Corn bread
If you haven’t read yet, after the serious attempt to replace sugar with Splenda, we decided to ditch Splenda and all other artificial sweeteners. The final decision is to stick with things natural while, at the same time, reduce the amounts of sugar in our daily diet. Relative to baking, that means breads and muffins in lieu of cakes and cookies. And if a recipe calls for half a cup of sugar, there’s the option of reducing the sugar by a tablespoonful or so to re-train our taste buds to get used to less sweet baked products.
Yesterday morning, I baked a pan of corn bread based on a recipe from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. I said “based on” because I made one substitution. The original recipe uses frozen corn; I used fresh sweet yellow corn. I cut off the kernels from the cobs myself just like I did when I baked a batch of corn muffins a la Kenny Rogers. The second page in the corn muffins entry has a very illustrative photo on how to cut corn kernels off the cob.
Makes one 8-inch square loaf.
Ingredients:
1/3 c. vegetable shortening1, plus about a teaspoonful for brushing the pan2
1 tbsp. butter
kernels from 3 cobs of sweet yellow corn
1 c. of all-purpose flour
1/2 c. of white sugar
2 tsps. of baking powder
3/4 tsp of salt
1 c. of yellow cornmeal3
1 c. of skim milk
1 egg, beaten
Preheat the oven to 175oC.
Brush the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan with shortening.
Heat the butter in a pan and cook the corn until the kernels start to turn transparent. I prefer that they remain crisp at this point so that they won’t get soggy during baking. Cooking them in butter is meant to moisten them rather than to completely cook them. Cool the corn while preparing the batter.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the shortening. Use a pastry blender if you have one. I don’t — I used two round-edged knives and cut through the mixture in scissor-like fashion.
Stir in the corn mixture including the buttery liquid in the pan. Pour in the milk and egg and mix just until blended, taking extra care NOT to overmix.
Pour into the prepared pan, tilting the pan and smoothing the batter with a spatula. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Turn upside down on a plate then return to the rack to cool some more.
If you’re wondering if you should wait until the corn bread has cooled completely before cutting, well, I cut it into squares while it was still quite hot because I was packing several pieces for the kids’ lunch boxes (for mid-morning and mid-afternoon recess) and there wasn’t much time left before the school bus was scheduled to arrive. After the kids left, I had two pieces of corn bread for breakfast.
How was the corn bread? Pretty good. Not too sweet, not oily, but not as moist as cakes or muffins. Well, it is a bread after all.
The corn bread was wonderful while still warm. It was wonderful after sitting overnight in a tightly covered container in the fridge.
Notes:
1I used Crisco.
2If you’re using a non-stick pan (like silicone), brushing it with shortening is not necessary.
3I used Albers yellow cornmeal.
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Comments
12 Responses to “Corn bread”
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Hi Connie,
I have been avoiding the artificial sweeteners myself. The body recognizes it as foreign and makes it harder for the body to digest it. Thank you for this recipe!
You may have considered this already, but when I was on my “diet” I ditched all refined white sugar with raw sugar and phased out most processed things out of my daily meals. You can probably substitute half of the white sugar with raw sugar as a more healthful alternative.
Maria, I felt that too. Digestion was problematic. And the sensation was different. Like a stickiness in the throat that won’t go away.
Rose, we’re on Muscovado already for coffee, etc. But it’s different with baking. I’ve tried substituting brown for white (it was a streusel cake, I remember) and the result is less than satisfactory.
Dang. I don’t bake, so I have no idea how raw sugar would hold up with baking
It makes great chocolate chip cookies, though! (the only thing I can bake, haha)
“chocolate chip cookies”
Oh, you’re making me miss them. LOL And I walked away from a Ghirardelli chocolate sale yesterday!
Just wanted to say how much I agree with you on the artificial sweeteners. The more and more I ready about them, the more I become seriously concerned. The science is there, and it’s good, it’s just that the FDA ignores it. Artificial sweeteners are chemicals, not food, no matter how much they want you to think they are.
So, like you, I have removed all artificial sweeteners from my family’s diet. Preservatives and artificial food coloring is next. Just cut back on the sugar and we’ll be much better off.
Oh man. May I have some with a couple of slices of bacon? *drool*
I love your header btw!
Karl, re “Preservatives and artificial food coloring is next”. Oh yes, we’re so careful about reading food labels and ingredients these days too.
Toni, you’ll have to provide the bacon hehehe Me on a low-fat diet.
Hello Ms Connie!
Is it still alright if I use Corn kernels in can for this recipe? If yes can you tell me how many grams should I use? bit lazy po kasi
and is the vegetable shortening just like butter po ba?
Thank you! Thank you!
Leah, yes, just drain them well.
You can use butter.
My dad is diabetic but I never used artificial sweeteners on the food I prepare for him. They taste bad (in my opinion).
Great that I found your site. I like corn breads and corn muffin. I think i will check if your corn muffin recipe is the same as mine
I’ve been looking for cornmeal, where could I buy them? I’m from the south. I’ve looked at supermarkets and specialty stores here but couldn’t find any.