Tender Corn Bread!

Well, I almost feel guilty posting this bread recipe ......it's another sort-of "boring" (ie loaves, rolls), as opposed to some beautiful sweet rolls I've posted in the past. However, this bread is just TOOOOOO good not to post! 

Last Monday, we celebrated my grandson's first birthday - the theme of his party was "Lumberjack!". They were serving different types of chili for the meal, so I was asked to bring bread (no brainer -LOL!).  I ended up making two different kinds of cornbread, so we had LOTS of cornbread. I hadn't tried either recipe before, so I did a little snacking on the bread as I sliced it and put it on the trays. One recipe had corn and cheese in it.....I really anticipated liking that one the best.....and it was good...HOWEVER......The "simple" recipe turned out to be fabulous. As far as traditional cornbread goes, it wasn't that (there's still a big place in my heart -and stomach- for that!). It was soft with just a little bit of texture- someone remarked it would make amazing french toast. Since it was "boring", I was really hoping there would be some left over to take home....but there wasn't!  I guess everyone liked it....and I  guess I'll just have to make myself MORE!!! No problem! 

Just on a side note: Isn't my Amos a cute little guy?!! I hope you're enjoying the loving relationships in your family as much as I enjoy mine!!   

Tender Corn Bread

1 pkg/Tbsp. Red Star Platinum Yeast

1 ¼ Cups warm water

2 ½-2 ¾ Cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 Cup yellow cornmeal

3 Tbsp buttermilk powder (original recipe called for ¼ Cup nonfat dry milk powder)

3 Tbsp. butter, softened

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 ½ tsp. salt

Place warm water and yeast in EZ DOH bucket and stir to dissolve yeast. Let rest 1 minute. Add one cup of flour, then additional dough ingredients. EZ DOH-it for 2-3 minutes, or until dough is smooth and soft and all ingredients are incorporated, adding enough flour so that the dough is not sticky. Remove dough from bucket, spray bucket with cooking spray, “smooth” dough and replace in bucket. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Remove dough from bucket. Roll out into a rectangle, then roll up (jelly-roll fashion) and pinch seam shut. Place in a greased loaf pan (I LOVE my hearth loaf pan, which measures 12”x5 ½”x 2 ¼”, for this loaf……if you don’t have a similar pan, it can be baked in a 9x5” loaf pan with a longer baking time, or just shape it into a loaf measuring the size above and bake it on a greased baking sheet) . Let rise until doubled. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Brush the top of the loaf with butter. 

Ginny's note:" I've become a big fan of using buttermilk powder in bread recipes. It helps give a very tender crumb." 

Adapted from a recipe at "Taste of Home"
 Visit http://www.wildyeastblog.com/yeastspotting/ for more delicious breads 

Tender Corn Bread!