Cornbread Muffins

Mmm, cornbread. It's the super versatile muffin that's not for breakfast. Corn bread muffins are perfect for sopping up all the extra sauce from BBQ pulled pork or baked beans, and equally excellent for dipping in chili and a fiery stews. Moral of the story? I make these often and was shocked to see I never shared this recipe with you. Oops. Super easy and these muffins come out delicious every time. They'd be perfect with a little slather of butter or with any number of tasty dishes. When I made this batch, we had them with this BBQ pulled chicken.

Skillet Cornbread

Remember that skillet I seasoned so well when I made Apple Fritters?  Well, this seemed like the perfect way to test out how well I seasoned it.  I made this for Thanksgiving and then ended up making it again for just Dave and I because it was the perfect cornbread to pair with spicy chili.  The texture was perfect--a little crumbly but soft--and the pan really gave the bread a nice crust with some crunch but not hard or burnt.  A super simple recipe, I was very pleased with how easy it was to make, despite being a little curious about cooking the bread on the stove top first.

I found this recipe at Two Peas and Their Pod, but originally it came from Pioneer Woman (two of my favorite blogs).  Leave it to Ree to come up with a way to bake a delicious, savory bread in a cast iron skillet.  Plus, I kind love that it's round and served in triangles instead of the regular slices.  If you don't have a cast iron skillet, Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod made this in a greased 9 inch round cake pan and baked in the oven (no stove top cooking).  This would be fun for a winter dinner with friends or just as a side for a warm bowl of soup or chili.