Cornbread Recipe with Freshly Milled Corn - Grains and Grit (2024)

FAQs

Can I use grits instead of cornmeal for cornbread? ›

YES, you can most definitely use corn grits instead of cornmeal! I actually prefer grits to cornmeal because they give a nice little crunch in the bread, but either can be used with great results!!

Cornmeal is ground corn, as well – simply a much finer, flour-like grind. In an artisan grits mill, very often when the grits are ground, the larger pieces are sifted and labeled as grits, and the smallest, finest grind that falls to the screen below is reserved as cornmeal.

The grittiness is an essential element of good cornbread, IMO. I buy the coarsest grind of cornmeal I can find. Another essential element is no sweetness. Soft, sweet cornbread is awful stuff if you ask me.

As for the best cornmeal for cornbread, either fine- or medium-grind cornmeal is a great choice. Medium-grind cornmeal will bring slightly more texture and grittiness to the batter, which you may or may not want (it's up to you!). You can use fine or medium cornmeal in these extra corny muffins.

Grits are most commonly served as breakfast or a side dish to other meals. Similar to cornmeal, grits are made from dried and ground corn but are usually a coarser grind. Grits are often made from hominy, which is corn treated with lime (or another alkaline product) to remove the hull.

Corn grits, like cornmeal, are ground from dried corn kernels; typically coarser than cornmeal, and intended to be cooked into a delicious buttery porridge. Instant grits are precooked so they soften faster.

Cornmeal and grits are both made from ground corn, but they differ in texture and processing. Cornmeal is typically finely ground, while grits are coarser, often made from hominy (corn that has been treated with an alkali).

If you have grits or coarse ground cornmeal on hand, you can turn them into any of the finer grinds of meal or even flour in a blender or coffee grinder.

Note: We recommend allowing cornbread batter to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before baking, so if you prefer, you can delay heating the oven until you make the batter. 2Melt the butter, and then set aside to cool slightly.

The trick to this perfect cornbread is letting the cornmeal, corn flour, and buttermilk sit overnight; this allows the corn flour to fully hydrate, while the acid from the buttermilk tenderizes the cornmeal, helping to create a tender, almost cakey bread that still retains that slightly gritty texture you expect.

How do you keep cornbread from getting gritty? ›

The key to cornbread that isn't gritty is letting the cornmeal soak in the milk for a bit. For a cakier style, you need more flour than cornmeal, and to make it nice and sweet, without being overpowering, you need a mixture of sugar and something else (like honey, in this recipe).

Soaking the cornmeal in buttermilk for a few hours, or even overnight, tenderizes the large grains of cornmeal, making the bread more moist and tender. This step is optional, however, and the bread is still delicious without the soaking step.

Finely ground cornmeal is sometimes labeled as corn flour, but British recipes that call for “cornflour” actually refer to cornstarch, which is not milled from the whole corn kernel. Masa harina is cornmeal made from corn kernels that have been cooked in limewater first.

Southerners, on the other hand, tend to prefer white cornmeal. Many people believe that it is because, in the old South, families used white cornmeal as it more closely resembled “fancy” European wheat flour. In any case, today it remains a main component in traditional Southern buttermilk cornbread.

There are some additional foods you can use in place of cornmeal. If you don't have any of the options above, you can consider ground oats, masa harina, bread crumbs, ground flaxseed, polenta flour, smashed cornflakes, homemade cornmeal, or hominy grits.

If you've ever wondered about when to use grits vs. polenta, or when to substitute plain old cornmeal, we've got some answers! Hominy grits, polenta and cornmeal are all made from the same grain, but they taste different and are used to make different foods from around the world.

Like most of the cornmeal you'll find in the United States, grits are typically made from dent corn: a variety with a low sugar content, a soft, starchy center, and a particularly pronounced “corn” flavor.

Grits are yellow or white cornmeal in varying grinds, always made from dent corn and always coarser than coarse cornmeal, according to Roberts. Cooked, it's a porridge vital to Southern foodways. Still, some manufacturers don't distinguish between grits and polenta, labeling them one and the same.