sweet vanilla cornbread

this recipe is from baker & author beth hensperger, and is one of her recipes i had been meaning to try for a while as it uses icing sugar & vanilla — a copious amount of it at that — not your normal cornbread ingredients. i did not know what to expect really, as it is different from the regular run-of-the-mill types of cornbreads.

i was actually quite pleased with the results. it is sweet but not overly so and despite the seemingly large amount of vanilla, it doesn't taste overly vanilla-y. you can use fine or medium grind cornmeal. i used medium and liked the texture it gave the bread.

"la beth's cornbread" makes for a nice breakfast or morning snack with coffee or tea. i can certainly see it going with some type of [vegetarian] chili dish or nice creamy soup. this is also one of the fastest cornbreads you can make, probably only taking a good 15 minutes.

sweet vanilla cornbread ["la beth's"]

ingredients:

1 c yellow cornmeal, fine or medium grind
1 c ap flour
3/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
1 1/4 c buttermilk
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

method:

preheat oven to 350 F.

grease an 8 x 8" pan with some butter.

measure 6 tbsp butter and melt it. keep it aside.

in a bowl, mix together flour, cornmeal, icing sugar, salt, baking powder and soda. mix well to distribute all.

in a measuring cup, measure out the buttermilk. add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.

add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until mixed. don't worry about lumps.

add the melted butter to the batter and mix well until it is incorporated. don't overmix.

add the mixture to the pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

place the baked cornbread on a rack to cool in the pan. don't touch it for 15 to 20 minutes. it will have nicely browned around the edges and pulled away a bit from the edges when it is ready.

enjoy!