This recipe is indeed interesting from an historic perspective - possibly a passed-down recipe from an age where leavening and maybe even white flour was hard to get and not always available to the lonely farm-wife. The density and lack of sugar are not so detracting as the lack of salt or any other flavoring in this recipe. It reminds me a little of the modern "depression era" bread recipes that leave out salt as if it were so dear as to be unaffordable... which I doubt was really the case except in the most severely poor homes. Some other reviews suggest adding sugar or baking powder or all-purpose flour. That really would change the recipe too dramatically and take away from the simple charm of this "southern" cornbread. I would suggest adding a teaspoon of salt. It maintains the spirit of this all-corn southern bread, but makes it palatable. If you want a slightly fluffier cornbread, meringue the egg by beating vigorously to froth before mixing with other ingredients. What the poor southern cook might have lacked in ingredients, they could make up with elbow-grease.

Reviewed On: Oct. 1, 2011

Very nice. If you don't have good sourdough starter, but can't wait to try this recipe, substitute a pint of sour cream plus one extra TBS (one packet) of yeast.

Reviewed On: Feb. 19, 2011

I was surprised to find that this is nearly identical to a recipe I THOUGHT I had invented. Alas... To make a darker and slightly more flavorful bread, use dark/stout beer, molasses, and two TBS of instant coffee. Also suggest using two tablespoons of vinegar as yeast nutrient and dough conditioner. Boil the beer and cool before adding other ingredients. Boiling the beer sours it a bit for a stronger rye bread flavor. Three heaping TBS of sour cream will add a lot to the texture, taste, and shelf-life of the bread.

Reviewed On: Feb. 19, 2011