CORNBREAD SKULLS

Cozy up with a cauldron of your favorite chili and a tray of sweet and mildly spicy cornbread skulls on a cold fall night. I bake everything I can in a skull pan to make mundane weeknights more festive. Being from the South, cornbread is a dinner staple that can be easily adapted to spooky season with the help of some bakeware.

Skull Cornbread Recipe:

1 large egg

1 1/3 cups milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 cups white cornmeal

1 Tablespoon baking power

1 teaspoon salt

1 poblano pepper, diced

Fresh corn kernels from 1 ear of corn

Pre-heat oven to 450F. Grease the skull pan (a cooking spray works well here to get into the detailed crevices). Mix together wet ingredients (egg, milk, oil). Mix together dry ingredients (cornmeal, baking powder, salt). Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Dice poblano pepper. Cut kernels from corn cob. Fold vegetables into cornbread mix. Spoon mixture into pan leaving around 1/4 inch space at the top of the mold to account for rising. Bake 20 minutes.

Note: My pan makes 4 skulls; pans that make smaller skulls may require a reduction in cooking time. This recipe can be made in an 8 or 9 in cast iron skillet if you are not using a mold; cook time may need to increase by 5 minutes.