Whole Wheat Cornbread

It seems like every culture has their own special dishes that they eat on New Year’s Day to ensure a prosperous year. I grew up in the south, and there we eat a dish called hoppin’ john, with collard greens, and of course, cornbread. This whole wheat version isn’t the authentic southern variety, with lots of butter (or lard) and tangy buttermilk. But it is tasty, and made with whole wheat flour.

I made a few ingredient changes from the original recipe. I substituted honey for the brown sugar (just as delicious, and slightly more nutritious), and I left out the dry milk powder. I understand some folks might want this to increase the protein content, which is fine. I don’t prefer to use powdered milk because it feels too far removed from what it once was–real milk. And I tend to not use ingredients that don’t resemble what they once were or are supposed to be.

I also like to bake my cornbread in a cast iron skillet. It develops such a nice brown crust in there. You can absolutely bake it in a 9×9 pan if you don’t have a cast iron skillet.

In our house, we serve up cornbread with a generous pat of butter and a drizzle of honey. You can consider both to be golden additions to your New Year’s table–a sure means of guaranteeing a prosperous 2012!