When you run out of enjoyable books to read, don’t want to get drunk, and have not recently gotten a gift of chocolate, what else can you do but cook?
I find creating lovely goodies in my tiny kitchen quite relaxing. As I’ve not shared a recipe in a while, here’s my attempt to make gluten-free stove-top skillet cornbread. I’ll comment as we go! So let’s get cooking!
I began by reading a number of stove-stop cornbread recipes and settled on taking Martha Stewart’s recipe and fiddling with it. Gasp! I know, sacrilegious, right? But her recipe gave me the proportions. I adjusted to accommodate my particular issues. If you don’t want to adapt to be gluten-free as I did, you can try her version as presented. Note: She doesn’t list all the ingredients at the top, so start by reading her recipe all the way. I think she doesn’t list the water but there might be other items omitted.
Here’s my recipe, with somewhat blurry photos (flour on the cell phone lens will do that!):
My Ingredient List: My tool list:
GF All-purpose flour, ¾ c. 9-inch cast iron skillet
Yellow cornmeal, 1-1/4 c. 12-inch or larger cast iron skillet
5 T coarse organic sugar Lid for 9-inch OR i for the 12-inch
Baking powder, 2-1/2 t. Large mixing bowl
Salt, 1 t. Small mixing bowl
Almond milk, ¾ c. Whisk
Lemon juice, 1 t. Measuring spoons
Butter, melted, 3 T. Measuring cups
Oil to coat pan
Basically, you’re going to combine the dry ingredients (Flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in the large bowl. You’re going to melt the butter and combine egg, milk, lemon juice, and butter in the small bowl. Then you’ll put the wets into the dries and stir until combined. Oil the small skillet and put it into the large skillet. Pour the batter into the small skillet, cover the skillets, and cook on low heat until firm and golden brown on the edges. I used the two skillets to avoid having to re-oil the pan at the 35-minute mark and to be sure it didn’t burn. Enjoy!
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- As my mom taught us, gather your ingredients togeteher!
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- I don’t have a microwave, so I melted the butter directly in the 9-inch skillet in which the cornbread will be cooked.
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- You’re going to combine the almond milk, lemon juice, egg, and melted butter. I read reviews of Martha Stewart’s recipe and one of them suggested the lemon juice to sort of give the effect of buttermilk. I’m not sure it worked. You can try buttermilk. Martha used powdered milk and water, but I refuse to use powdered milk!
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- Melt away, butter! Note: REAL butter, please. If you’re vegan, I have no suggestions. I do not put margerine in my body, and that fake butter is actually palm oil. Not my thing.
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- Add the butter to the egg/milk mixture, SLOWLY, to be sure you don’t scramble the egg. You can also let it cool. This is similar to the process of making a good Hollandaise sauce.
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- Combine the two flours, the sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix, then add the butter/milk/egg mixture.
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- Combine dries/wets until just mixed.
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- Brush oil on the small skillet. I use grapeseed oil.
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- Batter into small skillet.
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- Small skillet into large skillet, cover, and turn burner on a low flame.
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- Cook for 35 – 40 minutes. I went 40 and it was a bit dry for my liking but flavorful. So use a lower flame, maybe 2 out of 10. I used between 2 and 3, out of 10 for 40 minutes, and I think either I should have turned it down or taken it out a bit sooner. Now, that said, my top did not get brown possibly because the lid was not secure.
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- Voila! Afternoon snack with Mother Lode French Roast coffee and more butter! Butter makes everything better!
I hope you enjoy this recipe. Experiment or try my version — but let me know how yours tastes. A good cornbread can improve your mood just as quickly as the finest chocolate!
It’s the twelfth day of the fifty-fifth month of My Year Without Complaining. Life continues.
I agree with you. Cornbread is good. I have yet to meet a cornbread that I didn’t like.