3+ Vintage Cornbread Recipes Your Grandma Wants you to Try

Update: 7/22/2020

With snow in the forecast (in late April!!) I knew I should make one last batch of chili. And of course chili is so much better with cornbread. So I dove into my recipe boxes to see what I could find. There were only 3 cornbread recipes to choose from. Here they are with the one I chose as number 3.

1. Crusty Corn Bread. This one looks well loved and pretty straight forward.

I finally got around to trying another cornbread recipe and I can’t pick a favorite! I just plain love cornbread.

Did something a bit different and baked it in our pellet smoker! We were making chili on it anyway and it saved me turning on the oven. Unfortunately because of the relatively short cook time and high temperature it didn’t absorb much, if any of the smoke flavor. It was a fun experiment and I’d definitely try it again.

Crusty Corn Bread

• 1 C flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 TBSP sugar
• 1 C yellow corn meal
• 1 well beaten egg
• 1 C milk
• 1/2 C meted shortening

Sift flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Mix with corn meal. Combine egg, milk, and shortening, add to dry ingredients. Stir until moistened.

Bake in a 9 inch square pan. 450 degrees for about 25 minutes.

I only had white corn meal on hand so that’s what I used. Whenever possible I like to use my cast iron skillet so I used that here too.

2. Spoon Corn Bread. Look at that beautiful (if a bit hard to read) handwriting!

3. Corn Bread. Typed on a beautiful recipe card this was my choice! Baking in a cast iron skillet is something I haven’t done and was excited to try.

Corn Bread from the Kitchen of Margaret Scruby:

• 1 1/2 cups white corn meal
• 3 Tbls enriched flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 egg (slightly beaten)
• 2 Tbls drippings (I use bacon drippings)

Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add buttermilk and egg, stirring until combined. Melt drippings in iron skillet and add to batter. Pour batter into hot skillet, 10″, and bake in hot oven (475 degrees) 20-25 minutes.

Fresh from the oven!

My tips:

• Wait until it is really nice and golden brown.
• I repeat do not take it out early! The crunchy bits are the best part.
• Use 2 Tbls of white vinegar to milk if like me you forgot to buy buttermilk.

Looking delicious in my chili!

Delicious with a little butter.

Vintage Recipe Project has a treasure trove of wonderful recipes! Really spend some time digging on their blog.

Corn Bread from 1931 and New England Corn Bread are both on my need to try list!

All the vintage recipes spell it two words corn bread BUT modern recipes are cornbread. So I used both!

Vintage Recipe Box, Apron, and Table Runner

I love a good bargain so like to stop at estate, church, and garage sales. However I also cherish handmade things especially, woman made items. So you can imagine my joy when I found these.

After my father in law loaned me his recipe box I couldn’t believe that the next sale I went to I found one. This one does hold the older style 3×5 cards so I will likely not use it as mine. It is absolutely stuffed full! I will share some of the recipes once I have a chance to go through it. I can’t help but feel a little sad that I found this at an estate sale. At least the recipe box found a home where it will be loved and used.

I found the apron to add to my collection at a church sale my Mom and I went to. The fabric is just adorable. I can’t wait to get it washed and put her on! I’m such a messy cook I try to remember to wear an apron.

How pretty is that table runner?! The embroidered flowers are gorgeous. So many french knots. If you gave ever tried embroidery you will know what a challenge those can be to perfect. I won’t use it on my table because my naughty cats will just lay on it. It has found the perfect spot on top of a short book shelf.

Grandma R’s Recipe Box

Easter Sunday my father in law mentioned that his Mom used to make pineapple upside cake, the dessert I brought, all the time. I guess it was all the rage and a very popular dish to make and share. As the conversation continued he mentioned he has two recipe boxes and offered to show them to me. Of course I jumped at the chance and somehow convinced him to let me borrow them. 

 

 

I have been sharing recipes from both of these boxes for a while now. I am going to try something a bit different and go through each box one category at a time. I’m going to photograph the cards and share them here without making this first.

I’m doing this for a couple of reasons.

• #1 to get the recipes shared and preserved on the internet.
• If I waited to share only once I’ve made them they will never all get posted.
• I’m building a community on Facebook to test and share vintage recipes. I hope you will join us!

This page will be the landing page for all of Grandma R’s recipes. It will be changing over time as I get new ones posted as well as link ones that are already live.

Recipes in Grandma R’s Recipe Box

uncategorized

• Salt Substitute Herb Shaker