corn bread 2 ways

My search for the perfect cornbread recipe has fallen short. We went to a Halloween party and I was asked to provide the corn bread to go with the chili that was being served. So, I dove into my many cookbooks and looked online searching for the perfect recipe. I couldn't decide on one, so I ended up making 2 completely different ones, then we could compare. I found both recipes online, one from a blog and the other from cooks.com and neither one was the corn bread of my dreams....

The first was considered a classic cast iron skillet cornbread. It had a crispy crunchy crust, but was way too dense. The batter was very pourable, almost like a pancake batter. This cornbread was a little bland and not sweet like the second one.

Recipe #1 :

2 c cornmeal
1/2 c sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg lightly beaten
2 c buttermilk
2 TB bacon drippings or veggie oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Put drippings or oil in a cast iron skillet and place it in the oven for a few minutes until it's sizzling.
Mix together dry ingredients and set aside.
Whisk egg and buttermilk together then mix with dry ingredients.
Take cast iron skillet out of oven and pour the hot oil into batter and mix.
Pour the batter back into the cast iron skillet and bake in oven for 20 minutes.
Cornbread should be brown on top and pulling away from the sides of the skillet.

The second recipe was for corn bread muffins with honey butter. This batter was thick enough to spoon into the muffin tins, almost like a cookie dough. (not quite that thick, but you get the idea) The muffins puffed up beautifully and looked gorgeous, but were lacking in flavor. They were on the sweeter side and definitely had more going for them than the first recipe.

The honey butter was the savior for both recipes ! I highly recommend just making the honey butter and having it in your refrigerator at all times.

Recipe #2

2 c flour
2 c yellow cornmeal
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 TB baking powder
2 well beaten eggs
7 TB melted butter
1 c butermilk
1 can creamed corn

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients together. Then add eggs, melted butter, creamed corn and milk. Beat until smooth. Pour into well greased muffin tins and bake for 12 - 15 minutes. If used in a loaf pan bake for 30-35 minutes.

To make honey butter: Mix equal parts honey and sweet butter at room temperature. Whip until smooth. My friend Maggie of Hello Kitchen suggests using a creamed honey to whip with the butter - it makes for a creamier consistency. I used regular honey and the butter came out slightly gelatinous, but the flavor was perfect.

Cornbread seems like such an easy recipe to make, but what went wrong? After discussion we agreed that a cornbread from a box (oh no) may be the best way to go. If I had to pick between the two recipes, then number two was the winner but I'm still in search of that perfectly crumbly, slightly sweet corn bread of my dreams...