I've always been a fan of cornbread, but other than a handful of times when I've opened a boxed mix, I haven't made it very often.
All that changed when my sister-in-law (who lives in San Antonio - beautiful city, by the way) gave us Classic Tex Mex and Texas Cooking for Christmas a couple years ago. I haven't had a chance to dive too far into these regional recipes, but the "Plain Ole Cornbread" recipe has become something of a standby.
I decided to give it a little bit of a cheesy twist. It came out moist and so very cornbread-y.
It's really a very basic recipe, and you could probably add any flavors you like - chili powder, garlic, maybe drizzle with honey or maple syrup. (Incidentally, the basic cornbread - sans cheese - is amazing with homemade sugar plum jam.)
I apologize in advance for most of these pictures. The sun decided to shine directly into my kitchen window when I was making this.
The basic cornbread goes like this. Start by combining a cup of flour, a cup of cornmeal (I used white cornmeal because, to my chagrin, Walmart happened to be out of yellow cornmeal when I went shopping for it last, but it tastes the same), 1/4 cup of sugar, and 4 teaspoons of baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoons of salt.
Add 2 eggs and a 1/4 cup of oil.
Whisk it all together until it's smooth.
That's the basic recipe. Here's where I got a little creative.
Add about a cup of shredded cheese - cheddar, pepper jack, or a blend, whatever you like. I used just a Mexican blend.
Stir it in, then pour the mixture into a greased 9x13 inch pan.
Bake on 375 degrees for thirty minutes until the cornbread is golden brown.
I recommend cutting and serving the cornbread when it's warm. As it cools it has a slight tendency to stick to the pan (especially if you haven't greased the pan well enough).
If you wanted to get a really cheesy flavor, you could sprinkle a layer of shredded cheese over the top of the cornbread during the last five minutes of baking.
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