Kefir Cornbread Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups flour (240 g)
• 2 cups cornmeal (260 g)
• ⅔ cup sugar – I use coconut sugar but brown or cane sugar works fine (110 g)
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• Something to grease the pan (tallow, coconut oil, melted butter)
• 1 cup full fat kefir (500 g)

RECIPE:

1. Combine the flour, cornmeal, and salt.
2. Mix your dry ingredients with the kefir. It should form a moist dough that is still sticky and doesn’t hold its shape easily
3. Cover and let it ferment on the countertop for at least an hour and up to 4-5 depending on your kitchen temperature.
4. When you’re ready to bake, mix 2 eggs and sugar in the food processor until it’s liquid, and then combine with the fermented dough to form a batter. I like to let it rest for about 30 minutes till it’s bubbly again but it’s not necessary.
5. Preheat your oven to 400 F or 205 C, put a scoop of tallow in your baking dish (or cast iron skillet, but you’ll have to halve the recipe – I use a Pyrex baking dish) and melt it in the oven while it preheats. I’ve also used coconut oil and melted butter.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake until the top is a deep golden brown. I have a countertop oven which doesn’t get as hot as it should so this takes me 45 minutes – a normal oven would probably bake faster. Just keep an eye on it.
7. Serve with lots of butter, gravy, honey…. however the texture is great cold too, which in my opinion is the mark of a good cornbread.

FERMENTING TIPS

• The timing of this recipe will vary depending on the strength of your kefir and the temperature of your kitchen. I make my own kefir pretty strong. If your kefir isn’t as spicy, or your kitchen is cooler then you’ll need to ferment it longer.
• If your kefir is not made with whole milk for some strange reason, make sure to add melted butter or cream to the batter. You’ll have to play with the measurements on that, I’d probably do 100 grams (1/4 c) of melted butter and 400 grams (1.25 c) of kefir.
• If you want to do an overnight ferment then start it at room temp for an hour and then stick it in the fridge. One time I fermented it at room temp for 24 hours and it literally tasted like beer. In a good way actually because I happened to pair it with slow-cooked short ribs in a sweet & spicy BBQ sauce, but I usually prefer a sweeter cornbread.
• The longer you ferment it, the more digestible it will be. For me, in a tropical climate, 4 hours seems to be the sweet spot. I’ve made this recipe without fermenting it and maybe this wouldn’t have happened if I was able to eat cornbread in moderation, but I can’t and had several pieces and it gave me a tummy ache.
• If you don’t want to ferment it, add 12 grams (2.7 tsp) of baking soda and 7 grams (1.5 tsp) of vinegar to your batter.

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