I have been using Sylvia’s cornbread recipe for many years. Mine was even mentioned in the Washington Post, and this fool proof recipe is the only cornbread recipe you need, but who is Sylvia?
If you are using this cornbread for stuffing/dressing only add 1tbsp of sugar and cook a little longer!
Sylvia! An American Legend. Click and Read.
Sylvia Woods is the “Soul Food Queen” behind Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem and her own line of prepared foods. Sylvia opened the restaurant in 1962 as a small luncheonette with a loan from her mother who mortgaged the family farm.
The restaurant is a landmark with many A list celebrities among their clientele. It was also one of the shooting locations for Spike Lee’s movie “Jungle Fever”. The restaurant expanded to 450 seats in 1992. Sylvia died in 2012 during the restaurants 50th year. The restaurant is currently run by her children and grandchildren.
Please click and read about Sylvia, it is quite uplifting. Her father fought in WWI. She went from farming to beauty school and waitressing (that is what it was called back then) to buying the restaurant and building the most famous soul food restaurant in the world.
The Recipe
This is a fool proof recipe. Mix your dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in a second bowl.
Combine the bowls and mix but don’t overmix the batter! There should be lumps in it like pancake batter so just mix until there are no flour streaks. Overmixing causes to much gluten development which will make smaller air pockets and your cornbread will be chewy and not fluffy.
Pour the batter into a 9 by 13 pan or a half pan like I did above. Half pans are 10 by 12. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is browned.
Serve These With This Great Cornbread
At the catering company we serve this with our BBQ package along with our no roux mac and cheese and our famous potato salad..
Modern Mac and Cheese
Famous 5 ingredient Potato Salad
Best All Beef Meatloaf with special ingredient
Sylvia’s Cornbread
The best cornbread with a foolproof recipe.
Dry
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups corn meal (NOT CORNSTARCH)
- 3/4 cup sugar (If you are making this for stuffing only use 1 tbsp sugar and cook longer) (I cut back a little from original recipe)
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
Wet
- 5 eggs beaten
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 1 cup oil
preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 pan
mix all dry ingredients
mix all wet ingredients
combine dry and wet and mix until just combined. There will be lumps. Read above.
bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
About Chef Mark
I am a working Chef featured in the Washington Post and USA Today. Follow the blog for lots of tips and hacks. There will be one important tip per post to up your game.