The Amazing World of Cornbread draft

We have a great cornbread mix, Yankee Cornbread Mix. It's slightly sweet. Most of the Southern cooks I have known would not think of adding sugar to their cornbread. But north of the Mason-Dixon Line, well, that's another story.  If you have a tinge of Yankee in your blood, try this cornbread. It's very good.

Cornbread is versatile. You can add anything from bacon to cheese to corn kernels. In our product description, you'll find a whole stack of add-ins you can use--even though the cornbread is slightly sweet. All of the add-ins are savory and often the basis of easy meals.

But today we're going to make dessert with our cornbread. Join us for the ride. You'll be delighted.

By the way, this is a large mix. It makes 12 nice-sized muffins or a 9x13-inch cake. I mention that because you can morph your leftover cornbread into dessert.

Cornbread Pudding

You can make bread pudding with leftover bread. And with leftover cornbread, you can make cornbread pudding--a cornbread custard. Click through to see the recipe. For this dessert, we dressed it up with vanilla ice cream and a caramel topping.  You can't wait for dessert.

• 4 cups of cubed cornbread
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Set the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the inside of a 2-quart baking dish to reduce sticking.

1. Whisk the eggs, milk, and cream together until smooth. Stir in the sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
2. Cube the cornbread and place it in the baking dish. Pour the liquid mixture over the cornbread. Set the dish aside to let the cornbread absorb the egg-and-milk mixture.
3. After ten minutes, place the dish in the oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes.

When the custard is baked, it should have an internal temperature of 170 degrees. You can test it with your kitchen thermometer. If you don.t have a thermometer, stick a knife in the center and withdraw it. It should come out mostly clean with just a little moisture.

Cinnamon Apple Cornbread

 

 

Add cinnamon-sugar apples to your cornbread for a sweet treat, Peel and core two baking apples. Cut the apples into 1/2-inch chunks and lightly toss them in a cinnamon-sugar mix until covered.  Str them into the batter as lightly as possible.

Serve warm with cinnamon-tinted whipped cream.

I would recommend one of these three apples for baking: Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, or Granny Smith. All three will hold up to baking in this dessert.

Cinnamon Swirl Cornbread

This is fun to make. If you're making it as a cake. put half the batter in the pan and then pour the cinnamon sugar over that half of the batter, then add the rest of the batter. So, you have a layer of batter, then a layer of cinnamon sugar, and then the rest of the batter. Swirl the cinnamon sugar by holding a spatula vertically. and dragging it through the batter.

If you are making muffins, don't bother with the spatula. Just drop the batter in big dollops.

For a cinnamon sugar ratio, mix 1/4 cup sugar with a rounded teaspoon of quality cinnamon.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cornbread

What an amazing combination--chocolate chips, peanut butter, and hot fudge. It's what you love in combination. 

Click through to see how you build it.

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

peanut butter whipped cream

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar or to taste
• optional: one tablespoon of meringe powder to stabilize the whipped cream

For the hot fudge sauce

 

Cranberry Nut Cornbread

Add one cup of dried cranberries and 3/4 cup of walnuts or pecans.

Cranberry Orange Cornbread

You can make bread pudding with leftover bread. And with leftover cornbread, you can make cornbread pudding--a cornbread custard. Click through to see the recipe. For this dessert, we dressed it up with vanilla ice cream and a caramel topping.  You can't wait for dessert.

Maple Bacon Cornbread

Maple and bacon make an extraordinary combination. We've made maple bacon cupcakes and maple bacon sweet rolls. And we've taken the combination a step beyond and made sweet rolls with raised donut dough--same method, just with raised donut dough--no extra work, just puffier, a cross between raised donuts and cinnamon rolls.

Now, we're a step beyond again--Maple Bacon Cornbread.

We were tempted to put maple syrup in the batter, but our Yankee Cornbread has just the right amount of sweetness as is.  If you've got a good thing going, don't change a thing. So, the maple is on the inside, and the bacon is on the inside.

We're not real fans of store-bought maple syrup--too much sugar and not enough maple. This cornbread deserves a full maple treatment. Here are some options:  

Maple Cream Syrup.  It has a dairy base instead of water. It's smoother and richer.

Real Maple Syrup. It's the real thing from the northwoods. It's authentic and better. Corn and maple go together well.

Maple Buttermilk Syrup. Buttermilk syrup is caramelly with a hint of butterscotch. The complement pair is perfect. And yes, we have a buttermilk syrup mix for that. 

The Maple Bacon Cornbread Recipe

1. Fry ten slices of bacon till crispy. Chop the bacon into little pieces.
2. Prepare the cornbread batter according to package directions.
3. Stir the bacon into the batter and bake as directed.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream drizzled with maple syrup.