Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread

This is a cornbread for people who like theirs on the cakey and sweet side (which is probably my fellow Yankee Northerners, because I think classic Southern cornbread has more cornmeal and less sugar). It's also for people trying to use up the extra buttermilk in their fridge (which seems to be me about half the time). On this particular day, I fell into both of those categories. Now to be clear, this is not my grandmother's cornbread recipe. But one would assume, it's somebody's grandmother's (if not, I feel a little misled). But when it comes right down to it, I don't care if a grandmother or Hitler himself wrote this recipe because it's really good (although if Hitler wrote it, I would eat it with extra delicious in-your-face-Hitler! satisfaction because he's dead and I'm alive and Jewish).

 

GRANDMOTHER'S BUTTERMILK CORNBREAD

Yield: 9 servings

1 stick unsalted butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1.      Heat oven to 375º F. Grease an 8-inch square pan.  

2.      Melt butter in a medium-large pot. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain.

3.      Pour batter into the prepared pan.

4.      Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

from allrecipes.com (submitted by BETHANYWEATHERSBY)

adding sugar to melted butter

eggs added

I had to beat them in quickly so they
wouldn't scramble (couldn't take a photo).

adding buttermilk/baking soda mixture

mixed

adding cornmeal and flour

mixed

I made a double batch and poured half into a
cast iron skillet (which was hot from the oven)...

...and poured the other half into a glass baking dish.

The cast iron one cooked more quickly (about 25 minutes
instead of 30). I thought the cast iron one might come
out a little crispier on the edges, but surprisingly, it didn't.
Maybe my pan wasn't hot enough - I don't know.

Also surprisingly, I thought the regular pan came out
slightly moister. Of course it's possible I let the cast
iron cook a minute too long and that could account for it.

grandmother's buttermilk cornbread

I recommend either eating it
warm from the oven or toasting it.

 .