake batter. Take a 9–10 inch iron skillet and add ¼ cup oil and turn on the burner to med/high. When the oil gets hot pour in the cornbread batter. When you see some air bubbles coming up through the batter in the center, put the skillet in a preheated 375 degree oven and bake until the top starts to brown a little and is firm when pressed in the middle (around 20–25 minutes). When done take it out and turn the cornbread onto a plate upside down if you like the crust crunchy and right side up if you like the crust soft.

You can use plain corn meal and flour but I like using the self rising. I usually even add about ½ tsp baking powder even to the self rising to make the bread a little less dense. Most people don’t like it that way though. You can also add steamed onions, corn, and hot peppers and call it Mexican corn bread.

It goes with most anything, but we love it with veggies, soups, chili, and by itself. Serve it hot and buttered!

OK, let the corn bread wars begin.

I totally disagree with @PurpleClouds about putting sugar in it. True corn bread does not have sugar in it.

I do agree about the cast iron skillet. (Although I just put it straight in the oven. I do not put it on the stove to form a crust.)

Here is a good recipe. Note the use of buttermilk. Very important to authentic taste.

Ingredients

* 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
* ¾ cup all-purpose flour
* ¾ cup yellow cornmeal
* 1½ teaspoons baking powder
* ½ teaspoon baking soda
* ½ teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 cup buttermilk (shake before measuring)
* 2 large eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and position a rack in the middle. Butter an 8-inch-square baking pan.

Melt the butter in the microwave in a microwave-safe dish in three 15-second intervals on high or in a small pan on the stove. Set it aside to cool.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and the eggs. Add the melted butter. Add the flour-cornmeal mixture and stir just until combined. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake until the cornbread just begins to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 23 minutes. Cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Corn bread is very good with a chicken or roast pork or ham dinner. It also goes especially well with chili. You can easily eat it by itself. Just cut a slice, split it, and serve it with butter.

Corn bread does not have sugar in it. If there is sugar in it, call it “cake”.
My favorite way to cook it is in a cake pan, but it is really good if you cook it in a waffle maker!

I’m with @marinelife and @filmfann

. And I would never use self-rising cornmeal or flour.

I vote for a couple o’ tablespoons of sugar myself.
I do like cornbread without, but, I find it best slightly sweetened and the ultimate is with honey butter.
Not any different than adding a little sugar to a spaghetti sauce to take the edge off the acidity. I don’t care for the taste of the baking powder and soda, a bit of sugar masks that and lends itself to better overall flavor IMO.

To each his own.

Try it with a nice jam or preserve too, my favorite is Blackberry preserves…oh my, sooo good!

No sugar in southern cornbread. The smell of it baking will drive you insane.

I like it in muffin form myself, with butter and syrup, usually maple, but anything sweet and sticky to keep it together. It tends to be crumbly. Enjoy.

Oh guys, where have you been. Corn bread needs a little sugar in it. @john65pennington I beg to differ about Southern cornbread and sugar. :)

I like both the sweet and the non sweet corn breads, but they are slightly different. The sweet version tends to be a little moister and have more of a cake-like texture, whereas the non-sweet variety tends to be a little drier and have a nice crust on the bottom of it, ususally from being cooked in the oven in a cast iron skillet. The sweet kind is often cooked in a loaf pan or cake pan.

I really like the kind that is made with creamed corn and fresh corn kernels and a little bit of jalapeno peppers or diced green chilies like these and maybe even some cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese.

Here’s a recipe for Classic Sweet Corn Bread

Here’s a recipe for Classic Southern Corn Bread

This recipe uses Fresh Corn Kernels and has the addition of cheese.

And this one has Green Chilies and cheese. This one sounds like my favorite. Although I would go for the mild green chilies and not the hot ones.

Cornbread is delicious with chili and it’s also good with just a bowl of butter beans. And it goes pretty good with beef stew or minestrone soup.

This may sound awful to some of you, but me and my Grandpa, who has since passed, loved to get a tall glass and fill it some of the crumbled Southern Style cornbread and then fill the rest of the glass with regular milk or butter milk and eat it with a spoon.

The sweet corn bread tastes great with honey butter slathered all over it. The others taste great with regular butter.