Cornbread

Always use higher quality pure maple syrup, butter and cornmeal.

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then combine to form batter.

Pre-heat oven on bake at 400 degrees.

Always use cast iron pans (12 inch), or cornbread molds. You want the crunch on the outside that only cast iron with a little bacon grease can provide.

Cook 2 slices of bacon. Then remove the bacon (a treat for your dogs?). Melt an additional Tablespoon of butter with the remaining bacon grease. Swirl it around to cover the pan surface and sides. Then let it cool BEFORE putting the batter in the pans.

Pour batter (Yep, it should pour with a little urging) into the pan and cook for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. If I use a mold with smaller proportions, like you would find with a typical cast iron corn mold, I check the bread at 18 minutes to make sure it doesn't overcook. All ovens are different so check your bread with a toothpick by inserting it into the middle of the cornbread a couple minutes before removing it from the oven. If the toothpick comes out clean without batter sticking to it, and you've got a nice golden brown color on the bread as illustrated in the picture, it's ready to go. If not, let it continue to cook until the toothpick is clean.

After removing it from the oven, rub a little more butter over the top of the cornbread and then let it rest in the pan for 3 minutes.

Slice the cornbread in the pan and serve.