Making cornbread is easy, but there are a couple things you must know. One is that you always mix your dry ingredients separately from your wet ingredients, and never combine the two until right before you're going to bake the bread. The other is not to mix the batter any more than necessary to get the dry stuff moistened by the wet stuff, and to dissolve most of the dry lumps.

I have two recipes. The first, my very favorite, is rather like cake, tender and a little crumbly, and a bit sweeter. The other is more bread like, tighter, less crumbly, and less sweet. Of course, you can use the two to produce other variations, like a less sweet but more cake like bread.

I didn't put it in the recipes, but I almost always put something extra in the batter. If nothing else, I'll put some dried parsley flakes in the batter to give the bread some pretty green flakes. Whole kernal corn is an old favorite, as is diced jalapeno peppers. I'll put stuff on top too, like poppy seeds, garlic powder, even cayenne pepper.

Something else I've done is to substitute the milk with buttermilk. You may have to add a little water to thin out your batter because the buttermilk is thicker than regular milk.

I usually make muffins because they bake a little faster than loaves, and they're easier to serve, and store - cornbread will keep in the 'fridge for weeks in a plastic bag. You can make a cornbread loaf or cake if you like, using the same recipe, but adjusting the baking time just a little. I've also made corn pones, but I really don't like them. They bake faster than muffins.

One interesting variation is skillet corn bread. You spray a cast iron skillet with Pam, then coat the bottom with a thin layer of cornmeal. Put it on the stove burner at about medium high, and wait until it starts to smoke a bit and the cornmeal darkens. Then turn the batter out into the skillet and put the whole thing into the oven to bake. It will bake a little faster than an ordinary cake because of the pre-heated skillet.

Checking for doneness, always poke your bread with a toothpick. It's done when the toothpick comes out dry and clean. You'll eventually get so you just know when it's done.

Experiment, have fun.

Pre-heat oven to about 375F.

In a bowl, mix:
   1/2 cup cornmeal
   1/2 cup all purpose flour
   2 tsp baking powder
   1/4 tsp salt
   about 2/3 tbs sugar
Separately, mix:
   2/3 cup milk
   1/3 cup oil (I like Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
   1 egg

Spray your baking pan with
   Pam.
Get it on rather thick, you don't want your bread sticking.

When you're ready to bake your bread, mix the dry and wet ingredients together. Turn the batter out into a loaf pan, cake pan, or muffin tin. Bake loaf or cake about 19-20 minutes, muffins about 17 minutes. Pones take a little less time.

Use these ingredients, and bake like above.

Dry ingredients:
   1/2 cup corn meal
   1/2 cup all-purpose flour
   1/4 tsp salt
   1/4 tsp sugar
   1/2 tsp baking powder

Wet ingredients:
   3/4 cup milk
   1 egg

I seldom drink milk, so I don't keep it, it'll ruin even in the smallest quantity sold. I keep powdered milk, and buy whipping cream. Whipping cream keeps for weeks, unlike milk which will only keep for days. I get the cream with the farthest away date.