Thursday, April 26, 2012

Honey Vanilla Cornbread

My Life List: Things I'd Like to Do Before I Go #73: Attend the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. That's right. South Pittsburg. Not Rome. Not London. OK, Greece is admittedly on my list. But, I was just as happy to check this item off my list last April when Dad joined me on this excursion to this quaint town.


We enjoyed browsing through the various exhibits, arts and crafts, and we even did a little bit of antique shopping. I think Dad would agree, though, that our favorite part of the festival was the trip down Cornbread Alley. Here, you pay one price and get to sample many different kinds of cornbread. We just giggled thinking about all of the creative recipes made with this Southern staple. Some of the items we tasted included Tooti Fruity Cornbread Balls, Bacon Ranch Cornbread, Louisiana Yam Cornbread, Hawaiian Cornbread Fritters, Chipotle Cornbread, and Honey Vanilla Cornbread (my personal favorite). And I thought cornbread was just your requisite side dish to a good 'ole bowl of pinto beans!

The National Cornbread Festival takes place the last weekend in April each year. Although I'm not planning on attending this upcoming weekend, it did inspire me to try making my favorite. This is so good . . . just as I remembered. I was crazy for waiting a whole year before making it myself!



Honey Vanilla Cornbread

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup self-rising cornmeal
  • 2 cups self-rising flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 boxes (10.1 oz) vanilla instant pudding
  • 4 cups milk
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1-1/2 cups chopped pecans
  • 3 cups coconut flakes
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 9x13 casserole dish or large skillet with cooking spray. Blend together cornmeal, flour, sugar and pudding. Add milk, oil, eggs and honey. Stir until well mixed. Add pecans and coconut flakes. Mix until moistened. Pour into pan and bake for 35-45 minutes.

Note: I cut the recipe in half and made cornbread muffins instead. It's a good thing I did because I still ended up with 18 muffins! I baked them at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Mmmmmm.


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