Cracklins! Where have they been all my life? I discovered the joy of cracklins when I started making my own lard. Cracklins are the crispy, golden remainders from the process of rendering lard.
They are the angels heaven left behind.
You can sprinkle them on top of salads or casseroles, or just eat them as a snack. You can also put them in cornbread. I’d never had cracklins in cornbread before, so I had to ask how to make cornbread with cracklins–and I’m here to report! (And if you’ve got any more advice, let me hear it.)
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How to make Cornbread with Cracklins:
reserved bacon grease
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter (cut up), lard, or oil
2 eggs
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1 cup cracklins
Using a large iron skillet, heat reserved bacon grease on low until melted. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter, lard, or oil, eggs, and milk or buttermilk. Stir to combine. Don’t overstir. Add the cracklins and mix through. (I didn’t crumble my cracklins up small, just used them as they came out of the pot. You can crush them if you want.)
Pour cornbread mixture into the iron skillet seasoned with bacon drippings. (First tip the pan all the way around, spreading the bacon drippings to grease the sides of the skillet.) Bake in a 425-oven for 20-25 minutes.
This is delicious, veritable food of the Southern gods, and will earn you your official country cook membership card. You can see more about my cornbread recipe here, by the way, and also find my cornbread mix. You can find all my cornbread recipes here.
Don’t forget the pot of beans!
See All My Recipes
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It’s a Ball Blue Book Project day! Today’s Ball Blue Book is sponsored by CB in TN.
For a chance to win: Leave a comment on this post and let me know you want it. You can just put (BBB) at the end of your comment or otherwise note that you want to be in the draw. One winner will be drawn by random comment number to receive a Ball Blue Book. Eligible entry cut-off is midnight Eastern (U.S.) time tonight (March 5). This post will be updated with the winner by 9 a.m. Eastern (U.S.) time tomorrow (March 6). Return to this post to see if you won.
Find out more about the Ball Blue Book Project and become a sponsor.
UPDATE 03/06/10: The winning comment number is #37, mrnglry! Email me at CITRgiveaways(at)aol.com with your full name and address for shipping!
Gen says:
I tried your traditional cornbread recipes a few weeks ago and made it twice, delicious!!! (BBB)
On March 5, 2010 at 1:21 am
Blessings says:
the corn bread looks wonderful!
BBB Please
~~HUGS~~
On March 5, 2010 at 1:44 am
Pat says:
I made your cornbread before and it was really good! Not with cracklings though.
I’d love to win the BBB Book 🙂
On March 5, 2010 at 2:28 am
Lacey says:
Are your cornbread recipes sweet-ish or the more traditional kind? Cause I’m not gonna lie, I was raised on the sweet kind and I don’t like the traditional kind as much, but I do love the sweet stuff. I’d like to try this but just not sure if I’d eat it.
I’d love to win the BBB.
On March 5, 2010 at 4:28 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
Lacey, this isn’t a sweet cornbread, but all you have to do to make it sweet is add more sugar. 🙂
On March 5, 2010 at 6:14 am
Laura B in Greenwood, IN says:
Looks yummy and I know my mom would be interested in the recipe!
BBB
On March 5, 2010 at 5:58 am
Cathy says:
Would love to try the cracklins…now to making lard to do so! (BBB)
On March 5, 2010 at 6:13 am
Leah says:
Thats my kind of corn bread,it sounds moist and i really dont like dry as well..
On March 5, 2010 at 6:42 am
Julie Curtis says:
Oh my gosh I haven’t had cornbread with cracklins in a million years! Down in south Louisiana, they sell them in the deli in convenience stores to eat for a snack, but they’re fried super crispy and wouldn’t be good for cornbread. You would break a tooth! LOL! The ones you can buy in my area in the grocery store meat market are sort of chewy, not crunchy and I’ve put them in cornbread. I bet the homemade ones a much better. I’m going to call the packing house and buy me some pig fat!!! Have a great day.
On March 5, 2010 at 6:45 am
Diane says:
I make corn bread in a cast iron skillet. You should try it with fresh ground corn. Yummy. Its not the same as the store bought stuff. If I could get my hands on some fresh cracklins I would make your recipe. lol. Oooo looks so yummy as always.
BBB please. 🙂
On March 5, 2010 at 6:45 am
Roz says:
I want to try this recipe, but where can you buy pig fat to make your own lard? I live in Knoxville and I don’t think we have a regular butcher shop here…
Oh, and I would love to win the BBB!
On March 5, 2010 at 6:50 am
Prairie Kerri says:
I would love the BBB!!
On March 5, 2010 at 6:52 am
Connie Trippett says:
That cornbread looks great!! Please put me in for the BBB
On March 5, 2010 at 6:58 am
Anke says:
The corn bread looks really good. I made a sourdough corn bread yesterday and I have to say it’s very good. Oh and we sprouted the lentils last weekend and my oldest daughter loves them, so do I and hubby. Only one holding out is our youngest daughter…
BBB please.
On March 5, 2010 at 7:11 am
Leanne says:
Mmmmm!!! looks delicious! BBB please 🙂
On March 5, 2010 at 7:16 am
Carol Langille says:
My first mother in law was the absolute best biscuit AND cornbread maker…she made a pan of each every single day at lunch time and had the leftovers for supper.
Her cornbread was something to dream of, Suzanne, and sometimes she would put in cracklins as a special treat. Wonderful!
She’s gone now and I can kinda sorta maker her biscuits but the cornbread eludes me. I’m going to try your recipe and see what happens.
Think of Spring and it will come.
On March 5, 2010 at 7:26 am
skippymom says:
You are a mean woman, you know that don’t you? We have no butcher around us to get fat otherwise I would be making this.
Mean. just mean. 😀
On March 5, 2010 at 7:26 am
Joy says:
Wish I lived at your house! I like cornbread but the fam isn’t so enamoured of it so I don’t make it often. Another way to serve cracklins is over eggs! When my mom rendered lard she saved the cracklins for my dad’s breakfast. She sprinkled them on the eggs he had every morning! He loved them!!
BBB and thanks!
On March 5, 2010 at 7:34 am
kerri says:
My oh my, that looks good!
When my mother cooked a pork roast the best part was the strips of crackling on top. Once my hubby was cutting up the roast for her and ate most of the crackling. She was so mad at him 😆
I’d love to be entered in the BBB drawing. Thanks!
On March 5, 2010 at 7:52 am
Susan at Charm of the Carolines says:
We have a little grocery store here in Columbia that sells cracklins. I’ve never cooked with them, but now I’m intrigued. Little angels from heaven? Suzanne, you’re a foodie!
Susan
On March 5, 2010 at 7:56 am
Blair says:
This makes me think of Little House in the Big Woods when Ma rendered the lard and the cracklins were too rich for little girls!
On March 5, 2010 at 8:00 am
Phyllis says:
This is the stuff I was raised on. Cornbread & Beans. I once heard Dolly Pardon in a TV interview say that she eats a piece of cornbread everyday. lol
I would love the BBB. Thank you!!
On March 5, 2010 at 8:02 am
Amanda says:
You have me wanting to make lard!!!!!
BBB please.
On March 5, 2010 at 8:09 am
Sandra in SC says:
The cornbread looks great! I must look into the lard thing….I’m one who always thought animal fat was bad,bad,bad! But, I’m so concerned now about the stuff I buy at the grocery store….way too many non food additives!
Would love to win the BBB!!!
On March 5, 2010 at 8:20 am
Patty says:
BBB please!
On March 5, 2010 at 8:28 am
Nikki says:
BBB for me please. I need time to read up on it before the crop season gets here!
On March 5, 2010 at 8:30 am
Tammy says:
OMG – I should NOT be reading this post in the a.m. – now I’m starving for cornbread & stuck @ work… waaaaaahhhhh! BBB please. Tammy
On March 5, 2010 at 8:42 am
carol bellamy says:
I will have to try the cornbread. BBB please.
On March 5, 2010 at 9:07 am
Jennifer says:
It looks yummy! BBB Please!
On March 5, 2010 at 9:10 am
Townie Farm Girl says:
BBB please….and have a beautiful day today.
On March 5, 2010 at 9:12 am
CrystalGB says:
The cornbread looks delicious. I would love to have the BBB. Have a great weekend.
On March 5, 2010 at 9:26 am
LeAnn says:
We eat cornbread with butter and syrup on it, it’s like having dessert! I’d never ate it this way until my husband’s family introduced me to it. Yum! BBB please.
On March 5, 2010 at 9:26 am
Emily says:
BBB Please!
Also, I rendered lard a couple months ago and was really disapointed that I didn’t get cracklins. I rendered in the crockpot and got my lard then put it on high to get them but I never did. At this point it had been almost a 24 hour process and I was pretty tired of it and needed to move on. Any suggestions for the next time?
On March 5, 2010 at 9:27 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
Emily, maybe the pieces of lard you started with were too big so that they never cooked down? That’s the only thing I can think of for why it would take so long and still never get to cracklins.
On March 5, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Maureen says:
You have so many great ideas on your blog. I definitely want to try to make the lard. Finding the time is the hardest part. BBB
On March 5, 2010 at 9:28 am
Joy says:
You’ve done it now, you’ve gone and told the world how Southern women make the BEST cornbread! It’s a good thing though, the World needed some good news this morning…
On March 5, 2010 at 9:29 am
Brigittte says:
I love to see you make unique things!
I’d love the BBB!
On March 5, 2010 at 9:36 am
mrnglry says:
Your cornbread recipe is just like my dad showed me how to make it years ago. Mom also made it, but Dad’s was the best. He never used cracklins tho. But, it sure sounds good, especially with those beans.
Dad would take the leftover cornbread, the slightly sweet kind, and crumble it in a glass and pour over sugar and milk. What a treat was that!
I would love your BBB!
Grace in CA
On March 5, 2010 at 9:40 am
Debbie in Memphis says:
There is nothing better than cornbread made in a cast iron skillet. YUM!!! (BBB)
On March 5, 2010 at 9:44 am
~ Jackie says:
Boy, does that look YUM. Makes me wish it were dinner time already!! Oh, and add me to the list of folks in line for the BBB. 🙂
On March 5, 2010 at 9:53 am
Michele Messier says:
BBB please. That cornbread looks great! :fairy: :fairy:
On March 5, 2010 at 9:57 am
Euni Moore says:
Now you’ve done it. I want cornbread with cracklins and a pot of beans and ham! Have the beans, and all the makin’s but no cracklins. Guess I will have to make do with crispy fried bacon until I can render some lard.
Euni :fairy:
On March 5, 2010 at 10:00 am
Euni Moore says:
P.S. I would like to have the BBB.
Euni
On March 5, 2010 at 10:00 am
Sarah says:
I’ve never had cracklins before but they sound wonderful! And then with cornbread, can you go wrong?!
BBB, please!!!
On March 5, 2010 at 10:08 am
Matt says:
Perhaps I’m not crazy after all. For years, I’ve asked for cracklins at Long John Silvers and Captain D’s and have enjoyed scooping out the center of a hushpuppy and stuffing the cracklins inside. Others have gotten a chuckle out of my odd combination, but I think the last laugh is mine 🙂
On March 5, 2010 at 10:08 am
anne says:
What delectable cornbread. BBB Please.
On March 5, 2010 at 10:10 am
Amy P says:
Cornbread is not one of my favorite breads, but gosh it does look good!! BBB please!! :hungry:
On March 5, 2010 at 10:23 am
mommy6_1 says:
Looks really good. I’ve never had cracklins. Maybe I should try them. Please enter me in the BBB drawing.
Thank You
On March 5, 2010 at 10:42 am
geena says:
Nice looking corn bread. all you need is chili now. MMMMM please enter in BBB drawing :turtle:
On March 5, 2010 at 10:53 am
Aedrielle says:
Oh my goodness.
What more is there in this world? If I could have but one slice I would die happy. DeLISH.
(BBB for me me me!)
On March 5, 2010 at 11:01 am
Ulrike says:
BBB. 8)
On March 5, 2010 at 11:31 am
Linda says:
Am really enjoying your website, keep up the good work. I would LOVE to receive the BBB!
On March 5, 2010 at 11:35 am
KentuckyFarmGirl says:
I love cracklin cornbread. My grandmother used to make a couple of skillets of it after rendering lard in a big outside kettle. I used to love that time of year when my dad and all his brothers got together to kill hogs and the women were rendering lard……the good ole days. Now we take our hogs to a processor but the fresh meat is still wonderful and I always get my fat scraps. I am loving the crock pot rendering!
On March 5, 2010 at 11:48 am
Cate says:
Looks yummy! Please enter me into the BBB drawing. Thanks!
On March 5, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Mary from Baton Rouge says:
Looks yummy Suzanne!!! I have to make the cracklins before I make the cornbread. Yet another item to put on my to do list!!!! I can’t wait to get started. Where can you get pork fat if you do not have your own pig to harvest?
Oh and count me in for the BBB.
Thanks
On March 5, 2010 at 12:42 pm
SuzieQ says:
Yum, yum…I MUST MAKE SOME…..NOW!!! BBB too :snoopy:
On March 5, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Donna says:
I make cornbread like my Mom did. It is the only thing that I make using amounts of ingredients just by looking. Yours looks yummy, but I’m trying to eat lighter since June is bustin’ our all over! Please enter me for BBB!
On March 5, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Melanie says:
BBB, please!
On March 5, 2010 at 1:40 pm
MMT says:
The cornbread looks so good. I haven’t had cracklins since I was a little girl. Would like to render some lard and make them if I can get hold of some pork fat. BBB please.
On March 5, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Carla says:
I just had a piece of your cornbread with my homemade chili for lunch today. It was delicious! I could just eat the cornbread and forget the chili…
On March 5, 2010 at 2:23 pm
marymac says:
HaHaHa….Guess what I’m having for supper?????? Please put me in for the BBB
On March 5, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Mariel says:
I have had cracklin in the pinto beans with cornbread. It was wonderful too!
On March 5, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Runningtrails says:
Looks yummy! I grew up eating my mother’s hot cornbread. I miss it! I must make some.
On March 5, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Runningtrails says:
Also, I would love the Blue Ball Canning Book!
On March 5, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Melinda says:
Looks delicious! BBB please!!!!
On March 5, 2010 at 4:53 pm
CindyP says:
Your cornbread recipe is the best I’ve ever had…….then to add cracklins, it’s just got to be more than good!!!
BBB please!!!
On March 5, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Lola-Dawn says:
:happyfeet: EVERYONE should experience cracklins … especially with cornbread! Mm mmm … very happy childhood memory!
On March 5, 2010 at 5:21 pm
CATRAY44 says:
You are a blessing, Suzanne. I am very thankful for you and all you do on here for and with us!
On March 5, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Linda G says:
I would love a copy of the BBB. I am trying to make more of my own food and this would help out a lot.
On March 5, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Glenie says:
Love cracklin cornbread with turnip greens or collards now that’s southern all the way. BBB
On March 5, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Rys says:
When I was a child my parents would render lard and we’d spread it on rye bread for a snack. We’d also burn ourselves trying to get to the cracklins first.
Please ad me to the BBB list.
Rys
On March 5, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Euni Moore says:
Pardon the third comment of the day but I am here to tell you that if you don’t have cracklns for your cornbread that crispy bacon works like a charm. Baked in a square cast iron skillet, with residual bacon drippings it is a little piece of heaven. So, if you don’t have cracklins fry up a little bacon (3 strips) and sit back and thank the good Lord for thw pig.
Euni :pinkpig:
On March 5, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Chic says:
Oh my does that look good! I don’t have any cracklins but I could fry up some sausage or bacon until I make some lard. My mouth is already watering! BBB please :hungry2:
On March 5, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Stargirl Heuser says:
Oh my, looks absolutely yum! BBB
On March 5, 2010 at 7:44 pm
mafong says:
There is a farm market near my home that has wonderful fresh pork from Thanksgiving until the middle of March. They have absolutely divine cracklings!! I would love to have a BBB.
On March 5, 2010 at 9:36 pm
mommafox says:
:woof: It’s been a long time since I have had homemade cracklins. Used to be one of our favorite things to “fight” over on the day they were made. That skillet of cornbread brings back some wonderful memories. I try to get a couple bags of meal every August when we come in to West Virginia and have my husband’s family reunion at Babcock State Park. They grind meal at the grist meal there. Please add me to the long list of hopefuls for the BBB.
On March 5, 2010 at 9:56 pm
VaGirl2 says:
Did Cracklin’ Rosie join ya?
On March 6, 2010 at 12:05 am
Sandy says:
Suzanne, you might not know where cracklins have been all your life, but if you keep putting them in and on everything you are going to know where they are for the rest of your life. Right there on the hip bones!
On March 6, 2010 at 8:13 am
mrnglry says:
Thanks so much, Suzanne. I have sent you my mailing addy. 🙂
Grace in CA
On March 6, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Barbee' says:
Ah, HA! Now here is a place we can use the darker, savory lard, I bet. I can just smell that cornbread! And some of these comments are making me so homesick: #70 Glenie and her greens! Then Grace in CA.writing about the “slightly sweet kind” with sugar and milk poured over. Back home folks used to make the buttermilk version of cornbread. The leftovers were often crumbled into a glass, buttermilk poured over, then it was eaten with a spoon. That’s good, too, if you like buttermilk.
On March 8, 2010 at 2:35 pm
tlbcasey8 says:
I know I am late seeing this post but wanted you to know that I completely agree with you! Cracklins’ ARE “little angels sent from heaven”!
When I was a little girl I use to go with my Maw Maw and Paw Paw to the Boucheries (Boo-sher-rees) out in the country in South Louisiana. I can remember the men in the back of the barn making giant cast iron kettles of Cracklins’. What wonderful memories….and tasty cracklins!
On December 12, 2013 at 9:36 am