This savory cornbread contains crumbled fried pork fat back famously known as cracklings. Delicious drizzled with honey or maple syrup. Excellent with fresh collard greens.
ALWAYS use a lid when frying pork fat back. It provides effective protection from popping HOT fat that “flies” out of the skillet while the meat is cooking.
Delighted to mention I prepared the meat and baked the cracklin’ cornbread in my favorite skillet provided by Lodge Cast Iron .
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 1 hour |
| Servings |
servings
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Ingredients
Cracklings
- 5 thick slices cured salt pork fat cold
- water for boiling
- 1/8 teaspoon salt optional
Homemade Self-Rising Cornbread
- 1 cup self-rising white cornmeal mix
- 1/2 cup self-rising flour, sifted See notes for all-purpose flour.
- 1/4 cup corn muffin mix
- 2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup buttermilk
Ingredients
Cracklings
Homemade Self-Rising Cornbread
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Instructions
Cracklings
- Place all ingredients on the kitchen counter. Use an 8" skillet (thick cornbread) OR a 9" skillet (thin cornbread). Cornbread will be baked in the same skillet in which cracklings are fried.
- Place cold pork fat back strips in preferred sized cast iron skillet or other cookware. Cover with water.
- Simmer over low-medium heat for 15 minutes to remove salt. Drain cloudy water.
- Leave meat in skillet over low-medium heat. Meat will produce fat (also called lard). Fry until light golden brown on both sides (3-4 minutes each side). WARNING: Place a lid over skillet as a shield of protection from popping HOT fat/drippings.
- Turn off heat. Drain fried meat on paper towels. The meat will be soft, Outside edges will be hard. To protect teeth, remove hard edges and grind until very fine. Do not add hard edges to cornbread batter. Crumble soft meat. Toss with salt if desired. Set aside.
- Leave 2 tablespoons of drippings in skillet. Pour remainder into a lidded glass container. Keep refrigerated 10 days. Use to grease skillet the next time you make cornbread.
- Make the cornbread (recipe below).
Homemade Self-Rising Cornbread
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In medium sized bowl, combine cornmeal mix, flour, corn muffin mix, sugar (if using), eggs, and buttermilk. Stir until smooth and pourable. Small lumps okay.
- Stir in crumbled cracklings. Pour cornbread batter into warm skillet with warm drippings.
- Reduce oven to 375. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean and cornbread is golden brown. Watch carefully to prevent burning.
- Serve hot.
- Variation: Cracklin' Cornbread Muffins Place 1/2 teaspoon of warm fat with drippings in each cup of muffin tin (6 cups). Fill each cup with cornbread batter. Sprinkle tops with a crumbled fried pork fat back. Bake in preheated oven 20 to 25 minutes OR until knife inserted in center comes out clean. If desired, drizzle with honey or maple syrup before serving.
Recipe Notes
How to use all-purpose flour in Homemade Self-Rising Cornbread.
In a medium sized bowl, sift together 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Use ONLY 1/2 cup of this mixture in this recipe instead of self-rising flour. Use the remainder for something else. Or, store in a zippered bag until ready to use.