These pictures should speak for themselves.
But just in case you’re still wondering what the point of this post is, let me enlighten you: this is what happens when you leave out the baking powder.
I made chicken tortilla soup in the crock pot for dinner (which, by the way, was easy and delicious). I was having a craving for cornbread to go with it, so I figured I had enough time before my husband got home to make a pan. I wanted to get it in the oven as quickly as possible, however, so I tried not to waste any time putting it together. I recently read this article, which talks about a technique called “mise en place.” Basically, it just means having everything ready before you start cooking, which makes things go much quicker. I wanted to be quick, so I went ahead and pulled out all of my ingredients–flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt sugar, milk, oil…the usual, my pan, etc. I quickly measured out the dry ingredients, then the liquids, mixed them together, and poured them in my greased pan, which went straight into my 425-degree oven. I then proceeded to put everything away that I had used. I clearly remember taking the baking powder out from behind the crock pot to put it away, but I didn’t think anything of it.
18 minutes later, I opened the oven to the strangest-looking cornbread I have ever made. It didn’t take me long to realize the problem, but the time for fixing it was long past, especially since my husband walked in the door right then. I served it anyways, with butter and honey, and I can honestly say it tasted just fine…but the texture was kind of dense and funny.
The chicken tortilla soup, on the other hand, turned out perfectly.
