Whole grain clabber cornbread is tender and delicious! Soaking freshly ground cornmeal and 100% whole white wheat flour in clabber not only adds health benefits but makes the most tender cornbread ever. In this recipe we milled whole corn and white wheat berries, but no worries if you don’t have a mill, ground cornmeal and regular flour will work just fine.
If you have a dairy animal then you probably have clabbered milk. Here at our farmhouse we use clabber for everything. Clabber can replace buttermilk in recipes and this recipe for whole grain clabber cornbread produces a moist cornbread perfect for Thanksgiving dressing.
Whole Grain Cornbread soaked in clabber makes a tender moist cornbread!
What makes cornbread moist?
Adding clabber to any baked item will add tenderness and a moist crumb.
How long does it take to make clabber?
You start clabber with raw milk by leaving it at room temperature until it thickens into a solid curd. (It might take a few days) You definitely will know when it becomes clabber because when you tilt the jar the solid curd will pull away from the sides of the jar. When fully thick/solid put your jar of clabber in the refrigerator for up to one week.
You don’t want to leave it at room temperature so long that a liquid forms on top of the the thickened milk. If you see liquid that means it is over-fermented. Once you have made clabber you can add one teaspoon per pint of milk to culture your next batch of clabber.
How to Make Clabber
Put a teaspoon of clabber in a pint jar then pour milk in the jar. Shake the jar to combine the teaspoon of clabber and milk. Cover with an unbleached coffee filter. Leave at room temperature anywhere from 12-24 hours. The length of time it takes to culture is very influenced by the ambient temperature. When you use clabber to start your next batch, this gives fermentation a head start so the culture time will be shorter.
Need help with making clabber? Read this blog post. The steps are the same for making both clabber and yogurt culture. It is the culture temperature that determines which mesophilic (cooler temperature or thermophilic strains of bacteria will flourish.
Can I use clabber to re-culture?
This can go on forever and forever. I like to use clabber that is less than a week old to start my next batch of clabber.
Start the clabber process with raw milk. After you have a mature clabber which means you have made your first clabber which took a few days, then completed the process 4-5 more times. Going through the process of starting a batch, letting it clabber, then using it to start the next batch will strengthen your clabber culture. It is now ready to culture cheese if you wish. But this story is about cornbread. We will talk about cheese another time.
Ingredient List for 100% Whole Grain Clabber Cornbread:
- 2 cups Cornmeal milled from organic corn
- 1 cup whole white wheat flour milled from organic whole white wheat berries (We used the heritage grain Sonora Wheat from Barton Springs Mill).
- 2 cups clabber
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 farm fresh eggs
- 2 tablespoons Beef Tallow or lard
Equipment List:
- Bowl
- Spoon
- Cast Iron Skillet- I use a #9 cast iron skillet
How to Make the Best Whole Grain Clabber Cornbread
- The night before you plan to make cornbread grind corn and white wheat berries (please use organic) to have 2 cups cornmeal and 1 cup of flour.
- Mix 2 cups cornmeal, 1 cup Flour, and 2 cups clabber in a bowl. Cover and leave on the counter overnight.
- The next day add and mix
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
4. Put the cast iron skillet in the oven to get hot.
5. When the skillet is hot add 2 tablespoons of beef tallow then put the skillet back in the oven to melt.
6. The tallow should be very hot. Pour the cornbread batter in the skillet.
7. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until browned on the top and the center is cooked.
Melted beef tallow gives cornbread a crispy crust. So delicious!
Tips for making the best cornbread
- Get the iron skillet very hot – this will make your cornbread have a crispy crust.
- Right before you pour the cornbread batter into the skillet sprinkle a bit of cornmeal in the hot skillet.
- Soak cornmeal and flour in clabber overnight.
Whole Grain Clabber Cornbread
Ingredients
- 2 cups Freshly Ground Corn Meal
- 1 cup Whole Wheat White Flour
- 2 cups Clabber
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 tablespoons Tallow or Lard
Instructions
- The night before grind enough corn and wheat berries to have 2 cups of cornmeal and 1 cup of whole wheat flour. Mix with 2 cups of clabber and leave on the counter overnight.
- The next day mix in 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt.
- Preheat a cast iron skillet in a 450 degree oven while you mix the cornbread batter. (I use a #9 cast iron skillet)
- When the skillet is hot add 2 tablespoons of tallow or lard, return to the oven to melt.
- Pour melted tallow into cornbread batter, then mix.
- Sprinkle cornmeal over the hot skillet.
- Pour batter into hot skillet.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until brown on top and cooked in the center.
Notes
- Get the iron skillet very hot - this will make your cornbread have a crispy crust.
- Right before you pour the cornbread batter into the skillet sprinkle a bit of cornmeal in the hot skillet. Adds a bit of crunch.
- Soak cornmeal and flour in clabber overnight.
- You can definitely use cornmeal and flour instead of grinding corn and wheat.
