Bread
Jalapeño Cheddar Skillet Cornbread
Sharp cheddar and two kinds of jalapeño in a buttermilk cornbread, baked in a screaming-hot buttered skillet. Made to go with the Buckeye Woodsman deer chili.
42 min · Easy
Bread · · By Ashley
Honey Cast Iron Cornbread
Heat the skillet in the oven with the lard already in it. When the batter goes in, it should sizzle.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 35 min
- Serves
- 8 slices
- Level
- Easy
Where the time goes
35 min, mostly waiting
- Hands-on
- Hands-off
- 01Hands-offHeat the skillet and lard in the oven15 min
- 02Hands-onMix the batter · while the oven heats10 min
- 03Hands-offBake20 to 25 min
The story
The crust is the best part of skillet cornbread, and the trick is to get the pan properly hot. A 10-inch cast iron skillet goes into the oven with a quarter cup of lard while it preheats to 425°F. The hot lard coats the pan and fries the outside into a crisp golden shell, and whatever is left gets stirred into the batter.
Raw honey and a little sugar make it gently sweet, and buttermilk keeps it tender. It is made to go next to the crockpot ham hocks, green beans and potatoes.
How it went
Next to a bowl of the crockpot ham hocks.
Ingredients
Serves 8 slices
Tap an ingredient to check it off.
If you haven't got it
- buttermilk — whole milk
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done.
Heat the skillet
Put the lard in a 10-inch cast iron skillet, set it in the oven, and heat the oven to 425°F / 218°C with the skillet inside.
A screaming-hot skillet is what gives you the crisp golden crust.
Dry ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Wet ingredients
In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and honey until smooth.
Combine
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir gently with a spatula just until combined. A few small lumps are fine.
Overmixing makes it tough.
Into the hot pan
Carefully take the skillet out of the oven and swirl the melted lard to coat the bottom and sides. Pour the rest of the hot lard into the batter and give it a quick stir, then pour the batter into the skillet. It should sizzle around the edges.
Bake
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cut into wedges and serve warm, straight from the skillet.
Things worth knowing
- Use an oven mitt on the skillet handle the whole time. It stays hot long after it comes out.
Swaps that work
- Butter or bacon fat in the skillet instead of lard.
Ingredients · 35 min · Serves 8 slices
- ¼ cuplard
- 1 cupyellow cornmeal
- 1 cupall-purpose flour
- ¼ cupgranulated sugar
- 3 tbspraw honey
- 1 tbspbaking powder
- 1 tspkosher salt
- 1 cupbuttermilk
- 2 largeeggs
- ¼ cupunsalted butter
Keep cooking
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Whole baby bellas smoked in a cast iron skillet with red wine, butter, garlic and onion, then reduced to a glossy mahogany glaze. The ultimate ribeye steak topper.
1 hr 35 min · Easy
- Grilling
The Signature Ribeye
A thick 16 oz ribeye cooked the Fallow way: low heat first, a hard sear last, pulled at medium, and finished under a coin of garlic, rosemary and thyme butter.
1 hr · Medium
Made this one?
I send a new recipe most weeks, plus whatever went sideways in the kitchen that week.