The Best Cornbread Ever...Seriously!

My husband is not as "into" food as I am. Food is just something you have to have to live, nothing to get excited about, really...at least for him anyway. I'm just the opposite...it's not just something you have to have to live, it's something to experience. Being a very sense-oriented person means that every aspect of a bite of something to eat is experienced...the way it looks, smells, and feels is just as important as how it tastes. 

If my husband says something is "very good", that is akin to receiving a Michelin Star in my book.  I've learned to not get offended if I just get an "it's good" or "it's OK" when I ask him how supper was. It's just not a big deal to him. I've also learned to relish those rare "very good" compliments and strive to get them more often.

This little number below really surprised me because it garnered a "wow this is really good" (a wordier version of the Very Good), which really amazed me because my husband does not particularly like cornbread. I'm not really crazy about it myself, although alongside a hearty bowl of chili or bean soup it's simply amazing, or can be anyway. I've been looking for "the" cornbread recipe and I think I've found it in this Gluten Free Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins recipe from The Baking Beauties, a site I plan to further explore as the tagline reads "gluten free recipes for everyday living."  While I like a good corn muffin, I just didn't feel like washing my muffin pan so I baked it in my lovely cast iron skillet. Mmmmmm. One of these days I'm going to get a cast iron muffin pan...

I loved this cornbread because it was moist, not dry and crumbly, and just had an amazing flavor. I used butter, "homemade" buttermilk (aka emergency buttermilk because I had none on hand...the old vinegar in milk trick), butter, and gluten free all purpose flour by C.C. Dolch Bakery. It contains millet, white rice and tapioca flours, tapioca starch and xanthan gum. I've been very happy with this flour so far.

GLUTEN FREE CORNBREAD MUFFINS (or cornbread, if you feel lazy)

ingredients:

• 1/2 c butter
• 2/3 c sugar (or less if you want)
• 2 eggs
• 1 c buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 c cornmeal
• 1 c gluten free flour 
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp salt

method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan and set aside.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter. Stir in sugar.
3. Add eggs and stir to combine.
4. Stir in buttermilk.
5. Add dry ingredients, and stir until few lumps remain.
6. Scoop into prepared muffin tin. (or pour into greased, preheated cast iron skillet)
7. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (30-40 minutes if using a skillet or baking dish instead of muffin pan)
8. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack. Best served warm.

chef's notes:

I used my favorite and trusty cast iron skillet in which I put about a tablespoon of beef tallow and put in the oven while it was preheating. It baked for about 35-40 minutes and turned out with a lovely crust, a little brown on top, and ooooh so yummy. The only change I would make is to omit the xanthan gum called for in the recipe because my all purpose flour already contained it. This is one recipe I don't feel the need to tinker with! Although I could see myself adding cheese or chilies or something like that some time, but honestly it's just perfect like it is.