A basic cornbread recipe can be altered in some simple ways to add pizzazz to your meals. Here is our basic cornbread recipe followed by several suggestions on how you can turn a familiar side dish into something surprisingly different.

Cornbread - Makes 12 pieces

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 cups milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Mix sugar, eggs and cooking oil together.
3. Pour flour and cornmeal on top of sugar and egg mixture. Sprinkle baking powder over the top. Using a fork, mix the baking powder into the flour and cornmeal and then continuing to mix, blend flour into egg mixture.
4. Add milk and stir well. (An electric mixer can be used.)
5. Place in oven and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean (about 30 minutes).

Corn Dodgers

Corn Dodgers are crispy corn pancakes that go great with beans or can be topped like a tortilla, tostado style. Prepare the basic cornbread recipe as directed above increasing the amount of milk to 1 2/3 cups. Heat a griddle to high, place a drop of cooking oil on the griddle where each corn dodger will cook. Pour batter onto hot oil (about 1/4 cup of batter per griddle cake). Cook untl the top is bubbly, flip and brown second side.

Cheesy Cornbread

Add dairy richness to your cornbread with sour cream and cheddar cheese. Replace half the cooking oil with sour cream so that the recipe includes 1/4 cup cooking oil and 1/4 cup of sour cream. Then reduce the amount of milk to 1 cup and add two ounces of grated cheddar cheese to the batter at the end. Bake as per the original recipe and enjoy yummy, cheesy cornbread.

Jalapeno Cornbread

Make it spicy this time. Adjust the flour to cornmeal ratio so the recipe includes 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of cornmeal. Replace the milk with buttermilk. Seed and dice 1 1/2 ounces jalapenos peppers and add to the batter at the end. Bake in a 350 degree oven as in the basic recipe.

Dessert Cornbread

In the style of an upside-down cake, add a layer of fruit to the bottom of the pan before pouring in the cornbread batter. Add a 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon to the basic cornbread recipe. Instead of spraying the bottom of the pan with nonstick cooking spray, pour in 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Place a layer of fruit (peaches or berries are great) on the bottom of pan, pour batter over the top and bake as directed above. You might like whipped cream on top when it comes hot out of the oven.

Ham and Cornbread

Chicken Chili with Corn Dodgers

Shrimp Creole and Black Beans with Cheesy Cornbread