Papa's Favorite Sweet Cornbread

My father grew up with fond memories from his youth of the down home cooking of his mother and sisters. When he dropped over one evening for an impromptu visit, I invited him to join us for a simple dinner built around some homemade sweet cornbread that I had just taken from the oven. My apologies to him for our simple (very non-company) type dinner were enthusiastically waved aside as he devoured a surprising number of cornbread squares! At the end of our meal, he declared that my cornbread was not only delicious, but had the exact tasted and texture of the cornbread that his mother used to fix for him…I can’t imagine a nicer endorsement than that! He passed on a number of years ago and I miss him terribly, but every time I fix this cornbread, it puts a smile on my face just remembering the many cornbread dinners that Dad and my family enjoyed together after that!

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 4  large eggs
• 2  cups buttermilk (or 1 c. plain yogurt mixed with 1 c. milk)
• 3⁄4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1⁄3 cups yellow cornmeal
• 1 1⁄3 cups masa corn flour (you can also substitute yellow cornmeal for this amount of masa corn flour)
• 1 1⁄3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 1  tablespoon baking powder
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1  teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter together to blend. In another bowl mix the cornmeal, masa corn flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture just until evenly moistened. Spread level in a greased 9x13 inch pan.
3. Bake in a 375°F oven 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean and the top of the cornbread is lightly browned. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes and then cut into 12 squares.
4. Serve with butter, syrup or honey or topped with chili!
5. *For an added treat, you can gently mix in 2 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries after mixing the dry and moist ingredients together and before pouring into the baking pan.