Easy Skillet Corn Bread | Gluten-free #Thanksgiving

Here is an easy skillet corn bread for the Thanksgiving table (or for stuffing). What differentiates this corn bread is that it’s made with 100% corn flour (Bob’s Red Mill whole grain stone ground), not the usual mix of cornmeal and all-purpose flour. Therefore, it’s a gluten-free, ideal for your wheat intolerant family and friends when they come for Thanksgiving. Everyone should be happy with this surprisingly light and very flavorful bread. You can’t tell there is no white flour in it; it’s a much healthier option. (If 100% corn flour tastes so good, I’ll start putting it in everything I bake.) I served it with some smoky chile maple syrup. Yum!

There is so much cooking for the Thanksgiving feast, an easy skillet corn bread is welcoming. The key ingredients are few: cornmeal, eggs, buttermilk and butter. For special equipment, you do need a well-seasoned 9 to 9 1/2-inch cast-iron skillet. If you prepare the pan properly and follow the recipe instructions closely, you may even be able to flip the corn bread upside down. Obviously, I didn’t. However, the corn bread did not suffer much from my lack of attention to the recipe. It’s very forgiving.

Corn bread served with smoky chili maple syrup

Sticking with the recipe, you need two bowls and a cast-iron skillet. Heat the cast-iron pan in a 425°F oven for 10 minutes. Put the dry ingredients, including cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt, in a medium bowl. Whisk together the eggs and buttermilk in the second bowl. Melt the butter in the sizzling cast-iron pan. Pour the hot butter into the buttermilk and eggs mixture. Put the pan back in the preheated oven. Combine cornmeal with the buttermilk mixture. Finally, scrape batter into the hot skillet and bake until golden.

The hot and well-oiled cast-iron pan works wonder in turning out a richly browned and crusty exterior unlike any cornbread I’ve seen. From start to finish, you can put the cornbread on the table in a half hour. How effortless, tasty and stress free it is!

Be well, be blessed. Happy Thanksgiving!

Print Recipe

Easy Skillet Corn Bread

Ingredients

• 246g or 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal (preferably stone-ground)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 385 ml or 1 3/4 cups well-shaken buttermilk
• 57g or 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• Equipment: a well-seasoned 9 to 9 1/2-inch cast-iron skillet

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle. Heat skillet in oven 10 minutes.

2

Meanwhile stir together dry ingredients in small bowl. Whisk together eggs and buttermilk in a medium bowl.

3

Remove hot skillet from oven (handle will be very hot) and add butter, swirling skillet to coat bottom and side (butter may brown). Whisk hot butter into buttermilk mixture and return skillet to oven. Stir cornmeal mixture into buttermilk mixture just until evenly moistened but still lumpy.

4

Scrape batter into hot skillet and bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn out onto a rack and cool.

5

Notes: Corn bread for stuffing can be baked 2 days ahead and kept in a sealable bag at room temperature.

Notes

Ruth Reichl, The Gourmet Cookbook.