Bacon Sweet Potato Cornbread

A classic, old-fashioned, dense skillet corn bread gets jazzed up with bacon and sweet potato. I started with another recipe, added sweet potato and bacon, and substituted bacon grease for the shortening. Serve warm in wedges with butter.

Original recipe makes 1 9-inch skillet

Ingredients

5 slices bacon
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten

PREP

15 mins
COOK

40 mins
READY IN

55 mins

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Cook and stir bacon in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until browned, about 10 minutes. Remove and chop bacon, leaving 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings in skillet.
Whisk cornmeal, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Stir sweet potato, buttermilk, and eggs together in a separate bowl until thoroughly combined. Stir sweet potato mixture into dry ingredients and mix chopped bacon into batter. Pour batter into the cast-iron skillet.
Bake corn bread in the preheated oven until browned and bread feels firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Turn corn bread onto a serving plate and cut into wedges for serving.