Alabama Old-Time Corn Sticks

True Southern corn sticks, like cornbread in general, use white cornmeal in the recipe. White cornmeal is made from white corn, which is naturally sweeter than yellow; no sugar is needed. For maximum crunch, you want to use very little flour in the batter. These corn sticks are so good they’ll disappear the first time you pass them around.
Prep: 15 minutes Bake: 16 to 17 minutes Bake at: 400°F Yield: 14 corn sticks Pan: 7-ear cast iron corn stick pan Difficulty: easy

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups (153 grams) white cornmeal
  • 3 tablespoons (23 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup buttermilk plus a few tablespoons
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or bacon drippings, melted
  • Vegetable shortening for pan

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  • In a medium bowl, sift together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the dry ingredients. Add the lightly beaten egg and buttermilk. Stir until the batter is just mixed. If necessary, add 2 to 3 tablespoons buttermilk to make thick, but easily spooned batter (see “Tips”). Add the melted butter or bacon drippings and stir to incorporate. The batter will be lumpy.
  • Prepare a 7-ear cast iron corn stick pan with vegetable shortening. You can use wadded wax paper to evenly spread shortening in each mold. Heat the greased pan in the preheated oven for 4 minutes before needed. Do not let the grease start to burn and smoke. Pour off the excess shortening when you remove the pan from the oven.
  • Spoon the batter into each mold to make it just three-quarters full. Bake the corn sticks in a preheated 400°F oven for 16 to 17 minutes until they are puffy and barely starting to brown on top.
  • Remove the pan from the oven and run a knife around the edge of each corn stick to loosen. Let the corn sticks cool for 3 minutes before turning out on a wire rack.
  • Generously regrease the molds, heat the pan in the oven for 2 minutes, and pour off the excess shortening. Refill the molds with the remaining batter and bake.
  • Serve the corn sticks hot with plenty of butter.
  • You can wrap and store corn sticks at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 weeks.

Tips

  • The batter should be slightly thicker than pancake batter.
  • You can dredge corn sticks through gravy or dunk in buttermilk, if you like.
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