The Frontier Pies Cornbread

Do you remember a cozy little restaurant called Frontier Pies?

If you are from out West, you are probably familiar with this little chain that went out of business a few years back.  When I was a kid growing up in Montana, this was one of our favorite places to go out to eat as a family.  My Dad loved any restaurant that served pie and this place certainly knew how to make some good ones.  I do not remember much about the food but I'm pretty sure they served typical comfort food:  fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, meatloaf, etc.  However, I do remember THE CORNBREAD.

Before bringing out your meal, the servers at Frontier Pies would place disposable pie plates filled with their warm homemade cornbread at each table.  Their cornbread was sweet, slightly gritty from the cornmeal and served with a side of whipped honey butter.  We would fill up on the cornbread and barely have room for our entrees. But we always had room for the pie.

Years later, after I had gotten married and began to show more of an interest in cooking, I stumbled upon a recipe for the original Frontier Pies Cornbread.  I got so ridiculously excited and immediately cleared my schedule to bake a huge pan for dinner that night.

Taking a bite of that cornbread brought back a flood of memories.  Suddenly I was nine-years-old again, enjoying a fun dinner out with my family after a baseball game.  Even after 16+ years, that cornbread remains some of the best I have ever tasted.  I made it for my family when they came to visit last summer, and everyone commented on how wonderful it tasted.  When I told them the recipe came from Frontier Pies, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) got really excited and demanded the recipe.  You see, that cornbread really is quite nostalgic for the whole family.

So, here it is!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

The Frontier Pies Cornbread
written down from a source I cannot recall

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
3/4 tsp. salt
2 1/4 cups milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cream the butter, sugar, and honey together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, allowing each egg to be completely absorbed before adding the next. Whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then gently add dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Stir in the milk until just combined. Pour into a greased 13x9 pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.

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And as a side note, here is snapshot of Mr. Matthew being oh-so-helpful with the sweeping.  Sometimes having him "help" is a whole lot more work than me just doing it myself...

Matthew spreading out the dust (I'll fix it later!)

All in a day's work!