Southern-Style Corn Sticks or Muffins
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 22, 2007
Time
50 minutes
Yield
Makes 12 corn sticks or 6 muffins
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Corn stick pans have anywhere from seven to 12 molds. If your pan has fewer than 12 molds, bake the sticks in two batches. If you wish, you can also follow these directions to make six muffins using a heavy-gauge 6-muffin mold tin (each mold measuring 1/2 cup). If making muffins, bake for 20 minutes.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Set heavy-gauge corn stick pan in heating oven.
- Measure 1/3 cup cornmeal into medium bowl. Mix remaining cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in small bowl; set aside.
- Pour boiling water all at once into the 1/3 cup cornmeal; stir to make a stiff mush. Whisk in buttermilk gradually, breaking up lumps until smooth, then whisk in egg. When oven is preheated and corn stick pan is very hot, stir dry ingredients into mush mixture until just moistened. Carefully remove corn stick pan from oven. Generously brush molds with bacon drippings or vegetable oil, then quickly pour batter into heated molds, filling molds almost to rim with batter. Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and instantly turn cornbread onto wire rack to cool. Wipe crumbs from molds, brush with more bacon fat or oil, and repeat baking process with remaining batter, if necessary.
Time
50 minutesYield
Makes 12 corn sticks or 6 muffinsIngredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
We wondered if our Southern-style cornbread recipe (white cornmeal and no flour or sugar) might have something to learn from our Northern-style cornbread recipe (yellow cornmeal, fair to generous portions of flour and sugar). Combining the two recipes to come up with a happy medium, we used yellow cornmeal for potent corn flavor, adding a small amount of sugar to enhance the natural sweetness of the corn. We started with cornmeal mush (moistening the cornmeal with some water first) because cornbread that started with some mush had the most corn flavor we'd tasted yet, and it also produced a fine, moist crumb.
Before You Begin
Corn stick pans have anywhere from seven to 12 molds. If your pan has fewer than 12 molds, bake the sticks in two batches. If you wish, you can also follow these directions to make six muffins using a heavy-gauge 6-muffin mold tin (each mold measuring 1/2 cup). If making muffins, bake for 20 minutes.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Set heavy-gauge corn stick pan in heating oven.
- Measure 1/3 cup cornmeal into medium bowl. Mix remaining cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in small bowl; set aside.
- Pour boiling water all at once into the 1/3 cup cornmeal; stir to make a stiff mush. Whisk in buttermilk gradually, breaking up lumps until smooth, then whisk in egg. When oven is preheated and corn stick pan is very hot, stir dry ingredients into mush mixture until just moistened. Carefully remove corn stick pan from oven. Generously brush molds with bacon drippings or vegetable oil, then quickly pour batter into heated molds, filling molds almost to rim with batter. Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and instantly turn cornbread onto wire rack to cool. Wipe crumbs from molds, brush with more bacon fat or oil, and repeat baking process with remaining batter, if necessary.
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