Sourdough Cornbread
Sourdough cornbread has both deep flavor and a fluffy light texture because of one added step in the process: pre-fermenting all of the flour. This should make the cornbread more digestible, and it definitely brings the whole grain flavors into delicious prominence.
- Prep time
- 19 min
- Cook time
- 17 min
- Yield
- 9 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- Flour Ferment
- 150 g yellow dent corn flour (1 cup + 2 Tbsp)
- 100 g soft white wheat flour or Pima club wheat flour (3/4 cup)
- 80 g sourdough starter (1/4 cup)
- 230 g milk (1 cup)
- Final Batter
- 100 g sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp salt (5 grams)
- 1+1/2 tsp baking powder (6 grams)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda (2 grams)
- 2 eggs
- 65 g light olive or avocado oil (1/3 cup)
- All of the ferment
Instructions
- 1
This recipe is written for a 9x9 inch square pan. You can still use an 8x8 inch square pan or a 9" round, but the cornbread will be thicker and you should increase the bake time by 3-5 minutes.
- 2
The flour ferment can be done overnight with cooler milk and/or less active starter, or you can aim for a 3-5 hour ferment of the flours using warm milk and peak starter. There isn't a precise target rise; aim for expansion, puffiness, and internal aeration of the dough.
- 3
Mix the flours, milk, and starter in a bowl. Cover and let rise for several hours to overnight.
- 4
Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease a 9x9 inch pan.
- 5
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, and baking powder and soda. Beat in the eggs, then the oil, and finally all of the aerated ferment.
- 6
Transfer the final batter to the pan and load it into the oven.
- 7
Bake for about 17 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the center comes out with bits on it, not wet batter.
- 8
Serve warm with butter and honey if desired.