Homemade Popcorn Flour Is The Unexpected Addition For Better Cornbread
You've perfected crave-inducing cornbread recipes and are a master at pulling honey sage skillet cornbread out of the oven. Just wait until you add popcorn flour to your corn-based creations. When bakers were told to use less wheat in their baking projects during World War II, popcorn flour was an easy answer. Turns out that popcorn isn't only good for moments of scarcity, however. This ingredient can turn up the flavor dials of ingredients you're already mixing into cornbread recipes.
Popcorn flour is exactly what it sounds like. You'll take popcorn and pulverize the pieces in a food processor before stirring them into the ingredients used to make cornbread. Using the wrong size of cornmeal is an easy mistake when making cornbread, so when grinding up the popcorn, look to achieve the consistency of a coarse meal. Depending on the kind of popcorn you decide to blend, you may need to adjust the other ingredients accordingly. For instance, if you use salted popcorn to mix into the batter, you can dial back the amount of salt you'd typically use in the recipe.
This side dish could easily become the main event
Though an unsuspecting eater won't likely be able to name the additional ingredient, the unique taste will be evident. If you'd like to step fully on the pedal of all things corn, add sweet corn kernels to your recipe. Popcorn-enhanced cornbread can also be conveniently turned into a gluten-free dish by using gluten-free flours and gluten-free yeast to make the bread.
Depending on how much popcorn flour you use to make your cornbread, know that the ingredient can result in lighter, fluffier slices. You can experiment with flavor by using flavored popcorn for a subtle enhancement in taste, like grinding up popcorn that has been coated in cheese or caramel. If you can't decide between a sweet or savory tasting profile, Chicago-style popcorn can offer the best of both worlds. When ground up and mixed into a cornbread recipe, it offers a side dish that could easily steal the show at your next dinner party.