Whip Up This Classic Side To Make Stuffing Or Your Next Chili Night
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Cornbread is the perfect side for chili, its a great option for breakfast, and cornbread stuffing is a classic pairing with a roast chicken and turkey feast. While there are plenty of recipes for cornbread in cookbooks and online, sometimes the best option is to find a cornbread mix you like and keep a few boxes stocked in your pantry. Not only are premade baking mixes convenient, but theyre consistent so youll be sure to get the same result every time.
Even if you have a from-scratch cornbread recipe you love, keeping a box or two of cornbread mix on hand can come in handy if you’re running low on ingredients or on days youve spent all your energy on the main dish and need a fast and easy cornbread on the side.
Most cornbread mixes include instructions for high-altitude baking and, if youre feeling creative, there are plenty of recipes online for using cornbread mixes in different ways. Whether you like your cornbread savory or sweet, or with a spicy kick, theres a cornbread mix that will have just the right flavor and texture notes to meet your preferences.
Here are the best cornbread mixes.
Best Dessert: Chi Chi’s Sweet Corn Cake Mix
If youve been to a Chi-Chis restaurant, you know what these corn cakes are. If not familiar with the restaurant, youre in for a treat. The recipe suggests baking this in a loaf pan and using an ice cream scoop to serve, but some users bake them in muffin tins or cake pans for a more traditional cornbread shape.
This is a sweet cornbread thats a perfect pairing with spicy foods, or it can be used as a dessert. Rather than using coarsely ground cornmeal, this includes masa. The recipe requires melted butter, water, and a can of cream-style corn, so its not quite as simple as some recipes, but still easy to make from pantry ingredients.
This is a pack of 12 pouches, so youll have plenty for parties or just to keep on hand for Taco Tuesdays.
This New Orleans brand sells regional offerings like red beans and rice, jambalaya, and dirty rice, so its no surprise that theyve also got a NOLA-style cornbread to go with your gumbo, but its just as good with your chili or fried chicken.
This mix includes cheddar cheese and jalapeno, so it offers a spicy kick along with the savory cheese flavor. It requires butter, milk, and eggs, so its simple to make, either as cornbread or 12 corn muffins. The company website offers a few additional recipes, including cornbread-topped chili pie.
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Chi Chis Corn Cake Recipe
Do you remember Chi Chis Mexican Restaurant? They had some of the best Mexican food, including a Mexican corn cake. This little scoop of cornmeal was great to enjoy between the spicy Mexican foods you would eat at Chi Chis.
I was on a quest to try and replicate Chi Chis corn cake recipe. My thought was using that sweet corn cake as a bowl it would be wonderful with homemade chili!
How To Make Mexican Corn Cake Like Chi
Okay, so well never know if this is exactly how Chi-Chis made their corn cake, but the flavor and texture are spot on. If you never had the pleasure of eating at Chi-Chis, the easiest way for me to describe it is that its a very tender and scoopable slightly sweet buttery corn cake, which straddles the line between a warm corn pudding and cornbread perfectly Thats a mouthful, but the condensed version is ITS DELICIOSO!
As far as actually making Chi-Chis corn cake goes, essentially you just blend all of the ingredients together. The batter will be very thick, so just spread it out in an even layer in an 8×8 ceramic baking dish. No need to grease the dish the butter in the recipe will keep it from sticking, as will the next step
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Additional Ingredients And Mix
Like most boxed mixes, youll need to provide a few extra ingredients to bring it all together. Typically, those ingredients are eggs, milk, butter or oil, and occasionally water. A few mixes require a little extra, like canned corn.
After you find the mix that you like best, you can begin to play with the ingredients and mix-ins to further customize your cornbread. Consider substituting full-fat yogurt, sour cream, or buttermilk for the milk. Add cheese, freshly sliced jalapenos, or diced bell peppers to the mix. Finish your cornbread straight out of the oven with a honey-butter glaze. The possibilities are nearly endless.
Best For Stuffing: Betty Crocker Authentic Cornbread & Muffin Mix
A brand thats been around for generations, Betty Crocker has mixes for just about every baked good youd want to make, including this cornbread mix thats not too sweet and not too salty. Its great as-is, and also a perfect addition to other recipes where youd want to add your own flavors.
This pack includes nine 6.5 ounce packages, so you can make a small pan of cornbread or six muffins with one mix, or bake a few batches for parties or for stuffing a turkey. One user noted that the small batch is the perfect size for cooking in a toaster oven.
This requires milk, butter, and egg, so the ingredients arent hard to find. Because it bakes a thinner cornbread in an 8-inch square pan, the baking time is slightly shorter than other mixes that bake a thicker cornbread.
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Best Southern Style: Krusteaz Southern Cornbread And Muffin Mix
Founded in 1932 when Rose Charters set out to make an easy pie crust, Krusteaz products always rate highly among users who love their baking mixes. This cornbread mix is no exception. Described as sweet and savory, its a little bit dense and slightly gritty rather than fluffy. While its slightly sweet, its not overly sweet.
This recipe requires milk or buttermilk, melted butter, and eggs, which are pantry staples in many homes, so you wont need to run out for ingredients. You can use an 8- or 9-inch square pan, a round cake pan, a skillet, or a muffin pan, so youve got plenty of options for baking the cornbread. The company website offers recipes to customize the cornbread to make it even more interesting.
You know a gluten-free baking mix is good when it wins awards. This cornbread mix from gfJules was voted the best gluten-free cornbread mix by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization. Reviewers say this mix consistently produces a cornbread with a crisp exterior and fluffy, moist crumb. The brand promises your diners, whether gluten-free or not, will want seconds of this tasty side dish.
Perfect packaging for folks who dont always need the same size cornbread or the same number of muffins, this bulk bag has a chart for making a variety of serving sizes, or just use 2 parts of the cornbread mix to 1 part of water for your own custom size.
Water Bath For Sweet Corn Cake Recipe
The key to the tender texture is baking the corn cake batter in a water bath. Dont be intimidated its really super simple. As I mentioned, you just need to spread the batter in an 8×8 ceramic baking dish, and then cover it tightly with aluminum foil. Place the 8×8 dish inside a 9×13 baking dish, and pour about three cups of water around it.
This keeps the cooking environment very moist, while also baking the sweet corn cake batter slowly and evenly. When its done baking, allow the Mexican corn cake to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
I like to use my medium cookie scoop to serve up cute little corn cake balls, a la Chi-Chis. Youll get about 9-ish small side servings of 2-3 scoops each from this recipe!
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Why Trust The Spruce Eats
This roundup was written by Donna Currie, who knows a thing or two about home baking. She’s the author of the cookbook Make Ahead Bread and in addition to reviewing products and kitchen gadgets for The Spruce Eats, she’s also written pieces on the best waffle and gluten-free bread mixes of the year.
This roundup was updated by Sharon Lehman, a home cook who happens to be a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Her Thanksgiving table isn’t complete without cornbread dressing, which she prepares using boxed cornbread mix to save time each holiday season. She specialized in product reviews for The Spruce Eats and wrote a piece on the best pancake mixes.
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What Makes This Chi
The answer is simple, Simplicity, Foolproof, Straightforward, and Tested. Yes, all recipes have been tested before posting including this Chi-chi’s Sweet Corn Cake.
Ready to make this Chi-chi’s Sweet Corn Cake Recipe? Lets do it!
Oh, before I forgetIf youre looking for recipes that are simple to follow, then weve got your back. With over 55,000 recipes in our database, weve got the best recipes youre craving for.
1/2 c Butter or Margarine/softened1/3 c Masa harina* see note below1/4 c Water
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.Beat softened butter or Margarine in large mixer bowl until creamy.Gradually beat in masa harina*. On low speed beat in water.
2. Process thawed, drained corn, in food processor, pulsing untilcoarsely chopped. Stir into masa mixture.
3. Combine sugar, yellow cornmeal, heavy cream, baking powder andsalt in a small bowl. Stir into corn mixture. Pour into prepared pan cover with foil. Place in larger pan and pour boiling water halfwayup side of pan.
4. Bake 50 minutes until set. Carefully remove pan from hot water.Uncover and let stand 15 minutes. Sprinkle with sliced chilies andparsley.
* Masa harina is a flour made from corn. Milled by Quaker Oats , its available in Hispanic markets and by mail from MoHottaMoBetta 462-3220 USA.
From the recipe files of suzy@gannett.infi.netYields
Best Sweet: Stonewall Kitchen Cornbread Mix
Stonewall Kitchen is known for a huge catalog of pantry staples, including jams, salsa, and baking mixes. The brand’s cornbread mix is of the Northeast variety, with just the right amount of sweetness to complement the savory corn flavor. This cornbread bakes up with a moist, crumbly texture that’s perfect for topping with a scoop of your favorite chili.
This mix is prepared with vegetable oil, an egg, and a cup of milk and, if you’re in the mood for a fun baking project, the box also includes instructions for baking cornbread doughnuts. You’ll get 12 servings out of one box of mix.
Kodiak Cakes is known for its protein-packed whole grain baking mixes. The cornbread mix is made from 100 percent whole grain wheat flour and 100% whole grain cornmeal. Using whole grain flours gives a heartier texture to the end product, but this mix also gets a boost from the addition of wheat, whey, and milk protein concentrates.
You’ll need eggs, melted butter, and milk to prepare this mix, which serves 12. Once baked, each serving of cornbread contains approximately 10 grams of protein as prepared. The package also features directions for baking corn muffins and an extra-moist version that has 11 grams of protein prepared.
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How To Make From Scratch
Scroll to the bottom for full printable recipe and ingredient list.
This recipe calls for masa harina, a Mexican corn flour. You can usually find it in the international section or even the flour aisle of the grocery store.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix butter until creamy. Add masa harina and water.
- Pulse corn in a food processor. Stir into butter mixture.
- Mix in cornmeal.
- In separate bowl mix sugar, salt, baking powder and cream.
- Stir sugar mixture into corn mixture and pour into 8 x 8 baking dish. Cover with foil.
- Place baking dish into a larger baking dish with hot water. This method is called a water bath and helps to cook but also keeps very moist.
Now that I can make my own copycat Chi-Chis sweet corn cake, I can dish myself out as much as I want. No more little teeny tiny scoops