Cornbread Croutons Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What ingredient keeps cornbread from crumbling? ›

Adding about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of extra butter or vegetable oil can increase the moistness of your cornbread. You can do this even if your recipe doesn't call for butter or oil. Replace milk or water with creamed corn. If your recipe calls for milk or water, try replacing it with creamed corn.

Pour batter into prepared pan. The batter will be lumpy. Overcome the urge to mix until smooth. Overmixing can cause the corn bread to peak and have tunnels, resulting in a tough texture.

Note: We recommend allowing cornbread batter to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before baking, so if you prefer, you can delay heating the oven until you make the batter.

Crowding the pan.

Pile the bread cubes on top of each other and they won't have enough space to crisp up and brown. Instead, make sure they're in a even layer.

The key to crispy croutons is making sure that they're fully dried out in the oven and crunchy all the way through. They should not be chewy when they come out of the oven. Bake croutons in a single layer on the baking sheet to crisp up the bread, rather than steaming it.

The yolk will make the texture more dense and smooth, a bit brownie-like, while the fact that your original batter was too thick means that the additional liquid will help the baking powder achieve better leavening, giving you an airier texture.

generally speaking, cornbread is crumbly if there is too high a proportion of cornmeal to flour. you need the gluten in the flour to hold it together and also enough moisture. if it is too high in fat it will also be too tender and crumbly.

Is it better to use butter or oil in cornbread? ›

While oil can make cakes and quick breads luxuriously tender, I find the cornbread lacks flavor if butter isn't present. Because butter doesn't make the bread as moist as oil does, I pair it with buttermilk. Buttermilk: Buttermilk makes cakes, muffins, and breads extra moist.

Overmixing the batter

It might also end up being gummy or crumbly, depending on how long you bake it. Even if you aren't using flour (as many southern cornbreads don't), the extra air you've whipped into the batter will do one of two things: collapse in the oven or create a cornbread that's overly dry.

LET the batter sit for 15-20 minutes before baking. This allows the baking powder to activate and incorporate more air.

Soaking the cornmeal in buttermilk for a few hours, or even overnight, tenderizes the large grains of cornmeal, making the bread more moist and tender. This step is optional, however, and the bread is still delicious without the soaking step.

The key to cornbread that isn't gritty is letting the cornmeal soak in the milk for a bit. For a cakier style, you need more flour than cornmeal, and to make it nice and sweet, without being overpowering, you need a mixture of sugar and something else (like honey, in this recipe).

As for the best cornmeal for cornbread, either fine- or medium-grind cornmeal is a great choice. Medium-grind cornmeal will bring slightly more texture and grittiness to the batter, which you may or may not want (it's up to you!). You can use fine or medium cornmeal in these extra corny muffins.