COVID Killer Cornbread

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
• ​1 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/4 cups yellow, white or blue cornmeal
• 1 cup  all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

• Heat the oven to 400°F. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan or 9-inch round cake pan with the cooking spray.
• In a 1-quart saucepan, heat the butter over low heat until melted.
• In a large bowl, beat the melted butter, milk and egg with a fork or wire whisk until well mixed. Add the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt all at once; stir just until the flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Pour batter into the pan; use a rubber spatula to scrape batter from bowl. Spread batter evenly in pan and smooth top of batter.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

EXPERT TIPS:
Ground cornmeal is available in different grinds, from fairly fine to very coarse. A finer grind is good for baking a cake-like bread, while coarser grinds (like for grits or polenta that are often cooked into a spoonable hot cereal) can offer more texture and bite to cornbread. Consider using a mixture of fine and coarse meals for a crumblier, more bread-like product.

Not all cornmeal is yellow; switch things up with a white or New Mexican blue cornmeal.

Mix a spoonful of clover honey or grated orange peel into softened butter to slather on the warm bread.

Bake the batter in a round or square baking pan or try a small cast-iron skillet, muffin tin, or in a heavy corn stick pan. Like for all quick breads, just grease the bottom of the pan or muffin cups so the bread can climb up the sides easily as it rises.

For a corn stick pan, completely grease the grooves so the sticks slide out without sticking.
(ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT BETTYCROCKER.COM)