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When our friend, Shiela, came over for ribs on the grill a couple of weeks ago (along with the roasted cabbage), I wanted to prepare some kind of cornbread.

I didn’t want to fix just regular oldcornbread. I wanted something special.

I searched the internet for Desha’s cornbread and Sonny’s BBQ cornbread.  Both are delicious.

The recipe for Sonny’s sounded so easy to prepare it won the toss-up for this meal.

It didn’t hurt that Sonny’s cornbread is our daughter’s favorite and she insisted on having plenty of it available at her wedding reception a few years ago when Sonny’s catered it.

 

Copycat Sonny’s BBQ Cornbread

INGREDIENTS

— 1 box Jiffy Cornbread Mix

— 1 egg

— 1/3 cup milk (almond milk works great too)

— 8-ounce can of creamed corn

— 1/4 cup sugar

— 1 tablespoon flour (heaping tablespoon, have it overflow a bit, be generous)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a square eight- or nine-inch metal or glass pan (for a double recipe, use a nine-by-13-inch metal or glass pan).

Place the muffin mix in a bowl and stir in egg and milk, adding creamed corn, sugar and flour next.

Once all the ingredients are combined, making sure there aren’t any dry bits left in the mix, let the batter rest for two to three minutes.

Pour the batter into a greased pan.

Cook for approximately 30 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean in the middle and the edges and top are golden brown.

If it needs more time, return to the oven and check in three- to five-minute increments.

 

I didn’t have Jiffy cornbread mix or creamed corn in the pantry, so they both went on the grocery list.

Saturday morning at the grocery store, while trying to gather what was on our list, I searched the canned vegetable aisle for the small cans of creamed corn. They had none.

So, I started searching for the regular-sized cans of creamed corn, and to my surprise, I could only find one brand that they carried.  It wasn’t the brand I wanted, but I wasn’t willing to go to another store to try and find it either.

Into the grocery cart it went, even though it was more corn than I would need for this recipe.

The next stop was the baking aisle — no problem finding the Jiffy cornbread mix.  When I arrived home, Brad was firing up our charcoal smoker, and I unloaded the vehicle.

About an hour before Shiela was to arrive, I started preparing the Copycat Sonny’s Cornbread.

I greased a baking dish, and in a matter of minutes had the cornbread batter prepared.

I poured it into the pan and covered it so it would be ready to go into the oven when Shiela headed our way (she was going to call me when she left town).

When Shiela arrived, the ribs were resting and the cornbread was in the oven.

When the timer sounded at the 30-minute mark, I tested the cornbread and realized it wasn’t done.  At the 45-minute mark, it still wasn’t done.  Another 10 minutes and I decided I’d call it good.

Before we sat down to eat, I sliced the cornbread and thought, “I’m not sure this is done.”

After serving ourselves buffet-style, we sat down to eat.

The ribs were great; and as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the roasted cabbage was a hit.

The cornbread, however, is another story.  It tasted just like Sonny’s cornbread, but definitely wasn’t what I call done.

It wasn’t raw, but it could have baked even longer.  Maybe some people would say it was very moist. Everyone at the table agreed it should have baked longer.

I’ll have to say this recipe is a nailed it when it comes to being a copycat for Sonny’s BBQ Cornbread, but the baking time is a failed it.

I’ve made a note for the next time I prepare this recipe; it definitely needs to bake longer than the recipe states.  So, if you give this one a try, just be prepared to put it in the oven early enough to be ready when the rest of your meal is done.

Keep a tester ready and start testing after it’s been in the oven for about 35 minutes, then keep testing.

Shiela’s such a good sport I tried out a new dessert recipe on her, too.  I’ll tell you about that one next week.

Sarah Condley is an amateur baker and chef who is compiling a cookbook of her favorite recipes.