Recipe: Waffled cornbread

Notice anything ... different?

I bit the bullet and bought a Belgian waffle iron. 

For my next blog, I'm just going to do this blog all over again, only with a different waffle iron.

No.

I'm just kidding.

Can you imagine?

Anyway.

Waffled cornbread has been easily the second-most-requested item on this blog. I've shied away from it because people who make cornbread have definite opinions about it.

This contrasts sharply with my definite ignorance about it. 

In the comments below, you can yell at me about how I'm doing it wrong. 

I'm not someone who makes cornbread. I mean, I've made it. But I don't consider it a staple of my diet, it occupies no special place in my culinary world and, while I like it just fine, I can go years without eating it.

You can tell I wasn't raised in the South.

At any rate, a new barbecue joint opened up not too far from my place. And I knew it was time.

Luckily, I had some help. 

Not just from the people at Pork Shoppe.

(Old Waffleizer: Explain elaborate conceit of blog. Work for months to arrange collaboration with chef. New Waffleizer: Walk into store. Buy pork. Walk out.)

I also had help from Jennifer, who blogs at Keeping Southern (overline: "barbecue is a noun, not a verb") and who shared her cornbread recipe with me.

(Old Waffleizer: Coordinate with guest blogger months in advance. New Waffleizer: Swap emails. Take recipe. Run with it.)

I was really happy with the pulled pork I got from Pork Shoppe, though this is where I warn you again that I know next to nothing about such things. I even ate something called a Texas Brisket Taco, which sounds like the sort of thing I would ordinarily avoid and which may, for all I know, send some people reading this into apoplexy, but which was, to my mind, extremely delicious — pork, cilantro, onion and lettuce in a corn tortilla — and which got me thinking about pulled pork vs. carnitas and cornbread vs. corn tortilla. (Clearly, Pork Shoppe was way ahead of me in this train of thought.)

Cornbread does not require much time to prepare; and it takes all of two or three minutes to cook in the waffle iron.

Now, I have to tell you that I made this in both my standard waffle iron and my new Belgian model and I was more pleased with the results from the Belgian model.

If you don't have a Belgian-style waffle iron, I'm not suggesting you buy another waffle iron to make this. But, really, I am.

The recipe, which can be easily halved, is after the jump.

Waffled cornbread

Serves about 6

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of cornmeal (wholegrain)
• Scant ½ cup flour 
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 4 eggs, beaten

Directions:

1. Combine the dry ingredients.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk and eggs.

3. Quickly combine the wet and dry ingredients. 

4. Waffle in a lightly greased waffle iron until golden brown, about two minutes.

Comments

[Julie @ Willow Bird Baking]

Ohhh, I want this! I think this is my favorite of your wafflings so far! I'm a pulled pork kind o' girl.

[The Wind Attack]

yes... ok, I'm gonna try this ASAP. Maybe for dinner.... I love me some cornbread. The pictures here a real nice.

[coppertone24]

I don't know if this is controversial or not, but it looks like there are some remenants of cole slaw on your plate there. I've recently tried putting the cole slaw on my pulled pork sandwich, and I haven't looked back since. It's SOO good! I bet it would be equally delicious on a pulled pork/cornbread waffle.

[vanillasugar]

sweet. i need, no, have to try that.

[Wei-Wei]

Yummmmmm. It looks so delicious with the pulled pork on top. Gosh.

Wei-Wei

[Gygaxis]

Came to say that I've been enjoying the backlogs of this blog for the past several months and nominate Red Lobster style cheese biscuits as a potentially waffleable menu item. Keep up the fantastic work!

[Lauren]

LOVE this idea! What a great presentation.

[Lillian Ledford]

...funny but I thought you already waffled cornbread...and that's where I got the idea to waffle mine...to go with CHILI! I did it all vegan style for a friend, but it was amazing...and I recommend the combo heartily.

[Daniel]

coppertone24 - Wow. Good eye. And, yeah, I can easily see putting some cole slaw on a pulled pork sandwich.  

Lillian - That sounds like a great combo. The chili would settle nicely into the divots of the cornbread. 

[Thomas Lenz]

Muffalata guy here to let you know that unsweetened cornbread is definitely a southern way to go. Most of us Yankee types like a little sugar in it. And cole slaw on pulled pork has been around since Morse BBQ opened up in Elgin whenever (60 yrs. ago?) Gone now, sadly. The question now is, which cole slaw? Shredded mayo based, or micro-chopped vinegary stuff. Peanuts or no? Don't even get started on BBQ sauce (it's a noun AND an adjective).

[Stephanie]

Just found your site... and I love it! Recently inherited 2 old waffle makers. The cornbread looks wonderful, will have to try waffling my favorite corn muffins (Dorie Greenspan's Savory Corn and Pepper) bet they would go great with that pulled pork or some carnitas. Would you mind if I linked to your blog?

[Daniel]

I would not mind.

[Jordyn]

Love your blog and the things you come up with! My husband is a WAFFLE man. We tried your chocolate chip cookies- so quick, and so good!

[Frank]

It was only a matter of time, I still need to try a cornbread waffle with crawfish etouffee. Interesting recipe for the waffle, I have always made my cornbread with equal parts AP flour and corn meal. I think I'll give this a spin as well as report back with more detailed results from my own experiments. Good looking stuff though.

[marti]

The mere thought of this is so much more appealing than squid salad ala waffle iron. And I like squid.

Go Waffleizer!

[Jennifer Ellen]

This looks great! I'm glad the recipe worked well, and I'm happy to learn of a new place with good pulled pork.

(And pulled pork tacos make complete sense to me. When I first tried the amazing carnitas tacos at the La Rosita local grocery chain, I told my family back home that it was like a taco full of really good pulled pork with a Mexican twist.)

[mom, again]

I've made cornmeal into everything from poundcake to hushpuppies to pancakes, to trad. cornbread to yeasted cornbread and as brown bread to go with baked beans. why it has not occured to me to waffle the stuff, I don't know. But now I'm itching to try it. Both the BBQ pork and the chili sound good though I'm southern enough that dying to have them for breakfast with butter and a touch of molassas.

NO! BETTER! Peach butter! (like apple butter, but, you know, made of peaches.)

[CeCe]

Waffled cornbread is fantastic! I made it a few days ago & served with leftover pulled pork I had in the freezer. My children loved it. I froze the rest of the waffles & just pulled one out for my breakfast.

I will be sad to see you go! I appreciate your creativity & sense of adventure. Your photos are amazing, too.

[Sara]

First, let me just say that I adore your blog!!!

Second, I've just tried a very bastardized version of this & it was fantastic!! I cheated heavily by using a quick Jiffy mix for the cornbread. (I'm feeling flu-ish & don't have the energy to do
anything from scratch.)

I even added 2 slices of pre-cooked bacon to the last waffle & it was a perfect brunch dish---whipped up in a matter of minutes!!!

Anyway, were it not for you, I never would have known the joys of unconventional waffle iron use. :)

Thank you!

[sara]

Amazing! This looks so tasty. Just made pulled pork although I've just been eating it on sandwiches...this looks like a great variation! :)

[Carol]

I googled 'recipe cornbread in belgian waffle baker' a couple of hours ago and found this recipe, made them for supper with chili and reduced-fat cheese on top. I never follow a recipe EXACTLY, and with this one, I used a scant 2 cups of buttermilk and added 1/4 cup of canola oil. The cornbread waffle recipe in the booklet that came with the waffle baker called for a mix that I'm not sure is even available around here; besides, I wanted to use the wholegrain cornmeal that I always keep on hand. Thanks for the recipe!