I'm not even going to build the suspense. SUCCESS!!

I got this recipe from a friend, and I gave it a go. Super easy, gluten free, and totally tasty!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp Butter
2 c. Corn Meal
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Honey
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 Egg
1 c. Buttermilk or Sour Cream

Directions:

• Preheat your shortening in your pan (I use cast iron so I do this in the oven). 
• Preheat oven to 400°F
• Mix ingredients together well.
• Take the preheated shortening and add it to the mix. Stir. 
  
• Pour the batter in the pan (if you're using cast iron, it should sizzle as the batter hits the pan)
• Bake for 25-35 minutes. 

Notes:
I let it go too long. I always manage to burn the bottom, and even the top looks a little too dark. The cornbread was dry, and I think it's because it baked too long. It didn't really affect the flavor, and no I know better for next time. This turned out so much better than Cornbread and Cornbread: Part 2. 

Review:
I will most definitely be using this recipe again. It turned out really well. I would give this attempt a 4 but the recipe a 5. TC says the same. So, to take that all into account, I'm going to give it a...

Total Score:
4.5

I would love to say that if I totally botch something the first time, I can make up for it the second time. I wish that was the case with this cornbread. Okay, let me start out with the truth. I have never really been overly fond of cornbread. I don't like cornbread without modifiers. I need something extra. I need jalapenos or honey. I need something. So, I made the cornbread using the same recipe I did last time, except I actually read it correctly this time. I'm not going to go over the directions with you, but I will give you a piece of advice after the pictures. 

I was so excited when it came out of the oven because it looked fluffy and delicious. My word of advice is to evenly distribute the batter. Mine was thicker on one side than the other, so it didn't cook evenly. So it goes...

Well, my dreams and hopes deflated with this cornbread. It sank. It was a sad day. It also still had that pudding like texture. There flavor wasn't as strong either. 

Review:
TC gave this a 4.5 and really liked it. He went back for seconds. It was less sweet than last time (I think maybe I should cut back on the sugar if I am using coconut milk). I would give this a 2.5. This cornbread was meh. I still have a ton of cornmeal, so I will try again... maybe with a different recipe this time. 

Total Score:
3.5

On a whim, I decided to make cornbread. 

Okay, it wasn't a whim. It snowed here, in Houston, today. For those of you unfamiliar with Texas weather, let me tell you: it's cold. The northerns are reading this and scoffing, I can hear it, "Cold? It's -40°F... or C, it doesn't matter, it's the same for both Farenheit and Celsius!" 

To them, I must reply: When you have weeks of 100°+ with the humidity in the eightieth percentile, you kinda adapt to those temperatures. Also, when it gets cold here, it is still humid. It's the kind of cold that seeps into your bones, no big deal. 

The point of this story is that it was cold out today and I wanted some supplemental heat, so I made a fire. The fire does not disperse heat well, so I decided to bake. I have been baking all day. Mostly dehydrating apple chips, but I decided cornbread needed to happen. 

I found this recipe because I googled (still not sure that is a word) and this was on the list. The picture on their site is of a lovely, fluffy piece of cornbread. The recipe contained sour cream, so I imagined it would be moist like a delicious scone. Yeah... about that...

Ingredients: 
1/4 c. Butter, Softened
3 tbsp Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 c. Sour Cream
1/2 c. Milk
1 c. Gluten Free Flour Blend (different from the one I normally use)
2/3 c. Yellow Cornmeal
2 tsp. Gluten Free Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425°F
• Soften butter and cream with the sugar (to cream butter and sugar is to mix it really well so that the sugar and butter form a nice cream)
• Add eggs and mix well.
• Add sour cream and milk
• Slow down the mixer and add the remaining ingredients
• This is the part where cast iron wins life. So, preheat the pan in the oven. When the pan was nice and hot, pour the batter into the pan and stick it in the oven. 
• Bake for 18-22 minutes until cornbread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

Notes:
The Gluten Free Flour Blend that was recommended for this recipe goes as follows:
2 c. Rice Flour
2/3 c. Potato Starch
1/3 c. Tapioca Starch
1 tsp. Xanthan Gum (used as a thickening agent)
I think this would be a good blend for things that you don't want to be too sweet. 

Okay, I know you've been waiting for how I screwed this recipe up. Well, I used coconut milk instead of regular milk. "That shouldn't cause a problem like that!" I know. The problem was that I used a whole can of coconut milk. For some reason, I thought the recipe called for 1.5+ cups of milk. This is the part where you find out that I am actually illiterate and have trained a monkey to transcribe. The person I sought advice from told me that I used too much liquid, but I thought I had read the directions properly. So, she was right. I used too much liquid and I look forward to trying this recipe again... and getting it right this time. 

TC prefers his cornbread to be a little spicy, with some jalapenos or something similar. I like my cornbread sweet. Mmm... sweet. He doesn't. Fortunately, I like the combination of spicy and sweet. It's a good compromise. 

Review:
This is not a good attempt to review. What we did end up making was tasty, but nowhere near what it should have been. I think the next go will be better. As it stands, I will give it a 2.5 because the consistency was pretty terrible. It was so unlike cornbread that I can't give this a better score. TC is asleep so I can't ask him. He liked it, but it was too sweet for him. I won't guess for him, so you're stuck with my rating. Hopefully, this will end up like Baked Bananas where the second one, Baked Bananas: Part 2 was so much better. 

Total Score:
2.5