Simple corn bread, then twice-baked, is ready in a few hours and brings a lot of satisfaction.
It’s an excellent bread with the color of the sun, very tasty and suitable even for breakfast, here transformed into rusk-like slices.
Of course it is not made only of corn flour but is mixed with strong wheat flour, precisely because corn, being gluten-free, does not have the strength to rise on its own.
To have a fully gluten-free corn bread we would need to add starches, thickeners like xanthan or psyllium and more yeast. I made it with a bread machine, but you can simply bake it in a loaf pan or shape it into a boule as usual.
With the bread machine I kneaded for 20 minutes, then let it rise for 2 hours and baked it for 45 minutes. The instructions here, however, are for a traditional bread.
If you are looking for a gluten-free bread I recommend the quick gluten-free bread.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Budget-friendly
- Rest time: 4 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients — Simple Corn Bread
- 2 1/2 cups (about 10.6 oz / 300 g) corn flour (cornmeal)
- 2 1/2 cups (about 10.6 oz / 300 g) all-purpose wheat flour
- 1 1/4 cups (about 10.1 fl oz / 300 g) water, lukewarm
- 3 1/4 tsp (approx. 10 g) instant dried yeast
- 4 tbsp (approx. 55 g / 55 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 3/4 tsp (approx. 5 g) sea salt
Tools
- 1 Bread Machine Panasonic SD – YR2550
Steps — Simple Corn Bread
Hand procedure. If you have a bread machine, as I wrote in the introduction: I kneaded for 20 minutes, then let it rise for 2 hours and baked it for 45 minutes.
Place the two flours in the planetary mixer and mix. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and add it slowly to the flours, continuing to mix. After a few minutes add the oil and let it be absorbed by the dough. After five minutes of kneading add the salt along the sides of the mixer bowl. Knead until the dough is elastic and well formed.
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface, knead a little more, roll out the dough and form a loaf the length of your pan. Line a large loaf pan with parchment paper, place the loaf inside, cover with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place to rise for a good couple of hours.
Preheat the oven to 392°F (conventional) and bake for 45 minutes until well browned.
Remove from the oven, cool and slice. If you want to twice-bake the slices, return them to the oven at 266°F (fan) for 45 minutes.
If you liked my recipe
If you want to prepare corn bread with sourdough starter proceed as follows:
Dissolve the amount of refreshed sourdough starter in lukewarm water until you obtain a homogeneous mixture. Add the flours, the oil and finally the salt and continue working the dough. Let it rise for 8 hours in a warm place, then gently deflate, perform strengthening folds, shape the boule and let it rise again for 3 hours. Then score the surface and bake in the oven at 392°F for 50 minutes.
Another tip:
You can add dried thyme, marjoram, sage or rosemary to the dough. Alternatively add flax, sunflower or chia seeds. Also try the sweet version of corn bread: sweet “amor polenta” rusks.
Store the simple corn bread in a paper bag inside a plastic bag. It keeps for 5 or 6 days.
