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Gluten-Free Skillet Cornbread

By America's Test Kitchen

Published on October 15, 2019

Time

1¼ hours

Yield

Serves 8 to 10

Gluten-Free Skillet Cornbread

Ingredients

11 ¼ ounces (319 grams/2 ¼ cups) cornmeal 1 ½ cups sour cream ½ cup milk ¼ cup vegetable oil 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda ¾ teaspoon salt 2 large eggs

Before You Begin

We prefer to use a cast-iron skillet here because it makes the best crust; however, any 10-inch ovensafe skillet will work for this recipe. Cornbread is best served warm.

Instructions

  1. Adjust oven racks to lower-middle and middle positions and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place 10-inch cast-iron skillet on middle rack and heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, spread cornmeal over rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven on lower-middle rack until fragrant and lightly golden, about 5 minutes.
  2. Carefully transfer toasted cornmeal to large bowl and whisk in sour cream and milk; set aside. When skillet is hot, add oil and continue to heat until just smoking, about 5 minutes.
  3. Using potholders (skillet handle will be hot), remove skillet from oven, carefully add butter, and gently swirl to incorporate. Pour hot oil-butter mixture into cornmeal mixture and whisk to incorporate. Whisk in sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, followed by eggs.
  4. Quickly scrape batter into hot skillet and smooth top. Bake on middle rack until top begins to crack and sides are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating skillet halfway through baking. Let bread cool in skillet on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove bread from pan and let cool on rack for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Gluten-Free Skillet Cornbread
Styling by Marie Piraino.

Gluten-Free Skillet Cornbread

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By America's Test Kitchen
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Time

1¼ hours

Yield

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

11 ¼ ounces (319 grams/2 ¼ cups) cornmeal
1 ½ cups sour cream
½ cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

Ingredients

11 ¼ ounces (319 grams/2 ¼ cups) cornmeal
1 ½ cups sour cream
½ cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

Ingredients

11 ¼ ounces (319 grams/2 ¼ cups) cornmeal
1 ½ cups sour cream
½ cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

Why This Recipe Works

We used yellow cornmeal (which we toasted first to bring out its potent corn flavor) and, veering from tradition, added a small amount of sugar to enhance the natural sweetness of the corn. Creating a cornmeal mush by moistening the toasted cornmeal with a combination of sour cream and milk (favored over the traditional buttermilk for extra richness) produced a fine, moist crumb. Baking the cornbread in a greased preheated cast-iron skillet gave it a seriously crunchy, golden crust. Using a combination of oil and butter for greasing the skillet (as well as in the batter) struck the perfect balance of flavor and performance—the butter added flavor while the oil raised the smoke point so the butter wouldn’t burn.

Before You Begin

We prefer to use a cast-iron skillet here because it makes the best crust; however, any 10-inch ovensafe skillet will work for this recipe. Cornbread is best served warm.

Instructions

  1. Adjust oven racks to lower-middle and middle positions and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place 10-inch cast-iron skillet on middle rack and heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, spread cornmeal over rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven on lower-middle rack until fragrant and lightly golden, about 5 minutes.
  2. Carefully transfer toasted cornmeal to large bowl and whisk in sour cream and milk; set aside. When skillet is hot, add oil and continue to heat until just smoking, about 5 minutes.
  3. Using potholders (skillet handle will be hot), remove skillet from oven, carefully add butter, and gently swirl to incorporate. Pour hot oil-butter mixture into cornmeal mixture and whisk to incorporate. Whisk in sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, followed by eggs.
  4. Quickly scrape batter into hot skillet and smooth top. Bake on middle rack until top begins to crack and sides are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating skillet halfway through baking. Let bread cool in skillet on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove bread from pan and let cool on rack for at least 10 minutes before serving.

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