Sweet Kentucky Spoonbread Corn Pudding, a Southern classic that’s the softest, creamiest, butteriest, melt-in-your-mouth, eat-with-a-spoon comfort food you’ll ever eat.
Some have said it’s what you expect at grandma’s table for Sunday supper.
Believed to have Native American origins, spoonbread was commonly called Awendaw or Owendaw. The first print recipe appeared in Sarah Rutledge’s 1847 cookbook, “The Carolina Housewife.” Many have compared British Yorkshire pudding to spoonbread and hypothesize that early European settlers adapted their traditional recipe, swapping flour for native grown cornmeal.
Marion Cunningham, writing for the Los Angeles Times, says, “Tracing the evolution of cornbread from suppone (Indian corn) to spoon bread is in some ways similar to studying history through fossils and other artifacts. There is a rough parallel in these recipes with the social and cultural movement of people through history. A properly prepared dish of spoon bread can be taken as continued testimony to the perfectibility of humankind.”
As with all historically significant recipes, they evolve over time. Home cooks, generation after generation, add bits and pieces of ingredients, herbs, and techniques. Notes written and passed down from one to another survive because they’re delicious.. and have stories to tell.
Some ask the difference between spoonbread and corn pudding. North Carolina’s Courier-Tribune says spoonbread is not a custard, and not cornbread. They say, “Spoonbread is unique. Some compare it to a souffle while others say it is more like a casserole. It’s not cornbread but it is cornbread. Just softer and creamier.”
While recipes vary from region to region, family to family… this is my version of this ever-so-soft and luscious spoonbread that has a place on Sunday tables and backyard BBQs. From Thanksgiving to Easter celebrations. And every occasion in-between.
Why? Because spoonbread is just perfect… in every way. It’s simplicity, at its finest.
Sweet Kentucky Spoonbread Corn Pudding
Sweet Kentucky Spoonbread Corn Pudding, a Southern classic that’s the softest, creamiest, butteriest, melt-in-your-mouth, eat-with-a-spoon comfort food you’ll ever eat.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
1-1/4 cup cornmeal
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
15 ounce can cream style corn
1 cup corn kernels, (canned and drained or frozen and thawed)
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 tables fresh chives, snipped finely
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil or coat with nonstick spray a 12-inch oven-proof skillet, a 13 x 9 inch baking pan or 2.5 quart casserole dish.
In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, cream style corn, corn kernels, eggs, melted butter, sour cream, milk, and chives.
Spread the corn mixture into the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown and set. The time will vary based on the baking pan. For a skillet or 13 by 9 inch pan, bake 20 to 25 minutes. For a smaller 2.5 quart casserole dish, bake 25 to 30 minutes.
Serve immediately.
Notes
I have fresh chives growing in my garden most of the year. It isn’t specifically necessary for the recipe but adds a delicious layer of flavor to the spoonbread.
Nutrition
- Calories: 215 calories
