Nobody seemed to make cornbread better than my Grandmother. I remember watching her pouring the batter into her hot iron skillet and hearing the batter sizzle just a little bit, she used her iron skillet for just about every type of cooking. The result would be a sweet buttery cornbread with a slightly crispy crust that was heavenly.

You do NOT need to ever buy a cornbread mix! Making cornbread from "real" ingredients is easy and it tastes much better. Plus, it's nice to know exactly what you're eating.

Ingredients

• 1 Stick of butter (I told you it was good, not low fat!)
• 2/3 Cup of white sugar (use less if you don't like sweet cornbread)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk *
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon slat

* If you don't have buttermilk around, add 1 Tbsp of white vinegar to 1 cup of milk, stir, and let this mixture set for about 10 minutes. This is an important step because the acid in buttermilk, or the vinegar, will react with the baking soda (which is a base) causing your cornbread to rise.

This recipe is best with an iron skillet, but if you don't have one, use an 8 inch square pan.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Melt your butter in your iron skillet over low heat on the stove.
3. Pour butter into a mixing bowl. Put the skillet back onto the stove with low heat still on.
4. Stir in the sugar to the butter.
5. Quickly stir your eggs in, one at a time.
6. Combine baking soda with your buttermilk, then stir mixture into butter, sugar, egg mixture.
7. Stir in cornmeal, salt, and flour. Stir until its blended, don't over-mix. It's okay to leave some lumps.
8. Wipe the insides of the iron skillet with a paper towel to spread the leftover butter evenly, making sure that there is butter on the sides of the skillet.

9. Pour batter into warm skillet and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Check to see if it's done but inserting a toothpick in the middle, once the toothpick comes out clean, it's done.

Assuming you made the cornbread in a skillet, after you've taken it out of the oven, let it set for about 3 minutes before you remove the cornbread from the skillet to the cooling rack.