Yankee Cornbread

                                                                                         
We Yanks like our cornbread sweet and cake-like. I don't like southern cornbread as it is not sweet and is too dry for my tastes. I like the yellow cornmeal best, but feel free to try this with white cornmeal, though I think you will end up with a drier version. I have made this with organic corn meal that is very rustic, and though I like it, most kids won't as it is a coarse meal that is kind of chewy in places. If you want to avoid GMO corn, then you must use organic meal. This is a delicious corn bread that is every bit as good or better than the kind that comes in a box. I've been making this recipe for more than 25 years. I found the original recipe in the Columbus Dispatch Food Section, but then I modified it to fit what we like. The above picture is a cornbread made with organic corn meal. I bought the meal from Ashery Farms in Heath, Ohio.

Yankee Cornbread

1 cup unbleached white flour*
1 cup cornmeal, organic, if possible
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
dash real sea salt (pink kind)*
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup, plus 1 Tbls. organic palm shortening, melted*

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Sift together dry ingredients and place in medium mixing bowl.
Combine milk, eggs, and shortening and beat well.
Add the egg mixture ot the dry mixture and blend just till moistened (don't over mix).
With palm shortening, grease a 9" x 9" square pan. Pour batter into pan, levelling top.
Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or till golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean,
Serve hot with plenty of real butter.
*You could use whole wheat flour, if you'd like, but you'll get a different taste.
*We use Redmond's Real Salt, a real sea salt that is pink and has trace minerals in it.
*I use organic palm shortening in place of vegetable shortening as it is a much healthier choice. I buy my palm shortening from Tropical Traditions. You can find them on the web.