Video summary
The video presents a guide to making authentic Southern savory cornbread, emphasizing that true Southerners prefer it crunchy and dense rather than sweet. The host argues that unlike the sugary yellow cornbread often found in restaurants or grocery stores for visitors, traditional Southern families grew up eating white cornmeal mixes that contain no sugar. To achieve this authentic flavor profile, the recipe relies on self-rising white cornmeal mix, which already includes flour, salt, and baking powder, allowing families to consume large quantities without added sweetness. The preparation involves preheating an oven to 425 degrees and greasing a ten-inch iron skillet with shortening or Crisco before adding oil to create a hot surface for frying the bread directly in the pan.
A key technique highlighted in the process is how the batter is poured into the skillet; instead of dumping it all in one spot, the mixture should be spread around the bottom of the pan. This method prevents the oil from being pushed entirely to the edges, which would otherwise leave a dry center in the finished product. The host also shares her secret ingredient: adding six tablespoons of butter directly into the hot skillet before pouring in the batter. While some family members, like her mother-in-law, omit the egg or skip the butter, the host insists that melting butter into the hot pan adds a rich flavor that elevates the dish, noting that even if her own mother did not use it, adding butter is a mistake one cannot make when making cornbread.
Once baked, the resulting cornbread is described as heavy and deeply crunchy on the outside due to the three-inch depth of the cast iron skillet used. The host suggests using lighter brands like Lodge or Blacklock if lifting the hot pan becomes difficult. The final presentation often includes a cold glass of milk poured over the warm bread, a tradition rooted in her father's preference for something cool after working in the summer heat. For an extra touch, she recommends adding a slice of garden tomato and a pinch of salt and pepper to complement the savory nature of the cornbread, creating a simple yet delicious supper that reflects the hearty cooking style passed down through generations.
Read the full video transcript
True southerners like their cornbread
crunchy and dense.
We put sugar in our tea, not our
cornbread.
These are the only two recipes you need
to make real southern savory cornbread.
What I'm going to do is make some good
old oven fried
cornbread, skillet cornbread. I've got a
little bit of butter in here.
Grease a 10-in iron skillet with
shortening.
Preheat your oven to 425.
Add a quarter cup of oil to your
skillet. Put it in the hot oven. Two
cups of cornmeal mix. And everybody
wants to know why we use cornmeal mix
down here and they frown upon it, but
what they don't realize is southerners
eat so much cornbread
that we buy in 5-lb bags
with the flour and salt
and baking powder already in it. That's
the way we bought it.
>> That was what was in the store my whole
life. That was what
>> That's what they sell.
>> Yeah.
>> That's what we eat.
>> Yeah, that's what's there.
>> And that's what we we grew up eating and
that's what we're that's what we buy. Um
it's not cuz we're lazy and we don't
make it homemade, it's because we eat a
lot of cornbread.
Most families make a pan of cornbread
every day. This is 1 and 1/2 cups of
buttermilk.
And that's whole buttermilk.
One egg.
My mother-in-law leaves the egg out, but
now nobody in my family did.
All right, we're going to turn around
here, grab our skillet out of the oven
and it is hot.
Now we're going to add my secret
ingredient and that is 6 Tbsp of butter.
So not only does my cornbread get oil,
it also gets some good old butter. So
we're going to add this straight into
the skillet when we're making the oven
fried cornbread and get it melted
while it's hot.
We're going to walk this over
and pour most of it into our cornbread
preserving some in the bottom.
Now, I do read my comments and I would
love to know what state you're in
what your mama used or what you use.
Do you use the cornmeal mix? What brand
do you use?
And
do you put sugar in yours?
Were you raised on sugary cornbread?
So, we're going to pour this in here.
Now, one thing a lot of people do is
when they pour their cornmeal
mix into the skillet, they pour it all
in the bottom in one spot
instead of kind of spreading it out.
And when you do that, it just kind of
pushes all of the oil
all around the edge
and create creates a drier spot right in
the middle.
So, when you put it in there, kind of
put it in there, you know, around a
little bit instead of just pouring it in
one spot in the middle. All right?
We're going to get this in the oven.
One of my popular videos
is
my crunchy cornbread and a lot of it had
to do with the fact that I told you guys
that we grew up in the South
and we did not grow up on the cornbread
that you guys get when you come into the
area to visit. It is a yellow cornmeal
with a lot of sugar in it. We grew up on
a white cornmeal mix
with no sugar in it
um type of cornbread.
>> So, if you go to a restaurant like in
Savannah
>> Yes.
>> chances are they're going to give you
that yellow cornbread, that yellow sweet
cornbread.
>> Correct.
And even if you buy it at the grocery
store, they will.
>> Yeah.
>> Around here. Okay, my famous cornbread
or mama's and most people's are just
like it.
All right, you're going to put in two
cups of the self-rising cornmeal mix we
were talking about earlier.
And I usually buy what's on sale. I'm
going to use 1 and 1/2 cups of
buttermilk and I like to use whole
buttermilk and then I'm going to add an
egg cuz mama always did.
Now I'm going to put in a quarter cup of
oil. Now if you're making that oven
cornbread like earlier, you'd put it in
skillet.
And mama made hers different.
She didn't oven fry hers.
She
used Crisco on the skillet and honey,
mama's cornbread's delicious and crunchy
and delicious and
>> Mhm.
>> Or I'll just throw some butter in here.
Me and Chris like butter in ours. Most
My mama didn't put butter in hers.
But heck, how could you go wrong putting
some butter in your cornbread?
>> Mhm.
>> Right?
6 tablespoons of butter, y'all. Room
temperature or melted is best.
Now let me show you how we do ours.
First, we use a 10-in iron skillet. Just
a standard.
Then we grease it really good with
Crisco.
And
we just take a little bit of the
cornmeal mix.
Y'all, this ain't sweet Jiffy mix. It's
just
white cornmeal with a little flour.
Salt and powder in it.
Baking powder.
And then we put our cornbread in.
And it flips out of there beautiful.
>> Yeah.
>> This is how you see me for the most
the whole time you've been watching me
cook. If you've been watching me a long
time, this is how I make my cornbread.
Just like this. This is my number one
recipe, my family recipe.
And the family recipe is in the
cornbread in the oven. It's just made
the skillet's heated up. That's the only
difference.
And
I'm going to check on it.
It might be brown.
>> Yeah, a lot of people
uh do their cornbread like the way she
did it at the beginning.
>> Now, you're going to notice when I get
this out of the oven, it is so heavy
because I've got it in a 3-in deep iron
skillet that I had to grab it with two
hands to flip it out. So, I'm going to
give you some advice.
If you're having a hard time picking up
your cast iron, try to get Lodge
Blacklock
brand because it's lighter in weight.
Now, this is gorgeous. It It did help
because I poured it in the skillet
around instead of just poured it right
in the center. So, if you if you like to
make cornbread this way and yours
usually sticks right in the center, just
when you put it in your skillet, try to
just pour it around in the skillet and
spread it out instead of just dumping it
all in there at one time fast, okay? And
look how beautiful that is.
That's a big pan of cornbread. It looks
deeper because that 3-in uh
um skillet that I made it in is a little
skinnier on the bottom than a standard
>> I was thinking it was puffed up more.
>> Yeah.
>> Ooh, that's smoking hot.
>> Yeah, it is.
And it's real crunchy on the outside.
So, when you make cornbread and you just
pour milk over it. But now, I do mine
different than Mama and anybody else I
ever knew does it.
And y'all can tell me how you ate yours.
But this is my favorite. Oh, that smells
so buttery and good.
There's nothing better to me
than cornbread milk.
Now, when my daddy worked outside in the
summer baling hay,
he would come home, and he would want
cornflakes
or cornbread and milk.
Because it's the hot outside, he didn't
want anything hot and warm. He wanted
something cold.
Now, I like to put a garden tomato in
mine.
garden tomatoes, and you really like
tomatoes with your food, you know, like
a garden plate or whatever of food and
vegetables and stuff like that, and
you've never tried your cornbread and
milk this way, you got to put the salt
and pepper in there, though, because you
know tomato is good with salt and pepper
on it.
Um try it like this just for me.
And make a comment and let me know if
you liked it.
And then I pour my milk over the top and
get a bite.
And it is absolutely
delicious.
Just delicious. And now we're going to
have two pans of cornbread. Now, when I
grew up, my mama
made a pan of cornbread
probably four times a week. My granny
made a pan of cornbread every day.
My mama made biscuits
uh every night. Every night.
Uh granny made biscuits and cornbread
every morning.
This is a really good supper.
Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.
I could eat my weight in it.
It's delicious. If you've never had
this type of southern cornbread, it's
savory.
And um even if you visited the South,
unless you've been in somebody's house,
you probably haven't had this kind of
cornbread.
Seriously, you probably never really
tasted this kind of cornbread.
Unless you've been to visit somebody you
know. All right?
And so I hope you give it a try. Please
give us a
thumbs up and let us know how you like
the video. We will see you next time on
Collard Valley Cooks, where we cook like
our mom's did. Bye y'all. Love you.
>> Welcome all in y'all come stay a while.
Collard Valley Cooks brings that
southern smile.
Tammy in the kitchen, Chris behind the
lens. We cook like family, so come on in
friends. Sweet tea and cornbread,
desserts so fine. Collard Valley Cooks,
glad you're here this time.