Category: Veggies and Sides

This spin on classic cast iron cornbread will definitely be a side dish you’ll keep in rotation. My sweet potato cornbread recipe is a winner especially with a schmear of maple bourbon butter!

If you’re looking for a way to jazz up cornbread, you’ve come to the right place! The sweet potatoes help to keep the cornbread nice and moist. The addition of spices to the batter makes this sweet potato cornbread perfect for the holiday season. But if you’re like me, you’ll eat this year round!

The sweet potato cornbread is great on its own, or with melted butter. But, we’re here to jazz up classic cornbread, right? Great! The maple bourbon butter pairs amazingly well with this! Maple and sweet potato are a perfect match, along with maple and bourbon. Throw all of those together, and you’ll now have the recipe your friends and family demand you make for gatherings.

A cool cooking hack for sweet potato puree

The sweet potato cornbread takes 40 minutes to make. Normally, that’s about how long it would take just for a sweet potato to cook in the oven. But, I used one of my favorite cooking hacks to put this recipe together.

Instead of cooking sweet potatoes ahead of time, I used sweet potato baby food! I go this route whenever I have a recipe that requires a small amount of a pureed fruit or vegetable that I don’t keep in the house. Since it’s also shelf stable, I can keep the baby food in the pantry for several months, versus the raw veggie spoilingwaaayyy before the baby food does. If you go the puree sweet potato route, omit a half a cup of the milk.

How to make sweet potato puree:

If you prefer to use fresh sweet potatoes, the puree can most certainly be made ahead of time:

• Peel and roughly chop a half pound of sweet potatoes
• Add to a small pot and cover the potatoes with water
• Bring the water to a boil, then lower the temperature and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when poked with a fork
• Strain the potatoes, and puree in a blender on high until smooth, for about one minute

Why should I use a cast iron skillet for my cornbread?

You don’t HAVE to use a cast iron skillet to bake your cornbread. But trust me when I say it’s definitely the better option. Using a cast iron skillet to cook your cornbread ensures it’ll cook evenly.

Preheating your cast iron before adding your batter also gives the cornbread that golden brown crust on the bottom and edges. Let’s face it…the best slice of cornbread is the edge. So baking it in a preheated cast iron gives the whole pan of cornbread that edge-piece factor.

Can I bake cornbread in something else other than a cast iron skillet?

Yes! Cast iron skillets are the better way to bake cornbread, but it isn’t mandatory.

You can use any baking dish that you have available. I would suggest using a pan that is wider than 10 inches, whether it’s a circle, square, or rectangle dish. This will ensure the cornbread still cooks evenly, and will prevent the center from being under baked.

There’s also the option to make these into sweet potato cornbread muffins! Can never go wrong with single servings of this recipe!

Regardless of which option you choose, the cornbread will take a few more minutes to bake in the oven than it would in a cast iron, since a preheated cast iron will cook it faster and more evenly.

How to make a moist cornbread

Fat is what will make or break a batch of cornbread’s moisture level.

I’ve tested out my classic skillet cornbread recipe a couple of ways…once with butter, and once with mayonnaise. Both tasted delicious, but I noticed the batch with the mayo had a different moisture level than the butter did. The cornbread batch made with butter, however, tasted better.

With my cornbread science experiment, I decided to use melted butter for my classic cornbread recipe. There is a good amount of moisture in it from the buttermilk to make up for what isn’t there like the mayonnaise batch had.

With my sweet potato cornbread recipe, there is a lot less milk. So to get that moisture back, I opted for mayonnaise. The sweet potato puree makes up for the flavor that isn’t added from the butter.

What type of milk should I use for cornbread?

Like I mentioned above, you want some type of fat in your cornbread batter. This is also a factor when it comes to the milk you’re using.

With that being said, it’s best to not use skim milk. If that’s all you have on hand, this recipe can still be made. Just keep in mind that the cornbread will be a bit drier than it should be.

The best milk to use for cornbread is whole milk or full fat buttermilk. 2% milk works well too.

How do I store leftover cornbread?

The best way to store leftover cornbread is in an airtight container in the fridge.

If you’d like, the cornbread can also be frozen for up to 3 months. If you go this route, wrap the cornbread with plastic wrap. Then place the cornbread into a Ziploc bag.

How to reheat leftover cornbread

Leftover cornbread can be reheated in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. I’d suggest covering the cornbread with a damp paper towel before reheating. It helps to add back any moisture that may have been lost due to the age of the cornbread.

Can I omit the alcohol from the maple bourbon butter?

You most certainly can!

There’s only a tablespoon and a half of bourbon in my maple bourbon butter, but it can absolutely be left out. The bourbon amount can also be reduced if you’d like.

If you get a chance to test out my sweet potato cornbread, feel free to leave me a review!

If you’re looking for a more simple cornbread recipe, check out my Southern Honey Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread! I love to add a schmear of softened butter, and a drizzle of honey!

If you’re a fan of Mexican street corn, you’ll definitely fall in love with my grilled corn on the cob with garlic parmesan sauce! The garlic and cheese compliments the corn extremely well, and perfect for the summer!

I’m sure you’re looking for an easy side dish for grilling season, and I’m glad to say you’re in the right place. Well, if you’re just looking for an easy recipe, even without a grill, I got ya! This grilled corn gets slathered with a seasoned mayonnaise, similar to what’s done with Mexican street corn.

What is Mexican street corn?

Mexican street corn, sometimes referred to as elote, is a dish made of grilled corn. Once grilled, a mixture of mayo, crema, and chili powder gets spread on top and sprinkled with cotija cheese. It is sometimes also dusted with additional chili powder, and a fresh squeeze of lemon juice gives it a nice fresh flavor.

My garlic parmesan inspiration:

One of my favorite chefs, Chef Resha, posted a recipe of elote-style chicken wings. She took the mayo mixture that would go onto Mexican street corn and tossed it with air-fried chicken wings. I don’t have an air fryer but tried the recipe out with baked wings. Soooooo bomb! Definitely check out Chef Resha’s elote style wings.

The wings reminded me of street corn having a baby with garlic parmesan wings. So my brain said “Do what Resha did with making the elote sauce for wings, but take the classic wing sauce and put it on corn.” Boom….garlic parmesan corn was born!

How to make grilled garlic parmesan corn

It’s sooooo easy yall! Start by getting your corn on the grill. While they’re cooking, mix together all the ingredients for the garlic parmesan sauce. Once the corn is cooked, slather the garlic parmesan sauce on that bad boy!

How to cook corn if you don’t have a grill

I rarely use my grill. I do have a cast iron pan with grates that I often use indoors that will take the same amount of time for the corn to cook as it would when being grilled.

If you have a regular cast iron skillet, the corn can be seared that way. Preheat your cast iron to medium heat before searing the corn. Let the corn cook for 10 minutes, rotating the corn while cooking to get some color on the kernels on all sides.

There’s also the option to roast your corn! This method does take much longer though, by wrapping the corn in foil and baking for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees. So either grilling or cooking on the stovetop is the best option. 

Corn with husks vs without husks

The corn on the cob can be grilled with the husks on! The husks are dry, so you’ll need to soak the ears of corn for a bit before cooking.

Add the whole ears of corn into a large container (or sink) and submerge them in cold water. Let this sit for 15 minutes. Remove the corn from the water and pat dry. You can then partially peel the husks back and grill the corn.

However, I prefer the corn grilled without the husks for this recipe. I like to bite right into the corn that has grill marks on all sides, and also want to be able to spread more of the garlic parmesan sauce all over. For grilled corn without a sauce, I don’t mind the husks being left on.

Type of garlic to use for garlic parmesan sauce

Now, this is a super garlicky recipe. So raw garlic is what I used. 

I take fresh garlic cloves and grate it with a microplane right into the sauce. 

I also love using premade garlic paste, like the one from Gourmet Garden. 

Use either of the options above. I’d avoid using jarred diced garlic since it’s not as flavorful. But if that’s all that you have access to, it can still be used!

Also, if you’re not a fan of the raw garlic taste, you can use garlic confit. Pretty easy to make and to keep on hand for other recipes that you just want a hint of garlic. 

Other uses for garlic parmesan sauce

Listen yall….this garlic parmesan sauce is GOOD! Like, for real.

If you have some chicken wings and want to jazz it up a bit, make a batch of the sauce in this recipe to toss the wings in. I’ve also used the sauce to dip with my herb roasted smashed potatoes.

Since this is a super flavorful mayonnaise, you can use this on a sandwich too! Whew…..the possibilities are endless! But to start, jazz up your grilled corn first!