Photo: avlxyz / Flickr

Making bread with yeast requires lots of time and some dedication. It also means getting your hands dirty when it comes to the mixing and the kneading ‑ unless you have a bread making machine, of course. The great thing about polenta bread (or corn bread) is that it doesn’t require any yeast or kneading. That’s because it’s a ‘quick bread’ which uses baking powder as a raising agent instead of yeast. This recipe takes a quarter of an hour to prepare.

Polenta bread ingredients

Measure out 150 grams each of polenta and plain flour, as well as two teaspoons of baking powder, one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, 25 grams of sugar, one teaspoon of salt, two eggs (mixed together well), 150 ml each of milk and buttermilk (cultured buttermilk is preferable). You will also need 30 grams of butter.

Polenta bread method

Pre-heat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

Chop up the butter and place it in a saucepan over a low heat. Once the butter has melted, remove it from the stove. Sieve the flour into a large bowl and add the polenta, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar – then mix these ingredients well.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and place the eggs into the ‘hole’. Use a wooden spoon to mix the eggs into the dry ingredients, slowly adding the milk and buttermilk until everything is well incorporated.

Add the melted butter and mix – when the mixture is properly blended, pour it into a greased 28 cm loaf tin (or a square cake tin that measures 18 cm).

Place the tin in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes or until the top of the polenta bread is golden brown. Allow the bread to cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack. Cover the bread or serve it warm with butter.

Tip: Polenta bread goes well with soup and it can also be eaten on its own. To re-heat your bread, pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and warm it up for around 10 minutes.

Tags: baking, bread