I think I mentioned before that I am not the world's best cook. I kind of believe that anyone who can read can cook, but my problem is that I'd rather read than cook, so I spend more time doing the one than trying to improve on the other. Good whole wheat corn bread is one recipe that has eluded me. It's passable, and no one really complains, but it was always drier than I wanted, and the corn I used seemed to be too coarse, or something. Tonight I decided to try grinding up popcorn for a change, and then I ended up doing some other substitutes using what was easily available in my kitchen, and I'm ecstatic to announce that it was fabulous. I'll post the original recipe below (called Perfect Corn Bread, even though it never was for me, and which I've had around so long that I have no idea where it came from), and then I'll put the recipe I ended up doing underneath it. I think the original recipe probably would work well with the white flour it calls for, but I always use whole wheat, which may explain why it didn't work as well for me.
Original recipe:
Perfect Corn Bread
1 C. sifted enriched flour
1 C. yellow cornmeal
1/2 C. sugar
4 t. baking powder
3/4 t. salt
2 eggs
1 C. milk
1/4 C. soft shortening
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls, then add the wet to the dry and mix well. Pour into a greased 9x9x2" pan, and bake at 425 for 20 to 25 minutes.
My version: Perfect Whole Wheat Corn Bread
1 C. whole wheat flour (I used white wheat)
1 C. ground popcorn
1/2 C. sugar (I use Sucanat)
4 t. baking powder (I use Rumford)
3/4 t. salt
2 eggs
1 C. almond milk (purchased, then diluted 1/2 and 1/2 with water)
1/4 C. coconut oil
Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls, then add the wet to the dry and mix well. Pour into a greased 9x9x2" pan and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes, until golden brown.
To complete the meal, I opened a can of baked beans and made a green salad. No complaints! Woot!
By the way, the picture above is not the cornbread I made, but it looked just like that. We ate it too fast for me to think about taking a picture. :)
Looks yummy! We used to make delicious sweet cornbread with our own dried corn-- those cobs that we had left too long to eat fresh, so we dried them and twisted the dried kernels off the ears. Our mill won't grind straight corn, so we mix 1/2 corn, 1/2 wheat and grind the mixture for a whole grain wheat-corn flour. It makes sweet cornbread that we serve for breakfast with honey-butter or syrup, but it would be good for a dinner side dish as well. It's a great way to not feel guilty about wasting all that good corn!
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