Cornbread secrets deliver delightful holiday result

provides. In general, be skeptical of any recipe that uses more flour than cornmeal, as the results will likely be overly cakey.

A critical step some cooks skip when making cornbread is thoroughly combining all of the dry ingredients first. Be sure to thoroughly whisk your cornmeal, flour and leavening agents like baking soda or baking powder before any liquid is added. If you’re dumping all of the ingredients into a bowl at once and stirring, you’ll likely have small clumps of flour or baking soda in the finished bread. If you mix the wet batter too aggressively to compensate for not whisking the dry ingredients first, the resulting bread will probably come out too tough.

While cornbread can be prepared with water or plain milk, buttermilk will give you the best results, and for a couple of reasons. Buttermilk brings more flavor to the bread with it’s tangy flavor, and the acid in buttermilk will react with the leavening agents added to the batter, helping the cornbread rise.

When you’re ready to bake your cornbread, it’s wise to make sure whatever dish you’re cooking it in is piping hot before the batter goes in. This will help the cornbread cook evenly and reduce the chances of it sticking to the pan. If you’re using a glass, ceramic or metal baking dish, let it heat up in the oven for about 10 minutes. If you’re cooking cornbread in a skillet, toss in a few pats of butter or bacon grease and get the pan sizzling hot on a stove top burner first.

If you’re making cornbread from scratch for a cornbread dressing this Thanksgiving, be sure to plan ahead. Cornbread has to be dried out somewhat to avoid turning into a soggy mess. To do this, crumble your cornbread into small pieces on a large baking sheet. Leave those crumbs out to dry overnight, or ideally a full 24 hours ahead of preparing your dressing.

While some prefer a cornbread dressing with a degree of sweetness, look for recipes that incorporate little if any sugar so the dressing won’t clash with the savory flavor of your roast turkey and gravy.

This week we’re including recipes for three types of cornbread. Our Classic Cornbread delivers a timeless flavor that partners perfectly with just about any fall meal and will dry out into a perfect base for cornbread dressing. Our Jalapeño-Bacon Skillet Cornbread is a spicy and savory variation on skillet cornbread with a bold flavor full of Texas swagger.

And for something completely different, try our Pan de Elote. This traditional Mexican take on cornbread is made with fresh corn kernels instead of cornmeal and has a fantastic corn aroma. It’s also quite sweet with a texture like corn pudding, and it makes an ideal alternative to cake for dessert.

Paul Stephen / Staff