Crispy Corn Bread

2026-10-26 · Serves 6

Ingredients

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 450°F. Grease a 12-inch cast-iron skillet with the lard, leave any extra in the pan, and put the skillet in the oven.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until frothy, then whisk in the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix thoroughly.
  4. Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat and whisk it into the batter.
  5. When the fat in the skillet is smoking, carefully take the skillet out of the oven and swirl the fat to coat the bottom and sides. Pour in the batter. It should sizzle.
  6. Bake 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the edge has pulled away from the side of the skillet.
  7. Cut into 6 wedges in the skillet and serve hot.

At a Glance

Heat the oven to 450°F
1 Tbsp lardgrease a 12-in skillet; heat in the oven until smokingswirl fat, pour in batter; bake 15 mincut 6 wedges, serve hot
1½ cups cornmealsift togethermix thoroughlywhisk in
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 large eggwhisk frothy, whisk in buttermilk
1½ cups buttermilk
2 Tbsp buttermelt over low

Notes

Adapted from Matt Lee and Ted Lee, The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook (W. W. Norton, 2006), p. 497. The Lees got it from Mindy Merrell, who spent twelve years in the Martha White test kitchen.

The trick is the pan, not the chemistry. A batch sized for a 9-inch skillet goes into a 12-inch one, so the bread bakes only about ½ inch thick. That doubles the crust and leaves a thin, moist middle.

The fat must smoke before the batter goes in. The sizzle sets the bottom crust at once, and the edges fry in the lard.

Yellow or white cornmeal both work. Stone-ground gives the strongest corn flavor. The book serves it with sorghum butter.