Microwave Buttery Buttermilk Cornbread

My friend Carla from Good Cook called me up one day and said, "I'm going to send you a microwave bowl. Can you bake bread in the microwave with it?"

And I said, well, I don't know, but it's not going to get brown. But lemme see what I can think of.

I considered making a microwave cake, like a mug cake, but bigger.

But then someone on Facebook was talking about cornbread, and I saw someone on Food Network serve a piece of microwave cornbread, and I figured, yeah, that would be good for dinner.

There must be a bazillion recipes for cornbread, right? I decided I didn't want something too sweet. I considered adding cheese or jalapenos. I hoped this would fit in the bowl.

Most of the time, it takes a couple tries before I get something exactly right, but I have to say I really liked this just the way it was. It's really buttery, so I hope you like butter. And it's fluffy and light rather than dense.

Needless to say, I used the bowl I got from Good Cook, but a similar-sized bowl or baking dish should be just fine.

The cool thing about this bowl is that it's got its own holder that stays cool, and it's got a lid, as well. It would be really handy for reheating soups or sauces.

Microwave Cornbread

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

You might as well make this all in one bowl. Melt the butter in the bowl in the microwave. Don't get it too freakishly hot, because you don't want to cook the egg when you add it. Just get it melted.

Add the buttermilk and egg and stir until it's combined.

Add the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Start by stirring the dry stuff to get the baking powder distributed in the flour a bit, then stir it all together.

Put it in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high (depending on the power of your microwave). Stick a toothpick in it, and if it comes out clean, it's done. If it's got wet goo in it, put it back in the microwave and cook for another 15-30 seconds at a time, until it's done. Keep track of how long it cooked, so you know what to do next time.

And that's it. Serve it straight from the bowl. It's really fluffy and a little crumbly when it's warm, but it's pretty darned good. You won't get any browning, but you don't miss it as much as you would on a yeast bread.

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