Finally, a good cornbread mix!

I love cornbread. It is the first gluten-free recipe I converted, and I make it a lot just because I love cornbread. I can eat cornbread and butter and nothing else for dinner and be a happy, happy girl.

And now, I love Pamela's Products Corn Bread and Muffin Mix. I got a sample from the company over the holidays, and it is now going to have a permanent spot in my pantry.

There's a story, of course.

Now, I'm pretty picky about cornbread. If you like your cornbread with sugar in it -- Yankee Cornbread -- then I suggest you skip the next two paragraphs. I believe that taste is personal, and I don't want to offend...***

(See, I was raised in the south, and southern cornbread has two things going for it -- it is NOT SWEET and it has a crust. A thick crunchy crust. If you're a cook worth anything, you have a DCP -- a dedicated (and gluten-free in my case) iron skillet that you use only for cornbread. And for nothing else. Ever. You like your cornbread made with buttermilk, and you also like it white (though I DO like yellow since that is all I can get gluten-free most of the time. It was kinda funny -- my first husband wouldn't marry me til I could make cornbread like his mother. But that is another story...And they were also not sweet cornbread people. In fact, everyone I know likes southern cornbread the way I most always make it.

My mother wasn't a purist. She used Martha White White Cornbread Mix. And I always did too. I can replicate it, but it does take time and measurement, and so it became a pain...

***SKIP TO HERE: There is an exception to my cornbread rule -- some casseroles from my childhood, like my corned beef casserole and corn casserole, and the like, require Jiffy mix. Honestly, once in a while, I found myself wanting a Jiffy corn muffin. But it was never real and I'd never serve it with chili or on New Year's Day.

Once I went gluten-free, there was no mix available that didn't pretty much taste only like Jiffy. So it was OK when I made my casseroles, but I did miss the Martha White-style mix.

Until now. The versatility of the Pamela's mix is on the package -- you can add sugar, or leave it out. You can add buttermilk. It was mightly crusty in a regular pan, so I know it would be awesome in the DCP.

In other words. Easy, good, versatile, and GLUTEN FREE! Like the Baking Mix (which I use for EVERYTHING now) this will be a staple.

It can even be made with almond milk! Makes it even nuttier. I'm pretty sure you could make it vegan and CF/DF if you wanted to do so..

Kudos, Pamela's Products. Thanks for this. I can't wait to try to other samples and report back.

Oh, and check out Pamela's Favorite Newsletter, which came out today. Marion, who is mentioned, is from around here!

Much love, and pass the cornbread!
Ging

P.S. Here's the nutritional information and ingredients for your information:

INGREDIENTS: Organic Degermed Corn Meal; Brown Rice Flour; White Rice Flour; Tapioca Starch; Sweet Rice Flour; Potato Starch; Organic Degermed Corn Flour; Grainless & Aluminum Free Baking Powder (Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Potato Starch); Sea Salt; Xanthan Gum.