A Gem of a Cornbread Mix

Thanksgiving in our house means turkey and stuffing. And, by "stuffing", I mean cornbread stuffing. In this household, we don't cotton to deliberately making good wheat bread go stale, just so we can make it soggy again inside a dead animal. Cornbread, toasted lightly so it's crispy, makes a much richer base for the rest of the ingredients, and remains firmer as it absorbs the juices from a roasting bird. Add to that, the nature of available grain for the first Thanksgiving dinner all those centuries ago, and imported wheat was not to be wasted, so cornbread is a more traditional flavor. Also, there's this wheat intolerance thing. Therefore, cornbread it must always be.

Now, as far as the feast is concerned, we don't mind taking the occasional shortcut – when I was much younger, we made our cornbread from the Jiffy™ mix. It was easy, tasty, and extremely inexpensive. But it has things in it (wheat flour)… well, you get the picture. So I looked around for wheat-free mixes, which usually get labeled as "gluten free". It's no skin off my nose if there's gluten from other grain sources, but, heck, if it's GF, it's also devoid of wheat, so, yay!

So, I tried a honey-cornbread mix from Aldi, and a similar Krusteaz GF mix, and both were very good. Very, very good.  They were just too sweet to use in the bird. We want savory. So I hunted and experimented, and finally found the recipe for me, for this. And I set it up so that Pop, if he gets bored, can make his own, by adding a few basic ingredients, just as though he'd gone & gotten himself a mix from the store.

It's a basic formula for skillet buttermilk cornbread, so you can bake it in one great honkin' disk, or you can turn it into adorable little bite-sized nuggets (my preference, so that I can crumble as many as I want into halves, and save a few to eat with a bowl of chili.).


Basic Cornbread Mix (and assembly instructions)

The Mix:
Ingredients:
1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) powdered buttermilk (or powdered milk, if you prefer)
1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (I like Pamelas, but Bob's Red Mill 1:1 is good, too)
3/4 cup corn meal
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions for mix:On the outside of a 1-quart zipper storage bag, write instructions in indelible ink* (I like black or blue Sharpies for the purpose) the necessary instructions for baking, which are as follows:

Preheat oven to 400º F. In a medium bowl, combine 2 large eggs, beaten, 1 cup water, and 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted. Mix well. Add dry mix, stir until just mixed (do not overmix!)

Spoon mix into small muffin tins, filling each reservoir to 3/4 full, and bake 15-17 minutes (until golden browned.  Makes up to 3 dozen.

Or, pour into an 8-inch square pan and bake 25-30 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean).

Allow to cool briefly in pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together. Pour into zipper bag, store until needed – if you plan to use it within a few weeks, it can rest on a shelf. If you're uncertain when you'll get to it, freeze it for up to 9 months, and bring to room temperature before mixing.


*You can print out a card with the instructions, and attach it to the bag, if you're feeling lazy.