Louisiana Skillet Cornbread is perfect along side of Southern Black Eyed Peas with Andouille Sausage, Shrimp Étouffée, Red Beans and Rice, and a whole host of other New Orleans classics. Its extra crispy sides and bottom along with a super moist interior will have you reaching for seconds and thirds. As an added bonus, the leftovers if any, reheat beautifully.
Generally, Southern cornbread has no flour or sugar and is made with buttermilk. Louisiana Skillet Cornbread on the other hand has equal parts of cornmeal and flour and just a hint of sugar. I addition, it’s made with whole milk rather than buttermilk.
I can remember watching my mother make cornbread in her trusty cast-iron skillet. She always made the cornbread on top of the stove. Half-way through the cooking, she would put a flat lid on top of the pan and flip the cornbread so that both the bottom and the top were golden brown. I wish I could remember the ingredients that she used. Whatever they were, my mom’s cornbread was incredible!
Ingredients
I used the following ingredients for this outstanding cornbread: Bacon drippings, stone ground yellow cornmeal, all-purpose flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, Kosher salt, whole milk, unsalted butter, eggs, and cream-style sweet corn.
I used the bacon drippings to coat the bottom of my cast-iron pan. You, however, could certainly use vegetable oil. You could also use regular cornmeal rather than stone ground cornmeal. However, you don’t want to use self-rising cornmeal or self-rising flour for that matter. The baking powder and salt take care of the rising.
Making the Louisiana Skillet Cornbread
I started by preheating my oven to 425° F. While the oven was preheating, I added the bacon drippings to my 9-inch cast-iron skillet. We had cheese grits and bacon for breakfast, so I had a ready supply of bacon drippings on hand!
Once the oven had reached 425° F, I heated the cast-iron skillet in it for about 5 minutes.
While the cast-iron pan was heating, I whisked together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Then, I whisked together the milk and the melted butter. The butter tended to solidify somewhat in the cold milk. That, however, was no problem at all. After adding the butter, I added the eggs and the cream-style corn.
Next, I added the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stirred the mixture just until everything was well combined. I wanted to be sure not to over-mix the batter.
I removed the hot skillet from the oven and poured in the cornbread batter.
After spreading out the batter, I popped the pan into the preheated 425° F oven for about 30 minutes. The top was golden brown after 30 minutes and the cornbread was perfectly cooked.
The Louisiana Skillet Cornbread was perfect along side of Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya (stay tuned!). It was extra crispy on the sides and bottom and super moist in the middle. The cornbread had just a hint of sweetness from the sugar and the cream-style corn. Yum!
Louisiana Skillet Cornbread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Tablespoons bacon drippings (See Note 1)
- 1 cup (4.3 ounces) yellow cornmeal, preferably stone ground
- 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder (See Note 2)
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup (8 ounces) whole milk
- 4 Tablespoons (½ stick, 2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup cream-style sweet corn
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° F. Add bacon drippings to 9-inch cast-iron pan. Place in oven to heat for 5 to 6 minutes.
- While pan is heating, combine dry ingredients in a large bowl; set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk milk and melted butter together. Add eggs and cream-style corn. Whisk until incorporated.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, mixing only until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Remove cast-iron pan from oven. Slowly pour in batter; smooth the top.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Cut into wedges and serve with butter.
- Yield: 8 servings.
Chula's Expert Tips
- May use vegetable oil in place of the bacon drippings.
- I always sift baking powder to ensure that there are no lumps.
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