For Valentine’s Day, I gave Tyler the Milk Street Cookbook. We love watching cooking shows on PBS, and as part of his gift he gets to pick one or two recipes that I will make a week. So, on Sunday, we sat down to menu plan, and he chose this Portuguese Cornbread made with corn flour and rye flour. It was dense, sweet, moist and full of flavor.
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Published February 17, 2021
Updated March 7, 2022
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What was for dinner tonight
For dinner last night I made butternut squash soup, Portuguese Cornbread and orzo pasta. A few years ago, I came across a recipe for orzo pasta. It has parmesan, spinach and garlic. Our boys devour it! I literally make a double batch and we rarely have leftovers. Butternut squash soup is so hearty with such a full flavor. Later this week I am going to publish both of those, so stay tuned for updates!
Click the above links for the blogs with recipes!
Cost breakdown for this recipe
Below is the cost breakdown for this recipe for Portuguese Cornbread.
1 2/3 cups corn flour
2 Tbsp honey $0.50
1 cup bread flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup rye flour
2 tsp yeast $0.06
2 tsp kosher salt $0.01
The cost to make this recipe is $
Portuguese Cornbread (Broa) Recipe
Ingredients for Portuguese Cornbread
1 2/3 cups corn flour
2 Tbsp honey
1 cup boiling water, plus 1/4 cup room-temperature water
1 cup bread flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup rye flour
2 tsp yeast
2 tsp kosher salt
Directions for Portuguese Cornbread
1. In the bowl of a KitchenAid mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, firstly mix 1 2/3 cups corn flour, 2 Tbsp honey and 1 cup boiling water on low. Mix until a thick hash forms and it is evenly moist, then turn the mixer off and scrape the edges of the bowl down as needed to make sure all the ingredients blend well.
2. Turn off the mixer and then let the mixture stand for 30 minutes or until it is just warm to the touch.
3. After 30 minutes resting, then add the room-temperature water, 1 cup bread flour, 1/2 cup rye flour, 2 tsp yeast and 2 tsp salt to the KitchenAid bowl.
4. Using the KitchenAid dough hook attachment, mix on low for 5 minutes, the dough should be tacky but not sticky, making sure to scrape the bowl down as needed.
Form the Cornbread
5. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and then shape the dough into a 5 inch in diameter ball, then place on a baking stone.
As a result, I ended up splitting the dough in half and making two rolls.
6. Set the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet or a baking stone and then dust the top with flour.
I love my Pampered Chef baking stone as it does not need any paper underneath. As a result, nothing sticks to this baby!
A few weeks ago, I made pizza for dinner and the potholder slipped in my hand while carrying a hot pizza from the oven. My worst nightmare happened, and my precious circle pizza baking stone shattered all over the floor. After tears, an ice pack and my amazing husband then cleaned up the shards, all I was left with was a burn (now a scar) as a horrible reminder to use hand insert potholders. Let me tell you, that was a rough lesson. Needless to say, I did indeed purchase a new Pampered Chef baking stone, it even has handles!
7. Cover the dough ball with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until the volume increases by half, which should take 1 to 1 1/2 hours. As a result, the dough will develop beautiful cracks on the top as it rises.
Do not let the dough rise for longer than indicated as it will develop an unpleasantly boozy, sour flavor, as this bread dough needs only rise by 50 percent, not double like a typical bread. – note from the book editor.
8. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. Finally, bake the Portuguese Cornbread for 15 minutes with the rack in the middle of the oven.
10. Reduce the oven heat to 300 degrees and bake an additional 30 to 35 minutes, or until the crust is a deep golden brown.
11. Remove the baking stone from oven and then transfer the bread to a cooling rack and let the bread cool completely, around 2 hours. Consequently, my guys could not wait for the bread to cool. We ended up eating the Broa while it was still warm, having rested for only 20 minutes it was not hot, and yet so deliciously warm.
We broke the bread into pieces, it can also be sliced, served alone or spread with butter.
Enjoy!
~Monica
Portuguese Cornbread Recipe
Portuguese Cornbread (Broa)
Equipment
- Baking Stone dough hook
- KitchenAid Mixer
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups Corn Flour
- 2 Tbsp Honey
- 1 cup Boiling Water
- 1/4 cup Water room temp
- 1 cup Bread Flour more for dusting
- 1/2 cup Rye Flour
- 2 tsp Yeast
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of a KitchenAid mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix 1 2/3 cup corn flour, 2 Tbsp honey and 1 cup boiling water on low until a thick hash forms and it is evenly moist.
- Turn off the mixer and let stand 30 minutes or until the mixture is just warm to the touch.
- After 30 minutes resting, then add the room-temperature 1/4 cup water, 1 cup bread flour, 1/2 cup rye flour, 2 tsp yeast and 2 tsp salt to the KitchenAid bowl.
- Using the dough hook attachment, mix on low for 5 minutes, the dough should be tacky but not sticky remembering to scrape the bowl down as needed.
- Turn the dough out onto the counter and then shape the dough into a 5 inch in diameter ball.
- Additionally, you can choose to make two separate pieces.
- Set the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet or a baking stone and then dust the top with flour.
- Cover the dough ball with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until the volume increases by half, from 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake the Portuguese Cornbread for 15 minutes with the rack in the middle of the oven.
- Reduce the oven heat to 300 degrees and bake an additional 30 to 35 minutes, or until it is a deep golden brown.
- Remove the baking pan from the oven and then transfer the bread to a cooling rack, let the Portuguese Cornbread cool completely, around 2 hours before serving.
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