The Gaited Baker: Ryan's Favorite Cornbread

Well, his favorite homemade cornbread anyway (he says Boston Market's cornbread is his favorite). Those of you who like honey cornbread, I'm afraid you'll be in for a let-down. I have honey cornbread recipes but none I have found really are worth of this blog... yet. But, for now, this is my go-to recipe for cornbread. It's so incredibly simple too! I love simple :) :) Although my current obsession with bread baking is proving to be not-so simple but I digress. If you're looking for a quick and simple recipe for cornbread that really can't go wrong, this is it!

Side note - you'll notice these lovely little darlings are in special shapes. I love making these in my Williams-Sonoma fall muffin pan! It gives whatever you make these lovely little fall shapes - walnuts, pumpkins, acorns, and pinecones! The pan is currently unavailable but should be back on sale in the fall. I highly recommend this pan. They're so cute!!

Corn Bread (or Cornbread, if you're from the South)
(recipe courtesy of Williams-Sonoma)

(Folks, let me mention if you want to make this recipe using a mini muffin tin, please HALF the recipe!)

2 c. Yellow Cornmeal (stone ground preferred)
1 c. All-Purpose Flour (can you guess what I used?)
1/3 c. Sugar
4 tsp. Baking Powder
1 1/2 c. Buttermilk (now, if you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute regular milk - I've made batches using both and there isn't that big of a difference in taste)
2 Eggs, Beaten (or, you can use my favorite - Egg Beaters, 1/2 c.)
8 Tbsp. Butter (1 stick), melted and cooled slightly

Preheat oven to 400.
Grease a 9 x 13 metal baking pan (or your muffin tin, if you're headed in that direction).
In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In a different bowl, mix together the buttermilk, eggs, and butter until just combined (this is why you need your melted butter slightly cooled - we don't want scrambled eggs in our cornbread, now do we?).
Combine the buttermilk mixture with the flour mixture until just mixed together.
Pour the batter in the prepared pan. (If you're going the muffin tin route, my suggestion to you would be to put the batter into a ziploc bag, snip the end, and use the bag to fill up the cups. Doesn't make a mess! And I've got to be the cleanest cook you've ever seen - I can't stand a mess so anything to keep my kitchen clean, I do it.)
Bake for around 18 to 20 minutes (regardless of whether you use the muffin pan or the 9x13).
Let stand for 5 minutes.
Serve warm with honey butter (seriously folks - mix together some butter and honey to taste and you've got a match made in heaven!).