Vidalia Onions Taken to a New Level
Just typing those words gets me going. The naturally sweet Vidalia onions are caramelized in bacon fat until golden then a classic cornbread batter is poured on top with the crumbled, crisp bacon folded in. Drool worthy. We like to make these in a cast-iron pan. I used my Lodge 9-inch pan, which yielded perfect results. We used this pan to also make our Vidalia Onion Apple Upside Down Cake.
Caramelized Vidalia Onion Bacon Cornbread
Author: Dédé Wilson
Makes: 6 to 8
Ingredients
- 6 slices thick-cut bacon
- 2 Vidalia onions, peeled and very thinly sliced
- 1 ¼ cups stoneground cornmeal (we used Bob’s Red Mill Medium Grind)
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1⅓ cups buttermilk
- 3 tablespoon honey
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Fry bacon until crisp in 9-inch cast-iron pan. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels, leaving fat in pan. Add onions to pan, turn heat down and sauté, stirring often until golden brown and very soft 9this could take up to 15 minutes; don’t rush and take care not to burn the onions).
- Meanwhile, position rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Measure buttermilk into a microwave safe liquid measuring cup, add honey and zap in microwave until just warm enough to melt the honey, whisking to combine. Meanwhile whisk eggs and melted butter in a bowl, then whisk in buttermilk/honey. Pour liquid mixture over dry and stir gently just until combined. Crumble cooled bacon into batter, fold in then scrape batter on top of caramelized onions.
- Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean. Serve as soon as possible.
Bakepedia Tips
- We used a mandolin to slice the onions. They should be basically as thin as you can get them. A slicing disc in a food processor works well too.
This was scrumptious! My family prefers non-sweet cornbread with savory dishes, so I only used one TB of honey. I used 10 slices of bacon, and salted butter, but stayed true to your recipe besides these small changes, and we loved this cornbread, thanks!
I just got hungry reading your description! I like the use of salted butter here…