Make Delicious Art With This Marbled Cornbread

Slices of blue and yellow marbled cornbread

Baking up some cornbread to add to your holiday table or to accompany a pot of chili? Cast tradition aside and opt for a colorful skillet cornbread using blue and yellow Heirloom Corn Masa Harina instead of cornmeal. It’s sweet and corny, buttery and moist with a tender crumb, yet perfectly browned with crisp edges. We just can’t decide if the best part is how great it tastes or how pretty it is.

We baked ours outside in an Ooni pizza oven, because — humblebrag — the weather is still so nice in LA that we can do things like that, but have included instructions for baking in a home oven as well.

Marbled Masa Cornbread

Marbled Masa Cornbread

Servings

8-12 slices

Category

Ingredients

  • 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, not melted

  • 1/2 cup maple syrup

  • 2¼ cups buttermilk, room temperature

  • 3 large eggs, room temperature

  • 1/2 cup Heirloom Yellow Corn Masa Harina

  • 1/2 cup Heirloom Blue Corn Masa Harina

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1½ tablespoons baking powder

  • 1½ teaspoons kosher salt

  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

Directions

  1. Mix the wet ingredients (melted butter through eggs, excluding the 1 tablespoon of unmelted butter) together.

  2. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour through baking soda, skipping the masa).

  3. Divide the dry ingredients equally into two bowls, and add the yellow masa to one and the blue to the other, mixing until incorporated.

  4. Add half of the wet mixture to each bowl, mixing until no lumps remain.

  5. Set your Ooni to the lowest setting and preheat for 30 minutes with a 12 inch cast iron skillet inside. If you're using an oven, preheat with the pan inside at 425 degrees.

  6. After 30 minutes, remove the skillet and add the tablespoon of unmelted butter, swirling to coat the surface.

  7. Pour 1/4 of the total quantity of the yellow batter into the skillet, then 1/4 of the blue, repeating with alternating colors until the batter is done. Drag a chopstick or toothpick in straight lines from the top to the bottom of the skillet, working from left to right, to create a marbled effect.

  8. Ooni instructions: Bake for 15-20 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees after 10 minutes to avoid browning more on one side.

  9. Oven instructions: Bake for 20-25 minutes.

  10. Check for doneness by moving the pan — if the dough stops jiggling, it is done. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing into wedges or squares.

3 comments

KRISTIN |

This recipe is a frequent request. I use bourbon barrel aged maple syrup from Crown maple and liberally rub butter all over the top. Best cornbread recipe, ever, it’s so light and fluffy and walks the perfect line between savory and sweet.

MASIENDA |

Hi Justin! Feel free to check out this recipe: https://masienda.com/blogs/learn/gluten-free-pan-de-elote-muffins 😊

JUSTIN |

Is there a gluten free version of this?

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