Great basic cornbread

People are picky about cornbread, and there are SO many ways you can change it up by mixing in optional ingredients.

I'm not really even a cornbread person.  I could take it or leave it.  However, cornbread is a MUST with certain dishes, like ham & beans, which I'm making this week.   Or chili, at least in this house.  Sooo, I've found what I like best is to keep it basic.  Plain.  But NOT dry or crumbly. 

This cornbread tastes EXACTLY like that which they serve @ the Johnny Appleseed Festival in Ft. Wayne, IN every year.  If you don't live in Indiana that probably doesn't mean much to you.  Trust me, it's SO good---they have lines all day long, the entire time the festival runs, for this cornbread.



Country Cornbread

1 C yellow cornmeal
1 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. double-acting baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 C buttermilk
1/2 stick (1/4 C) butter, melted and cooled

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  I grease a large loaf pan, but you could put this in a 9" square pan, greased generously. 

In a bowl whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and butter.  Add the buttermilk mixture to the cornmeal mixture, and stir the batter until it is just combined.

Pour into greased pan and bake until the top is pale golden brown and the sides begin to pull away from the edges of the pan.  Let the corn bread cool for 5 minutes; turn it out onto a rack.  We eat it while it's hot, with GOBS of butter.  Hey, I'm just being honest here....