Bacon And Chive Cornbread

  

Bacon And Chive Cornbread

Finely chop 6 strips of bacon and place in a medium nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until brown and crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. (Save rendered fat in the fridge or freezer for another use.) When the cornbread batter (recipe follows) is about half mixed, sprinkle in bacon and 1/2 cup (125 mL) finely sliced chives. Mix until bacon and chives are evenly distributed and batter is just combined. This will take approximately 5 minutes longer to bake than plain cornbread, about 50 to 55 minutes in total.
Basic Cornbread
This buttery, not-too-sweet loaf is less crumbly than traditional skillet cornbread, which makes it easier to slice. It’s delicious toasted and smeared with salted butter and honey. Or try it instead of an English muffin in Eggs Benedict.
Ingredients:
Baking spray
1 1/4 cups (310 mL) yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 cups (310 mL) all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder, sifted
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda, sifted
1 tsp (5 mL) fine sea salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (125 mL) unsalted butter, melted, slightly cooled
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) buttermilk, shaken
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 5 x 9-inch (12 x 23-cm) metal loaf pan with baking spray. Line bottom with parchment paper. Place pan on a baking sheet.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together eggs and butter, then slowly whisk in buttermilk until combined. Add wet to dry and mix with spatula until just combined—batter will still be a little lumpy. Transfer batter to prepared pan and level out top with spatula.

Bake on baking sheet on middle rack until a wooden skewer inserted in centre comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack. Cool 15 minutes. If necessary, loosen sides with a butter knife then carefully turn loaf out onto rack. Remove and discard parchment paper. Loaf will keep at room temperature, covered tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 2 days.   Serves 8 to 10