The Zojirushi bread machine has a handy dandy cake setting. In the machine’s instruction manual it says that you can use the cake setting to make cornbread. However, instead of giving a corn bread recipe it tells you to use a mix. Yuck! Part of why I make my own bread is so that I can control the ingredients. So I decided to use my regular corn bread recipe in the bread machine. I wasn’t sure what would happen.
Cornbread happened. It turned out great. Here’s what I did . . .
Cornbread
1 cup cornmeal
1 – 1/4 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs – lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter or oil
Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the machine first. Then select the cake setting with a light crust.
We sliced the cornbread and froze what we didn’t eat. When we want a slice we just pop it in the toaster. It thaws and heats the cornbread all at once.
Wait a sec… There’s no yeast?? I am skeptical this will work. Did you really make it with no yeast?
Yep, it worked. But the thing is I used the cake setting. Some bread machines call it the “quick bread” setting. So there’s no rising or anything like that. It’s more like what you’d get with a corn bread mix that you buy at the grocery store.
I always used a mix from from the grocery, so really have no idea if cornbread uses yeast? I have seen recipes that use nutritional yeast, that yeast is inactive, and used for flavor. this recipe is nearly identical to the recipe on the side of a box of cornmeal. Once all the ingredients are mixed, I reset the bread machine to the bake cycle, and check it it after 20 minutes. Not sure how long the bake is with the quick cycle, havn’t had time to find out. My cornbread comes out hot right when the chili is done.
i will be trying this soon on the quick baking setting. thanks for the confirmation that it’s possible! and for the sake of completeness, baking powder helps the cornbread rise –> so no yeast is needed.
Be sure to let me know how it turns out. And thanks for the info about the baking powder.
What size loaf did you set it to?
Hi Rebecca,
My bread machine doesn’t have a size function. It’s a two pound machine so the bread had a lot of room in the pan.
It turned out fine though.
Oh, good grief. Real cornbread – traditional southern cornbread – HAS NO yeast. That’s ridiculous.
This one looks reasonably traditional although cornbread not baked in a cast iron skillet still makes me skeptical.
this recipe is wonderful and yet it works, i added 1 cup of instant potato flakes to the recipe and changed the sugar amount to 3/4 cup and worked beautifully, this recipe is perfection, thanks for sharing, CCheryl
And thank you for your contribution. Potato flakes. I never would have thought to try that.