Do you remember some of your early culinary adventures as a kid? Where you would find something out and then it would forever stick with you and you wondered why you hadn’t thought of doing it before? For me, those kinds of discoveries were any kind of chip in any kind of sandwich, cereal in ice cream, French fries in chocolate milk shakes, and vegetable cream cheese on a blueberry bagel (still eat this ALL THE TIME). As an older child I discovered putting fritos in the bottom of your bowl of chili. Whoa. I still think about it every time I want to make chili. If you don’t have fritos, my second thought is always layering corn bread at the bottom of the bowl. It becomes what I would later term as the “grape-nuts effect” (basically it soaks up all the good stuff and at the end you’re eating a soggy delicious mess). I would describe the pay off to be similar to lucky charms milk. Always having been a huge fan of corn bread, I am excited about this recipe for Buttermilk Cornbread and Bacon Lime Chili Butter. So the deal with this Buttermilk Cornbread is that it isn’t too sweet, so you can totally use honey on top if you like that kind of thing. There are corn chunks in it so you still have some nice texture. The butter is on a whole other level. If you prefer to eat your cornbread alone (not at the bottom of your chili bowl), then you MUST make this butter. It’s like a smoky bacon dream spread. In fact, I would recommend doubling this recipe and eating it on toast in the morning. It really is that good.
I realize it’s been hot lately. So if you’re not in the mood for cornbread we still got your back. We hope you all have a very nice Independence Day!
♥ Teri
More recipes you might fancy:
Buttermilk Cornbread with Bacon, Chili and Lime Butter
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup fresh corn kernels (off of about 2 cobs)
- 2 cups yellow cornmeal
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and divided
- 4 cups buttermilk
- ¼ cup honey, warmed (plus extra for drizzling)
- salt and pepper to taste
bacon, chili, lime butter
- ½ pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold salted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 tablespoon chile powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- zest of 3 limes
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Place 8”x8” baking dish into oven.
- Melt butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add corn and sauté for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In another bowl whisk together eggs, 1 cup butter, buttermilk, and honey.
- Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until well mixed. Fold in corn.
- Pour remaining butter into hot baking dish and swirl to cover all sides.
- Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 45 minute to an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.
- Remove from oven and drizzle with a small amount of honey. Serve with bacon butter.
- Bacon, chili, lime butter: Place bacon and shallots in a food processor and pulse until a fine mealy texture forms. Add remaining ingredients and continue to pulse until fully incorporated. Place butter in a ramekin and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours (to allow the flavors to merry). Before serving, set butter out for 30 minutes to soften. Serve.
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
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Can I freeze the bacon butter so it can be used on other foods? I’d hate to throw the leftovers out since it’s so good.
Making this now. So anxious to try it! I agree with Sue, the batch was enough to fill two 8×8 pans.
i have my cornbread in the oven as we speak. My only comment is that when you said 1 8×8 pan, I thought, hey I’ll double this and bake it in a 9x 13. This recipe must be enough for 2-8×8 pans because I have 2 full 9x 13 pans in the oven. Not a problem, just an FYI. Hey, more to share! It really smells good, Now I need to go make the butter!
Hi,
Quick question, if I do not have yellow cornmeal, what subsitutes I can use? I live in indonesia and it is difficult to find this. Would corn flour is ok?
Thanks!
I’ll have to think about an adequate substitute for cornmeal and get back to you. Unfortunately corn flour is quite different and used primarily as a thickener and is not meant for baked goods.
Okay, thanks Jen for your quick reply. I will try find it in western shops here at indo.. :)
The bacon lime chili butter in this recipe is one I need to try ASAP! The competition BBQ circuit needs more of this type of flare on Friday night set up dinner menus!
Do you think this would work cooking it in a 12-inch skillet?
Definitely, you just might not get quite the height!
Your parmesan pepper beer bread was such a hit with my family that I decided to make your buttermilk cornbread for Thanksgiving. I didn’t have oregano on hand but fresh rosemary worked nicely as well!
Aw, so glad to hear you’re enjoying our ‘breads’! Happy Thanksgiving!
Easy to make and extremely delicious. Absolutely loved it!
One of my favourite meals is japanese spinach pancakes with chilli and lime butter, delicious! Definitely going to get some bacon involved next time though. x
How can anyone not be in the mood for cornbread?? Heat wave or no, this recipe looks fantastic!
I love cornbread, this version must taste really great! I need to try it :)
Looks absolutely delicious! You guys are so inventive.
HOLD UP A MINUTE! VEGGIE CREAM CHEESE ON A BLUEBERRY BAGEL!? Clearly this sounds insane, but you’re such a reliable source I’m actually going to try it out.
This looks AMAZING! I’m a total cornbread girl, and I always have fritos (or tortilla chips… or cornbread) at the bottom of my chili bowl!
I can’t wait to make this, thanks for sharing!
LOOK at the texture, height and density on that cornbread! You gals know your stuff. Gorgeous! There is a lot of butter in this recipe so I’m sure it is absolutely delicious, YEOW. I’m making one of your recipes for the cookout I’m attending tonight! — cherry ricotta crostini, except making it in a large shallow dish and serving toasts for dipping so I don’t have to carry a million crostini to the cookout :) It’ll be a hit, I know it! FOOD DESTROY. xoxo
I’m passionate about a good cornbread! This looks fantastic!
This looks super delicious!
Now that is what I call cornbread. That butter is genius!
You have made an even easier way for me to ingest my cornbread an my bacon in the same mouthful. I owe you a debt of gratitude. Bless you.
Buttermilk cornbread is the best! I just made some last night!
The butter sounds incredible! The whole thing sound incredible! Awesome.
Oh man, this cornbread looks PERFECT.
I can’t eat New England clam chowder without Fritos, so yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about. I love your dish. It’s a full food party in one glorious baked square.
That butter does sound addictive! my child hood discovery is using sprinkles as sandwich filler on white butter bread. We call it fairy bread in Australia. Now I use this as inspiration for French toast sundays, were I deep fry slices of these in a sprinkle studded eggy batter :)