Honey butter cornbread recipe

My mother baked cornbread in a square glass dish and cut it into sixteen pieces, because that was how many it took to go around the table twice. She served it hot with a jar of honey and a spoon, and the spoon never made it back to the drawer clean. That is the version I still want on a cold night.

This one takes about 40 minutes start to finish, and almost everything comes off the shelf. The corn is the part that surprised me. Freeze dried kernels, soaked and folded into the batter, give you real bites of sweet corn through the crumb, and a handful crumbled on top browns up nice.

The pantry-powered advantage

The Freeze Dried Kernel Corn does the heavy lifting here. Soak the kernels five minutes and they go soft and sweet, ready to fold into the batter. A few crumbled dry on top toast up in the oven. That is real corn flavor from a jar that keeps for years.

The rest of the batter comes from powder too. The Powdered Vitamin Eggs bind it, the Powdered Vitamin Milk is the liquid, and the Powdered Vitamin Butter goes into the batter and gets brushed on warm at the end. Half a cup of egg powder with two thirds cup water stands in for about four fresh eggs, so there is no carton to watch go bad. Same idea with the milk. No jug to keep cold, no store run at seven on a school night.

Honey butter cornbread

Makes 16 squares in a standard 8 by 8 inch dish. Total time about 40 minutes.

Ingredients:

For the batter:

• 1 cup Freeze Dried Kernel Corn
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup Powdered Vitamin Eggs plus 2/3 cup water (equals about 4 eggs)
• 2 Tbsp Powdered Milk plus 1 cup water
• 3 Tbsp Powdered Butter plus 1 1/2 tsp water

For the top:

• 2 Tbsp Freeze Dried Kernel Corn, crumbled (optional)
• 1 Tbsp Powdered Butter plus 1/2 tsp water, for brushing
• Real honey, for drizzling

Instructions:

1. Rehydrate the shelf items. Soak 1 cup Freeze Dried Kernel Corn in warm water for 5 minutes, then drain thoroughly. Whisk 1/2 cup Powdered Vitamin Eggs with 2/3 cup water until smooth. Stir 2 Tbsp Powdered Vitamin Milk into 1 cup water. Stir 3 Tbsp Powdered Vitamin Butter with 1 1/2 tsp water into a softened butter. Set the crumbled 2 Tbsp corn aside dry for the top.
2. Heat the oven. Set it to 400 degrees and grease an 8 by 8 inch dish.
3. Mix the dry. In a bowl, whisk together the cornmeal and flour. Add the sugar, then the baking powder and salt, and whisk again.
4. Mix the wet. In another bowl, stir the whisked eggs into the milk, then stir in the softened butter.
5. Combine. Pour the wet into the dry and stir just until no dry streaks remain. The batter will be thick. Fold in the drained corn. Do not beat it smooth, a few lumps are fine.
6. Pan and top. Spread the batter into the dish and level it. Scatter the crumbled dry corn over the top.
7. Bake. Bake 22 to 25 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. The edges will pull slightly from the dish.
8. Finish. Brush the warm top with the 1 Tbsp softened butter. Let it sit 5 minutes, then cut into 16 squares and drizzle with honey.

Tips for honey butter cornbread success

• You can mix the dry ingredients a day ahead and keep them in a sealed jar, then it is just wet and bake.
• Leftovers keep three days covered on the counter. Warm a square 15 seconds and the crumb comes back soft.
• For a savory turn, cut the sugar to 2 tablespoons and fold in a pinch of chili flakes with the corn.
• If you like a crackly top, put the greased dish in the oven while it heats and pour the batter into the hot dish.

The final take: warm bread, cold night

The Freeze Dried Kernel Corn is what makes this taste like more than plain cornbread, and everything else in the batter comes from Powdered Vitamin Eggs, Powdered Vitamin Milk, and Powdered Vitamin Butter that sits quiet on the shelf until you want it. Cut the squares while they are still warm and put the honey out on the table with a spoon. Nobody at the table will ask what shelf it came from.