This is my new breakfast obsession. I have always loved cornbread, and my devotion only grew in high school, when my wonderful friend’s mom would make sweet loaves of it for breakfast after our giggly sleepovers. I begged my mom to buy cornmeal at the store, and I tried to perfect her delicious Puerto Rican recipe.
This is something a little different, but it is just as good. I love the crunch of the cornmeal and the aroma of the spices. And, I am going to tell you something amazing: while this looks like spiced cornbread, it actually tastes just like a cake doughnut. It blew my mind the first time I made it: subtly sweet, somehow dense and light at the same time, and with a tiny kick of cinnamon and nutmeg flavor.
I am basically alternating back and forth between this cornbread, baked oatmeal, and scones for breakfast, but sometime soon I am going to have to get over my obsessions and try some new things!
In the meantime, though, I’ll have another slice:)
Spiced Cornbread
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan‘s Baking: From My Home to Yours
1 c buttermilk
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 1/4 c AP flour
3/4 c yellow cornmeal, preferably stone ground
1/2 c sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 loaf pan or an 8 x 8 square pan. (I have used both, and they both work beautifully. I have a slight preference for the loaf version because it reminds me of those high school days, but someone dropped our glass loaf pan on the kitchen floor, and it shattered into a million pieces (great sadness: it was me!), so the 8 x 8 pan it is, until we get a new loaf pan.)
-Whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, and eggs.
-In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Use a large rubber spatula to stir in the liquid ingredients, stirring just until everything is moistened. Gently scrape the batter into the pan.
-If using a 9 x 5 pan, bake for about 1 hour. If using an 8 x 8 pan, bake for about 35-45 minutes.
-Cool for 10 minutes before serving. This bread will feed you for several happy days, but it needs to be refrigerated to keep it from going south. Enjoy!
I love cornbread too, but I usually can’t find good ones so I’ll usually pass on them.
Good ones are hard to find. I can’t seem to recreate the one my friend’s mom used to make back when we were in high school, but this is a decent substitution!