It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and my home team is playing! I won’t pretend to be a football fan, but I sure have enjoyed watching all the playoff games, and will be front row center in front of the TV later this afternoon to cheer them on. But honestly I’m looking forward as much to the commercials as the game itself. I understand the object of the game, but still get lost in the vagaries of touchbacks, offsides, safeties, holding, and really most anything other than ‘Touchdown!’. Someday I really should learn the game. Until then, I’ll just focus on the food.
Contrary to every other food related missive today (and for the past several days), I’m not posting a Super Bowl snack, or chili, or half-time dessert. Not because I don’t think all those posts are great, and wouldn’t love to have the food on my table. They are, and I do. But even though I have a few ‘go-to’ appetizers, I still don’t consider them to be my strength. And the chili I experimented with on Friday didn’t come close to working well enough to be shared. Or even made again. Ever.
So I focused on what was initially planned as the chili’s sidekick – cornbread. It took four batches of cornbread to get the texture and flavor I was looking for, which should tell you, if nothing else, that cornbread comes together quickly. It should also suggest that there are a lot of variations of cornbread. If you haven’t researched cornbread lately, let me clue you in. Some are sweetened with regular sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, or honey; or not sweetened at all. Some use corn kernels, most don’t. Some include herbs, most don’t. The number of eggs in the recipes I perused ranged from one to four; and the flours/corn meal ratios were all over the place.
My first batches were sweet and savory, but used a rosemary oil that overpowered everything including the corn. Then I made a salsa cornbread that involved draining the salsa and spreading it over the batter as a ‘layer’, which was covered with more batter. It was interesting OK, but the texture was too dense. I went back to my savory sweet idea, nixing the rosemary oil and pumping up the honey a bit; and played with texture by experimenting with the number of eggs, yogurt/crème fråiche/ sour cream, and buttermilk. My husband Myles asked how my final version would compare with a traditional cornbread, and I have no idea what that even is any more. But we did agree the traditional cornbreads likely didn’t include yogurt.
Honey Cornbread with Thyme
Makes 16 small squares
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup medium grain cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 3/4 cup plain, non-fat yogurt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8″ X 8″ baking dish.
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and whisk together. If you’re weighing the flours, I used 4.5 ounces for one cup.
Combine the wet ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer and mix on medium high for 2 minutes. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix together with a spatula or large spoon only until all the ingredients come together into a batter.
Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish, and bake for 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Serve warm with a drizzle of honey, or butter, or both.
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This looks great Susan. Always love to infuse classic foods with the unexpected surprise of herbs and spices. Can’t wait to try it out. Maybe I’ll even seek out a thyme honey!
Oh, a thyme honey would be perfect, Sophia! Thanks so much – and I’d love to hear what you think. See you later in the month for some feta!
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Thyme For Honey Cornbread
Oh my gosh does that look good!! I love cornbread and honey, hot with a big piece of butter. I just love the addition of thyme, I think its the perfect compliment to the cornbread and honey. I have been looking for a good cornbread recipe, I am cornbread challenged, mine is always so dry. Yours looks moist and well, perfect. Saving and making!!
apuginthekitchen recently posted..Pasta Piselli
Mine have always been dry too, and I really wanted on that more moist. The yogurt makes the difference here. You can substitute corn flour for the corn meal and get an even smoother texture. Hope you like it! Would love to hear what you think if you try it.
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Thyme For Honey Cornbread
I am making it this weekend, will report back. Yogurt is amazing in baked goods, really adds moisture. I can’t wait to make this.
apuginthekitchen recently posted..Vanilla Bean White Chocolate Rose Scented Pot de Creme #Bake Together
That is such an innovative combination of flavours in cornbread
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Choc Chip Uru recently posted..Dear Popeye…
Thanks CCU!
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Thyme For Honey Cornbread
Beautiful shot – and I love your recipe. No more Trader Joe’s cornbread mix for me!
lizthechef recently posted..Pappardelle with Pancetta and Chestnuts
Really, really easy to make too, Liz. Really easy – considering I made four batches
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Thyme For Honey Cornbread
I love cornbread so much. Yours looks perfectly fluffy and moist. I appreciate you making this 4 times in order to get it right – thanks so much for sharing!
Sometime you just want to keep at it until you get what you’re looking for. I love cornbread too, so making all the versions was fun
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Thyme For Honey Cornbread
Wow, that is one photogenic chunk of cornbread! I love that you went through multiple versions before you were satisfied with the end result…I’ve been on the hunt for a truly great cornbread and will definitely be trying this out when I get some yogurt! (Although do you think Greek would work instead of plain yogurt?)
I’m not a huge football fan either, but my hometown team is playing too! (Just checked your about page…we are rooting for the same team
) My boyfriend and I just watched them score 12 points in like 4 minutes woo!
Erika recently posted..I’ve Moved! Pancake Fridays @ The Pancake Princess + a detox update
They were amazing! It’s a football game again. Still a tough game, but it’s not over yet guys!! OK, on the recipe – yes I think Greek yogurt would work. No worries. I’m also going to make it with corn flour – probably tomorrow. Based on one of my versions, when I used it, it had a beautiful smooth texture. I like a corny mealy texture, but it’s all so subjective. Which is why there are so many versions. But the yogurt brings in a nice moisture to it without the fat
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Thyme For Honey Cornbread
Great! I will probably try that. I LOVE that crumbly, corn mealy texture too…corn flour–is that like corn starch or masa harina or something completely different? I would love to know how it goes!
Erika recently posted..Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Parfaits
Corn flour has the powdery consistency of all-purpose flour. It’s just corn meal that has been very, very finely ground to eliminate the granular feel that cornmeal has. So it’s completely different from masa harina and corn starch. I’ll let you know, but a friend of mine here, Sophia, tried it earlier this week and really liked it
Yay!
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Raw Shaved Fennel, Celery Root and Apple Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
Love the idea of fresh thyme in cornbread. I might skip the honey though. I’m a savory cornbread kind of girl
Shelby | Diabetic Foodie recently posted..Berries and Peaches with Honey Vanilla Yogurt
That’s the great thing about cornbread – it’s ambidextrous and can happily go sweet OR savory. You can easily eliminate the honey in this one
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Thyme For Honey Cornbread
Nice! I’ll bet the yogurt makes this moister than traditional cornbread. Traditional cornbread is great right out of the oven but tends to be dry as a leftover while this probably is not. The yogurt is a nice way to cut down the fat, and honey– yes. I love its flavor and browning qualities in cornbread. Just for fun, I’m linking to my gluten-free cornbread recipe from a while back.
Mary @ Fit and Fed recently posted..Honey Cornbread (gluten-free, dairy-free)
The yogurt is key, and the buttermilk aims towards a more tender crumb too. I’m going now over to your site to check out yours!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Thyme For Honey Cornbread
Yes! I always try and use yogurt in quickbreads, scones, muffins, etc. It adds so much moisture and allows you to cut the fat! Honey and thyme sounds like a great combo!
Meghan recently posted..Sweet Cream Ice Cream with Pistachios, Dark Chocolate and Balsamic Reduction Swirl
You are so right, Meghan! I started adding yogurt when I started baking in high altitudes. Once I tasted the moist texture it contributes, now I add yogurt into a lot of recipes even at sea level (like this one).
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Thyme For Honey Cornbread
My mother was one of those southern women that didn’t like sweet cornbread; therefore, she never made it. Well, I feel that there is a time and a dish for everything. I like my cornbread with and without sweetener, even though I never make it sweet. I think this recipe is going to change that. The 3 Tbsp. of honey has me craving this cornbread! Love the addition of the thyme!
mjskit recently posted..Sauteed Mushrooms with Onion and Spice
I love it both ways too, MJ. But cornbread with honey is probably my favorite. I’d love to hear what you think if you made it
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Thyme For Honey Cornbread
Made it last night and substituted Bob’s Corn Flour for the corn meal, but with the same proportions. Also used Greek-style non-fat yogurt. It turned out delicious. The texture difference was pleasing to me. More like a traditional sponge cake with less crumb, but still had plenty of spring. Eating a piece now! Thanks Susan.
Thanks so much for letting me know, Sophia! I just picked up a new bag of corn flour today to make it again, but this time with the corn flour!
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Thyme For Honey Cornbread
Like your inclusion of thyme and yogurt in the corn bread. I have cornmeal in the pantry thyme in the garden, just need to get yogurt and buttermilk.
Oh yay! If you try it, I’d love to hear what you think! Cornbread is just a great thing to have around the kitchen this time of year.
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Raw Shaved Fennel, Celery Root and Apple Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
Hi! This looks so good! I love using yogurt in baked goods too–recently Greek yogurt has been my fave!
I came across this recipe on foodgawker. We’re currently meat free & wheat free in our house. I substituted the wheat flour your recipe calls for with brown rice flour. We loved how these turned out!
I’m catching on a lot of emails tonight and wanted to thank you so much for trying this and letting me know how they worked out for you! I’m so happy you liked the cornbread. I’ve got some brown rice flour too – I think I’ll try them that way next time. Thanks for the great idea
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Adzuki Beans with Miso and Chopped Kale