Popcorn and Cornbread – The Perfect Combo!

I remember growing up on the farm and being fed a healthy dose of meat and potatoes. Mom always made things from scratch and her breads were no exception. Back then I remember her grinding wheat and dried field corn in a magic mill stone grinder to make whole wheat flour and corn meal. On Saturday afternoons, the farmhouse would be filled with the unmistakable aroma of fresh bread baking in the oven. Us children couldn’t wait to get a slice of piping hot bread straight from the oven slathered with butter and topped with honey.

On occasion, Mom would make cornbread from the fresh-ground cornmeal, that too would be served with a big slice of butter and drizzled with honey.

When I got my first smoker, I wanted to find a recipe for cornbread that I could cook in a cast iron pan, so I started searching and testing different recipes. After several attempts (some good, some not-so-good) I found a recipe that closely resembled my memories of Mom’s cornbread.

The first few times I tried the recipe I used store-bought cornmeal and then I had an epiphany, why not grind our farm-fresh popcorn kernels to make the cornmeal? I had previously ground wheat using both our Vitamix and Blendtec blenders so I tried the same thing with popcorn. The blender did a pretty good job but left some undesirable large chunks of popcorn, so I ran the cornmeal through a fine-mesh strainer and voilà, the perfect cornmeal was born.

This golden sweet cornbread has become a house favorite and is usually paired with our favorite beef stew. This is so simple to make and includes ingredients you should already have on hand. Here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal (from Roberts Family Farms popcorn, or store-bought)
• ⅔ cup white sugar
• 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius). Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: milk, vegetable oil, and egg.
4. Once well combined, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Don't overmix!
5. Pour the batter into your greased cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Tips:

• For an extra sweet cornbread, drizzle the hot cornbread with honey and let it soak in.
• This cornmeal is delicious served warm or at room temperature. Enjoy it for breakfast, a sweet afternoon snack, or even as a dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.