Carrrrnbread

In high school, I took this awesome dramatic literature class my senior year. It was taught by one of my favorite teachers and we spent a lot of our time reading out scenes from a range of bizarre and entertaining plays, so needless to say shit got pretty silly. One of my most vivid memories is sitting down to class at 8am on a gloomy winter day (much like today), and one of my friends breaking the sleepy silence with the following gem: "What does a pirate eat at the fair? Carrrrn dogs!". This post is in honor of the Dramatic Lit lunatics of 2005: Sweet Carrrnbread.

Guy, I LOVE cornbread. It's essentially a dessert, but it's also socially acceptable to eat it as part of your dinner. Win-win. I made a giant pan of cornbread a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of yet another snowstorm (springtime, eh?) and nommed it alongside chik'n tenders, sautéed green beans, fajitas, vegetable soup, and on its own, slathered in raspberry jam. 

If you think sweet cornbread is blasphemy, don't fret! Just reduce the sugar to 2 tablespoons and enjoy a marrrr savory side. God, I'm so sorry. 

Sweet Cornbread

Makes one 9x13 pan of cornbread. If that seems excessive to you, just halve the recipe for an 8x8 pan!

2 cups soy milk (or almond/coconut/rice milk, if you prefer)
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
⅓ cup Earth Balance, melted (you can also substitute vegetable or canola here)
⅔ cup sugar
¾ cup fresh, canned, or frozen corn

Preheat your oven to 400 F and line a 9x13 baking pan with aluminum foil. In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy milk and vinegar, then set aside. Grab a big bowl and mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together to combine. 

The first step to deliciousness.

Add the melted Earth Balance and sugar to the soy milk/vinegar mixture and whisk for daaaays. Okay not for days, but until you start to see little foamy bubbles appear around the sides of the bowl. This will take a couple of minutes and may give you carpal tunnel, but it'll be worth it. Pour the liquidy mixture into the dry stuff and add your corn.

Definitely use your smallest mixing bowl to make this as difficult as possible. 

Mix everything together until it's all nice and combined - the batter will be thick and a little clumpy, which is perfect! Now pour this mess into your prepared pan and stick it in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the top of the cornbread starts to look golden brown. Let your masterpiece sit for a few minutes to cool, but make sure it's still nice and warm when you serve it up!