Cornbread With Dried Cranberries
Ingredients
- Cornbread ⓘ
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter ⓘ
- 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal ⓘ
- 2/3 cup unbleached flour ⓘ
- 1 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar (okay to use granulated sugar) ⓘ
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda ⓘ
- 1/2 teaspoon salt ⓘ
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (my addition) ⓘ
- 1 cup buttermilk ⓘ
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries (*I used orange flavored dried cranberries from Trader Joes) ⓘ
- Maple Butter Spread (optional) ⓘ
- 1/2 cup maple syrup ⓘ
- scant 1/3 cup butter ⓘ
Instructions
- *Note: you can mimic the flavor of Trader Joes' brand of orange flavored dried cranberries by stirring about 1/4 teaspoon of orange extract into the batter.
- CORNBREAD: Preheat oven to 375 degrees (190 degree C).
- In a small saucepan over medium low heat, melt [2 tablespoons] of butter and set aside. Cut up the remaining 2 tablespoons butter into an 8-inch cast iron skillet.
- Place pan in oven until it is hot and the butter is melted and sizzling, about 1-2 minutes (Watch carefully!) Using oven mitts, rotate the pan as need to coat bottom evenly with melted butter. Remove from oven.
- In large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Make a well in the center. Whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter and beaten egg and pour it into the cornmeal mixture.
- Using a wooden spoon, mix the batter just until it comes together, okay to have some lumps. DO NOT overmix the batter.
- Coarsely chop the cranberries and stir them into the batter. Tip: to make chopping the cranberries easier, wet the knife on both sides. Spread batter evenly into the hot pan.
- Bake at 375 degrees until the top springs back when pressed gently in the center, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Let cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Best served warm.
- If desired, spread some of the maple butter onto each slice of cornbread.
- MAPLE BUTTER: Using a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, heat maple syrup until 235 degrees Fahrenheit (soft ball stage on a candy thermometer).
- Stir in butter.
- Pour mixture into a [deep] bowl (use a *deep* bowl to avoid splattering yourself with the hot liquid!), stir in the vanilla extract and beat with electric mixer until thick and creamy, about 4 minutes.
- Keep stored in glass container in the refrigerator.
Nutrition & Diet Analysis (per serving)
1146
kcal
57% DV
Protein
Fat
Carbs
* % Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet (FDA 2020).