My mom was a fabulous cook. Everything she made was delicious and in particular her brownies and lemon meringue pie. I kept a few of her old cookbooks and every now and then I’ll come across a page where she had made some notes about the recipe. Some are hysterical, for instance the recipe for Blended Almond Paste: “Burned out blender doing this. Don’t make this!” And Griddle Cakes: “terrible!” And then there are a couple of recipes with a big X over the entire page which I assume was because they were just so bad that there would be no repeat effort. She was a big fan of Julia Child and James Beard and needless to say, these notes did not appear in either of these chef’s cookbooks.
I wrote down this recipe of hers many years ago and continue to make it, first because it is delicious and second because it is ready in just 30 minutes. This is a hearty cornbread and doesn’t have a fine cakey texture like some other cornbreads I’ve tried. It has a bit of flour in the recipe however it is mostly cornmeal which is why I love it.
Once the cornbread has cooled in the pan for 10 minutes or so, I cut it into 16 pieces. My favorite way to eat cornbread is to slice a piece in half and toast it in my toaster oven until it is nicely browned and the edges are extra crispy. A pat of butter is all it needs. Don’t you agree?
Betty’s Cornbread
16 pieces
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
2 large eggs
2/3 stick butter, melted
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Butter a 9 x 9 inch pan.
In a large bowl combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and suger. Stir to combine.
Pour 1 1/4 cup milk into a 2-cup measuring cup. Add eggs and whisk until just combined. Melt butter and add to the milk and eggs.
Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients in 3 stages. Stir to combine then pour batter into your pan.
Bake for 25 minutes. Using a toothpick check the bread after 20 minutes to see if it is done (some ovens run hotter than others).
Cool cornbread in the pan for 10 minutes then slice and serve. The cornbread freezes beautifully.
***For lactose free version use lactose free milk and Earth Balance buttery sticks.
could you please share your mom’s lemon meringue pie and brownies recipes?
Hi Renee – I’ve been meaning to make a lemon meringue pie soon. I will try Betty’s recipe again (it’s been years since I made it). If it is a success, I will send you the recipe! I do recall it was an excellent pie. As for Betty’s brownies, she was always tinkering with the recipe and until this day, I have not been able to replicate her brownies. There are so many brownie recipes to choose from, yet none of them remind me of my mom’s so far. Do you have a favorite brownie recipe?