Skillet Cornbread

This easy and delicious Skillet Cornbread is here to get you through the winter as a trusty accompaniment for your favorite pot of chili or beans. You're gonna want to eat it with everything.

Living in the UK for eight years, I now understand why C.S. Lewis made it always winter and never Christmas in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Once the festivities have come to an end and all the sparkly lights are put away, winter just seems to stretch on interminably. One wet, cold, grey day rolls into the next, and it could be May before you feel truly warm. It's relentless.

But this year I'm giving myself permission to make the most of the long winter. I intend to wear the coziest clothes, light all the candles, and eat a neverending series of warm hearty bowls of goodness. I'm talking all the soup, chili, chowder and stew you can imagine. Anything that bubbles away on the stove or cooks slowly in the oven is eligible for this new winter fantasy. It's not hibernation, but it's pretty close. And all that bowl food needs good bread.

What makes Skillet Cornbread so awesome?

This Skillet Cornbread is the ideal accompaniment to your winter pot of comfort. It's great crumbled into a bowl of chili or beans. I love it at breakfast with hot sauce and fried eggs. It can even show up at dessert with plenty of salted butter, absolutely dripping in honey. It's a true chameleon of a quick bread.

And it's super easy to make. It's barely any more work than a box mix. As long as you have all the ingredients on hand, you can mix up the batter in no time. And baking it in a cast iron skillet means that you'll get that gorgeous, crunchy crust on the outside with a light and fluffy, beautifully risen bread in the middle. You'll want to keep a batch around all winter.

Make it magical

Sometimes the magick comes from the ingredients (lots of fertility and abundance energy in this recipe) but you can also call on the magick of your cooking vessel as well. Iron has a long history in the realms of magick.

When our ancient ancestors were first learning to work with metals, smiths were held in reverence as magical practitioners. In some cultures, iron ore was believed to be the earth's menstrual blood, one of the most powerfully magical substances you can get. Smiths were the original alchemists, transmuting raw materials into useful tools with the power of fire and water.

There are dozens of traditional spells that use iron in various forms. Even the simple act of hanging a horseshoe over the door for luck can be traced back to the ancient reverence for this metal. So anytime you cook with iron, you can call on that transformative power to provide you with spiritual assistance. (Source: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judika Illes)

For details on the magical properties of the ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make this cornbread. The full details are in the recipe card below.

• Cornmeal - a coarse grind is extra flavorful
• Milk
• Flour - all-purpose or plain
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Vegetable oil - any neutral flavored oil will do
• Eggs
• Butter

Tips for making Skillet Cornbread

Making the batter is pretty simple. The one unusual step is soaking the cornmeal. You'll just want to add the milk to the cornmeal, give it a quick stir, and leave it alone for 15 minutes. This makes the cornbread extra light and fluffy.

You'll also want to pop you cast iron skillet into the oven as its pre-heating. We want it good and hot when we're ready to start baking.

After that, it's just a matter of mixing dry and wet ingredients separately, then bringing them together. Some whisking and gentl stirring is all that's required.

When you're ready to bake, carefully remove your hot skillet from the oven and add the butter. Use your oven mitts to swirl this around until melted. The pan will have plenty of heat to take care of this. Then pour in your batter and bake until puffed and golden. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, then serve warm. Store leftovers in an airtight container. This is at its best when eaten straight away, but the leftovers are still totally awesome.

This Skillet Cornbread might be on your table all winter, but I promise, it will always be awesome.

Looking for more awesome cornbread recipes? Try this Cheddar Habanero Cornbread or some Cornbread Chili Casserole.

Print

Follow me on Pinterest for awesome soups and chilis to accompany your cornbread.