Cornbread exists in some sort of magical middle ground. You can eat it with dinner even though it’s possibly more cake than bread. You can make it about a million different ways, and you can enjoy it with all kinds of soup, stew, and even breakfast. You can make it with nothing but cornmeal, or just the tiniest amount. And it can be so good that you burn yourself trying to eat it right after it comes out of the oven.

This cornbread is that kind of good. I started with a recipe from All Recipes, and to be honest, I didn’t change it that much. I tweaked the ingredients the tiniest amount, and added a technique involving cast iron and hot lard that will give you the best crust you can imagine. This cornbread is sweet (but not too sweet; I found the original was), with little crunchy bits of extra-coarse cornmeal, and an incredible crust. It’s everything you could want in cornbread, and it’s guaranteed to vanish in moments.

Crunchy, Crusty, Cornbread

1 ¼ cups fine cornmeal
¼ cup extra-coarse cornmeal
2 ½ cups milk, warmed

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup white sugar

2 eggs
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup butter, melted & cooled

Lard or shortening, for baking

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the cornmeal and milk in a large bowl and let soak for at least 15 minutes, stirring a few times. While it’s soaking, whisk together the dry ingredients and melt the butter.

Take a 9″ cast iron skillet and heat it over medium-high heat on the stove top.

Once the cornmeal is done soaking, whisk in the eggs, oil, and butter, and then stir in the dry ingredients, taking care not to over-stir (some lumps are fine).

Add a knob of shortening or lard to the heating skillet, let it melt, and swirl it around in the pan (use hot pads!). Carefully pour the batter into the skillet of hot fat, and then transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes, until nicely browned & a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.