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I first made and fell in love with this corn bread two summers ago when I was diligently working my way through Peter Reinhart’s book for The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge. It was a fantastic bread – rich and sweet and moist with sweet corn bursts and bits of salty bacon. The texture was unlike any corn bread I had ever experienced, thanks to Mr. Reinhart’s method of soaking coarse ground cornmeal in buttermilk overnight before making the bread. Yes, it takes a bit of planning, but it’s worth it.
When I realized that our Summer Fest group would be talking about corn this week, I decided to revisit this bread. I haven’t been eating much bread or corn lately due to my self-imposed dietary restrictions, but I really wanted to make this for a special someone in my life who loves corn bread and hadn’t tasted this delicious version.
Since I’m trying my best to remove highly refined flours and sugars from my diet, I changed the original recipe a bit and substituted whole wheat pastry flour for unbleached all purpose and used organic whole cane sugar in place of the white and brown sugars. The recipe turned out just as delicious with my changes, but feel free to use whatever flour or sugar you prefer.
Although you can use frozen corn kernels, I highly recommend you use the freshest sweet corn you can find and cut the kernels yourself. I used fresh-picked local sweet corn from the Fresno State Farm Market and the flavor and texture was just perfect.
Enjoy!
Skillet Corn Bread with Fresh Cut Corn and Bacon
adapted slightly from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart
1 cup coarse cornmeal or polenta
2 cups buttermilk
8 ounces bacon (approximately 10 thin slices)
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or unbleached all purpose flour or a combination)
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup whole cane sugar or sucanat (or brown sugar, white sugar, or a combination)
2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (cut from approximately 3 fresh ears of corn)
2 tablespoons reserved bacon fat
special equipment: 10- or 12-inch cast iron skillet (alternatively, you can use a 10-inch round cake pan, a 9 x 13-inch baking pan, or a 12-inch square pan)
1. The night before baking the corn bread (or at least 8 hours before baking), soak the cornmeal in the buttermilk. Cover and leave at room temperature overnight or until ready to make the cornbread.
2. To prepare the bacon, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lay out the bacon on two sheet pans. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until bacon is crisp. Using tongs or a fork, remove the pieces to a pan lined with paper towels to cool. Drain off the fat into a can or stainless steel bowl and save for greasing the corn bread pan. When the bacon has cooled, crumble it into coarse pieces.
3. Lower the oven setting to 350 degrees. Pour 2 tablespoons of bacon fat into a 10- or 12-inch cast iron skillet and place the skillet in the oven to preheat while you prepare the corn bread batter.
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl; set aside. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Dissolve the honey into the melted butter and then stir the warm honey-butter mixture into the eggs. Add this to the soaked cornmeal mixture along with the whole cane sugar and stir to combine. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon or whisk until the batter is blended and smooth – it should be the consistency of thick pancake batter. Stir in the corn kernels until they are evenly distributed.
5. With good pot holders or oven mitts, carefully remove the hot cast iron skillet or baking pan from the oven and tilt it to grease all the corners and sides. Pour in the batter, spreading it from the center of the pan to the edges. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon pieces evenly over the top.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the corn bread is firm and springy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The top will be a medium golden brown. If using the 12-inch skillet, the baking time will be about 30 minutes, but if you use a smaller pan, the baking times will be longer, perhaps 40 – 45 minutes. Keep checking until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before cutting into squares or wedges. Serve warm.
Related Recipes:
- Creamed Corn with Bacon and Rosemary
- Homemade Kettle Corn Recipe
- Grilled Corn, Mango, and Jicama Salad with Honey Vinaigrette
Corn Recipes from my Summer Fest Friends:
- Dishin and Dishes: Kicked Up Creamed Corn From Scratch
- Big Girls Small Kitchen: Fresh Corn Salsa with Basil and Mint
- Zaika Zabardast: Fresh Corn Risotto
- What’s Gaby Cooking: Spicy Corn Salsa
- CIA Dropout: Truffle Roasted Corn Kohlrabi Soup
- Cooking Channel: Fresh Corn Muffins
- Food for 7 Stages of Life: Corn on the Cob Korma
- FN Dish: Southwest Corn Recipes
- Daily*Dishin: Sweet Corn and Couscous Main Dish Salad
- Napa Farmhouse 1885: Corn & Watermelon Salad
- Virtually Homemade: Summer Corn Salad
- Food2: Creamed Corn Cornbread
- Virtually Vegan Mama: Thai Corn Soup
- Sunshine and Smile: Scallops with Corn and Pepper Sauce
- Spices N Aroma: Corn Pilaf
- The Sensitive Epicure: Fresh Corn Fritters with Chive Lemon Chipotle Yogurt (Gluten-Free)
- Dixie Chick Cooks: Fresh Corn with Basil Slaw and Feta
- Cooking With Books: Corn Favorites
- Purple Cook: Corn on the Cob with Cilantro
- Glory Foods: Skillet Corn Muffins
How You Can Join in Summer Fest
Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? You can contribute to our online recipe swap in various ways, big or small.
Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.
Or think bigger: Publish entire posts of your own, if you wish, and grab the juicy Summer Fest tomato badge (illustrated by Matt of Matt Bites).
To join the Summer Fest conversation on twitter, use the hash tag #cookingwith.
Summer Fest 2011 Posting Schedule
June 22: Eggplant – missed this one!
July 6: Peaches
July 20: Cucumbers
August 3: Cherries – missed this one!
August 17: Corn
August 13: Tomatoes
September 14: Broccoli
Looks amazing! I’ll have to try making this for the kids.
9:11 am Aug 17th, 2011You do amazing things with food. You and Mr. Reinhard make a heck of a team!
11:01 am Aug 17th, 2011Oh gosh you had me at bacon…we both used bacon with our corn…GMTA! This looks SO delicious! And I’m eyeing that cucumber soup on your last post too! I didn’t make the cucumber week!
11:06 am Aug 17th, 2011Aw! This looks so yummy. I have some corn meal left, going to try this for sure.
12:13 pm Aug 17th, 2011Isn’t it bad to leave the buttermilk out overnight?
3:27 pm Aug 17th, 2011so far I couldn’t bake a successful bread .. and this looks doable.. and i have iron skillet . This is going in my wish list.. i want to try this one for sure!
9:23 pm Aug 17th, 2011This looks fantastically good! Can’t wait to try the bacony goodness.
1:12 am Aug 18th, 2011This looks amazing! I can’t believe I didn’t notice this recipe in my copy of BBA. I’m definitely going to make this after I hit the farmers’ market this weekend
5:35 am Aug 18th, 2011Oh, wow. This looks so good. My dad lives on Fresno State corn in the summer. Sometimes he eats it for breakfast! I’ll definitely have to make this for him.
8:56 am Aug 18th, 2011I’ve made this cornbread a couple of times, and it is indeed a delight. I personally find it a tad too sweet, but that’s easily fixed. And as it is corn season here as well, I really feel like going out to buy a few ears and making this ASAP!
9:13 am Aug 18th, 2011corn? bacon? bread? what’s not to love? adding this recipe to my “corn” list…thanks
9:18 am Aug 18th, 2011Looks amazing, my husband might even try this!
9:58 am Aug 20th, 2011You really do have a way with words, I so badly want to taste this bread right now.
4:36 am Aug 26th, 2011This looks amazing! I’m making a shopping list right now!
9:32 am Aug 26th, 2011I absolutely love this variation of cornbread and will be making this within the next few days. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. Sounds so good!
5:09 pm Aug 27th, 2011Well. I just made cornbread but this one with bacon totally upstages mine! The recipe looks delicious. I love your substitutions. I’ve been trying to do the same in my cooking and baking. Yum!
12:03 pm Aug 28th, 2011Definitely going to try this recipe soon. I love a good cornbread, whether it’s sweet or savory.
2:06 am Aug 29th, 2011Wow, what a wonderful idea to incorporate bacon with cornbread! I’ve got to try that next time I make mine. Thanks for sharing and inspiring me with something new. Your cornbread looks just mouthwatering!
8:11 am Aug 30th, 2011Cornbread is something new that I am trying these days. I have always loved how the idea of it sounds like warm summer days on the veranda and smelling honeysuckle and lilacs on the wind. Its a bit corny I know, but I love it. I am in the process of trying to find a good formula for a gluten free version, due to the fact that one of my roommates is gluten intolerant.
9:17 am Aug 31st, 2011Love seeing you back to the Peter Reinhart game! I want to pick up the BBA again this fall/winter. I was halfway through and I feel like I left it so unfinished!
Would have loved to participate in the summer challenges. How do I get involved?
10:03 am Sep 3rd, 2011It’s hard for me not to like anything with bacon but this sounds especially swoon-worthy!
5:00 pm Sep 3rd, 2011Bacon! Sounds and looks delicious.
5:14 pm Sep 3rd, 2011This seriously is drool worthy. I can’t imagine how delicious it is. LOVE
6:51 pm Sep 3rd, 2011Thanks so much for linking to my recipe. I’m a huge fan of Aleppo pepper (and also urfa biber, which is similar), but not such a huge fan of yellow squash.
2:09 am Sep 9th, 2011So glad to found your delicious recipe!!! Looks so good
10:58 pm Feb 18th, 2012Made this today with Polenta and just regular 2% milk and it was great! Took maybe 5 more minutes to set in the middle, maybe because of the thinner milk? Used a large cast iron, as well. Thank you! It’s a keeper!
1:17 pm Jun 22nd, 2014