Cracklin’ Corn Bread Recipe

What’s a great use for cracklings? Brothers and sisters, here’s one of the best: cracklin’ corn bread. Talk about a definitively southern bread, this one has it all: lard, corn, buttermilk. Pleasantly coarse and rustic, you’d have found southerners eating something almost exactly like this 150 years ago. To give it that extra country flare, make it in a 9- or 10-inch cast iron skillet.

9 ounces (2 cups) cornmeal (ideally White Lily white corn meal, but yellow will do)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) buttermilk
1 large egg
1 cup cracklings
1 tablespoon lard, butter or bacon drippings

Preheat your oven to 450°F. Once the oven is hot, put the tablespoon of fat into the skillet and put the skillet in the oven to heat. Meanwhile, mix up your batter. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Whisk the buttermilk and egg together in another bowl, then combine the wet and dry ingredients, whisking just until combined. Lastly, whisk in the cracklings. Remove the pan from the oven and pour in the batter, it will sizzle appealingly. Turn the heat down to 350 and return the pan to the oven. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. When baked, flip the bread out of the pan so the crispy crust faces up. Slice into wedges and serve, with a drizzle of honey if desired.