My kids love this simple cornbread and it’s delicious served warm with Mexican food. You don’t have to include the sweetcorn kernels and unless I can actually get fresh sweetcorn cobs I normally don’t bother. Serve this in your lunchbox with a breaded chicken tender and you are good to go!

Polenta is a gluten free grain, so replace the flour with your favourite gluten free brand and add a ¼ teasp of Xanthan gum and you have a tasty alternative to your normal bread.  I use Dove’s Farm when I bake this as a GF version.

Ingredients

• 140g / ¾ cup plus 1 tablsp plain flour or Dove’s Farm GF flour
• 25g/ 2 tablsp melted butter- cooled
• 2 teasp baking powder
• ½ teasp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• I tablsp sugar
• 1 teasp salt
• 125g / ¾ cup dried polenta
• 75g/ 1 cup cheddar cheese grated (use your kid’s favourite cheese but not mozzarella!)
• 2 medium eggs beaten
• 150 ml whole milk
• 150ml buttermilk (you can use all whole milk if you prefer or natural yogurt thinned with a little milk)
• 150g fresh sweetcorn kernels (optional)

 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C

Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, salt and polenta in a bowl with a whisk and this saves you having to sift! Stir in the cheese.

Make a well in the centre and add the beaten eggs, milk, buttermilk and the cooled melted butter. Mix well until smooth and if you are using sweetcorn stir them in at this point.

The batter will be very wet. Pour all the mixture into a large well greased loaf tin. Alternatively, use those cute mini loaf tins but only fill two thirds of the way. Normally, one muffin scoop should do it. If you don’t have those use a muffin tin, with or without muffin cases to create cornbread muffins!

Cook your loaf for 35-40 minutes. Cover with foil after 30 minutes if browning too quickly. The mini loaves and muffins take about 15-18 minutes. Remember ovens vary so make sure you check it is cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre. It should come away cleanly if cooked.

Serve warm with your chicken fajitas or with butter in your lunch box!

Cheat

I have yet to see cornbread on the shelves here in Ireland but this may not be the case in NZ or the US. So cheat by freezing your cornbread! Remember to slice it first if you have cooked a large loaf and wrap the slices individually so they don’t all freeze as one large mass. Pop it into your lunchbox straight from the freezer the night before!

 

Thinking outside the (Lunch) box!

Who says you have to have sandwiches in your lunch box? Children usually find them unwieldy, boring and they end up as a soggy mess on their laps. Avoid this by removing the filling and serving it on the side!

For example, my children would not eat tomato sandwiches for anything  but would consider a cherry tomato or two as they are much sweeter  than the regular ones. Include this with a couple of slices of cheese and a fresh bread roll all wrapped separately and you essentially have a cheese and tomato sandwich without the mess or waste.

So let us begin with the bread option after all this is a recipe blog! Consider a buttermilk scone instead of your sliced bread. This is a traditional Irish recipe  and can be prepared the night before and stored uncooked in the fridge. When you get up take them out of the fridge turn on the oven and when it is hot enough cook your scones for 15-20 minutes and you have a fresh alternative to your usual bread.

Recipe

• Ingredients
• 400 g / 2 ¾ cups plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (Baking soda)
• ½ tsp salt
• 350 ml/ 1 ½ cups buttermilk or natural yogurt thinned with a little milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180
2. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in most of the buttermilk. Remember you can add but not take away!
   
   Using one hand or a knife and bring the flour and liquid together, adding more buttermilk if necessary.  The dough should be soft but not too wet and sticky.
3. When the dough comes together, turn onto a floured work surface and bring together a little more.
   
   At this point you can make a loaf by placing the dough in a greased loaf tin. Divide into two rounds and flatten the dough into two rounds about 1.5cm deep. Cut each round into 6 pieces
4. Place the scones onto a floured baking tray and chill in fridge until you are ready to cook. Then bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. A loaf will take about 35-40 minutes
   
   When ready, the scones will sound slightly hollow when tapped on the base and be golden in colour.
   
   Cheat

No time to bake? Buy a soda farl or loaf from your nearest supermarket and use that instead!