NOMS -- Cornbread!

I loves me some cornmeal. I like cornmeal bread, cornmeal pancakes, cornmeal dusted pizza crust, grits, and polenta. Needless to say, I also love cornbread. I used to buy the super cheap, yet still super tasty, Jiffy mix.  I nommed on the warm, yellowy bread in ignorant bliss for years until one day I actually read the ingredients:

INGREDIENTS: WHEAT FLOUR, DEGERM-INATED YELLOW CORN MEAL, SUGAR, ANIMAL SHORTENING (CONTAINS ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: LARD, HYDROGENATED LARD, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED LARD), contains less than 2% of each of the following: BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, SALT, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID.

CONTAINS: WHEAT

Who the heck would think there would be LARD in cornbread?!? Is it 1953? Saddened, there was no more Jiffy cornbread mix for me.

A number of years ago, I was at a friend's house and he gave me some cornbread his roommate had made. It was delicious, and, it turned out, also lowfat.  I got the recipe, and while I rarely make it as lowcal and lowfat as it might be, you certainly can do so and it will still be tasty.  I sometimes use buttermilk instead of skim milk, or I use a splash of each. If anyone has any suggestion for how to replace the eggs in this, I'd be interested in trying a vegan version. I'm thinking maybe mashed banana?

If you want to do the lowcal, lowfat version, use whatever margarine product you like, replace the sugar with Splenda™, and use skim milk.

Cornbread

2/3 cup      white sugar

1 tsp           salt

1/3 cup      butter, softened

1 tsp           vanilla extract

2                 eggs

2 cups        all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp        baking powder

3/4 cup      cornmeal

1/3 cup      skim milk

1 can          creamed corn

1.    Preheat oven to 400°F.  Grease or lightly coat with cooking spray a 9 x 13 baking pan.

2.    In a large bowl, beat together sugar, salt, butter and vanilla until creamy.

3.    Stir in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4.    In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and cornmeal.

5.    Stir flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with the milk.

6.    Add creamed corn. Beat well until blended.

7.    Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until top is lightly browned. 

Serve warm. 

Local eggs are the only way to go.