Cowboy Bread
We’re bringing back all the nostalgic feels with this Midwestern school cafeteria Cowboy Bread. Although this bread is delicious on its own, it was originally served with chili in schools!
THE PERFECT FLAVOR COMBO BREAD
I will be honest, I had never heard of this bread until I had an insane amount of requests for a Cowboy Bread recipe after I had shared a recipe for Cafeteria Chili. It was explained to me that it was a sweeter bread that paired perfectly with the savory flavors of chili and it was served quite often in Midwest schools back in the day. This was new to me (since I am a southern gal, not Midwestern) but I do love a good challenge! I got some more information from folks who were familiar with the taste and textures and set about trying to make this nostalgic cake-like bread. If you are from the Midwest and ate this at school, I hope you will try it and let me know what you think!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
While you may see them both come up in Google searches together, Pan de Campo is actually different than this sweeter Cowboy Bread.
Pan de Campo is a traditional flatbread or biscuit that has been a staple for over 100 years in the Southwest region of the United States. It is prepared with simple ingredients such as flour, salt, butter, and lard. It is definitely more like a savory, crumbly bread. Pan de Campo is usually served with soup or beans. Additionally, Pan de Campo can also be served as an accompaniment to barbecued meats.
Cowboy Bread, which is made with sugar and other sweet ingredients including light brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon is actually more like a cake even though it is called bread.
In plenty of other recipes, I’d say sure, go ahead and use the substitution if you are out of buttermilk. But, with this specific recipe, you NEED the fat from the buttermilk to really make the bread moist. If you really must use that trick, use heavy cream instead of the milk when mixing with the lemon juice.
Cowboy bread stays fresh at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days. It can be enjoyed at room temperature or warmed in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. For long-term storage, it can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- all-purpose flour – you could use self-rising flour. Just don’t add the additional baking powder and salt (but keep the baking soda in the recipe.)
- light brown sugar – if you wanted a deeper molasses flavor, try using dark brown sugar.
- shortening (like Crisco) – after talking with a few people familiar with making this recipe, they insisted that shortening or lard was used to make this bread. However, I think you could get away with using all butter if you prefer.
- unsalted butter – you could use salted butter, just remove the additional salt that is added to the recipe.
- salt – just regular table salt – not kosher or sea salt.
- nutmeg and cinnamon – we found the combination of these two hit the perfect balance of flavor rather than just cinnamon alone.
- baking soda and baking powder – it might seem strange to use both of these but using both not only helps with the leavening but it also adds to the unique texture of this bread.
- large eggs – try to allow your eggs to come to room temperature if you have time.
- buttermilk – I really want to stress real buttermilk here. It adds so much moisture. You just can’t get that by mixing milk and vinegar or lemon juice. Plus, when you make the fake buttermilk, it is much more acidic than regular buttermilk. You can do it if you absolutely must but I think you’d really be missing out on the best version of this bread. Also, allow it to come to room temperature if time allows.
HOW TO MAKE COWBOY BREAD
Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Spray a 9×13-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray (I like the kind that has flour in it). In a large bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, shortening, butter and salt with a fork, a pastry cutter (or your hand) until it resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 3/4 cup of the crumble mixture and set aside. Then stir the nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder into the remaining flour mixture.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and buttermilk. Add the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until smooth (this can be done by hand or with a handheld electric mixer).
Spread the batter to the prepared baking pan. Top with the reserved crumble mixture that was set aside earlier. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the center of the bread. Note: Check the bread after about 15-20 minutes. If it is getting too brown, cover with aluminum foil the last few minutes of baking.
Let cool completely then slice into 12 squares.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Cowboy Bread
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
- ⅔ cup shortening (like Crisco)
- ¼ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Spray a 9×13-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray (I like the kind that has flour in it).
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, shortening, butter and salt with a fork, a pastry cutter (or your hand) until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Reserve 3/4 cup of the crumble mixture and set aside. Then stir the nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder into the remaining flour mixture.
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and buttermilk.
- Add the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until smooth (this can be done by hand or with a handheld electric mixer).
- Spread the batter to the prepared baking pan. Top with the reserved crumble mixture that was set aside earlier.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the center of the bread. Note: Check the bread after about 15-20 minutes. If it is getting too brown, cover with aluminum foil the last few minutes of baking.
- Let cool completely then slice into 12 squares.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- Cowboy bread can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Serve at room temperature or warm in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
- It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home
Brandie, I grew up in the Kansas City area. When our school cafeteria served chili, we ALWAYS had home-made cinnamon rolls, carrot & celery sticks and saltine crackers with it. Boy, could those cafeteria ladies make home-made cinnamon rolls! Never heard of cowboy bread, even though I married a cowboy.
Lol well we know for sure cowboys did not invent this cake bread. We do know that back in the day, southwestern cowboys (Texas, Arizona and who were mainly of Mexican descent) made pan de campo as I mention above. I have no idea how it got the Cowboy bread name. I’m sure it made sense to the midwestern cafeteria lady who came up with it. Maybe to give it a fun name for the kids. I actually put out a call to people on Facebook that grew up with cowboy bread to email me so I could learn more and gather some recipes. I probably heard back from about 30 or 40 people and nearly all of them were from Iowa except for a couple from Minnesota so I feel pretty strongly that this was very much an Iowa thing. But I’m sure now that I’ve said that, I’ll get a million messages from Iowans who will say they never heard of it (side note: just cause some of y’all never heard it doesn’t mean it wasn’t served to others. Maybe it wasn’t popular in your particular area or it wasn’t during the time you were in school, it happens!) lol
I did try the cinnamon rolls with the chili because so many folks assured me it was amazing and I just did not like it at all. It was just all too much but I will never yuck someone else’s yum. It’s probably like many foods, you like it because you grew up with it so it’s what you know. There are weird food combinations in the southern states that my midwestern husband (from Indiana who eats ham sandwiches with his chili) & father (from Wisconsin who likes peanut butter crackers with his chili) think are gross. Lol Diversity is a beautiful thing ☺️
Brandie, I am here to confirm, as an Iowan, we did grow up with this bread and your recipe is spot on. It was always served with chili. We never had cinnamon rolls – not sure I could get on board with that either but I’m sure plenty of kids enjoyed it. I couldn’t tell you how it got its name either but I like the idea that a cafeteria lady somewhere thought the kids would like the name and make it fun. Thank you for sharing it so the legacy lives on!
My husband grew up in a different part of Iowa and they didn’t eat it with their chili. Maybe their cafeteria lady didn’t love them, I don’t know, but he missed out! LOL So yes, you may hear from a few Iowans who say they never heard of it. It may be regional but it is something I definitely identify is being from Iowa.
Ha – thanks so much Linda! It’s fascinating to me to hear all the regional differences. We can all be from the same general region but still have very different experiences. We associate food with so many good memories and that is always a wonderful thing!
Buttermilk is cultured. Instead of the complexity that develops through culturing, you end up getting nothing but a sharp, one-note acidity when adding an acid to regular milk. That harshness is compounded by the fact that it ends up much more acidic than actual buttermilk. Hope that helps. As I stated above, you use what you want, it’s your bread, but I will almost always use real buttermilk and I will always say that you will get a better result and a much more moist and tender baked good with good browning. 🙂
Thanks for the response! I agree, the flavor is better with a cultured buttermilk than with buttermilk substitute. I don’t have enough experience baking with buttermilk or substitute to speak on the other characteristics of finished baked goods, so I defer to you in that regard. But it does seem clear that, contrary to your notes, the fat content is not a factor in the difference between the two liquids.
And just to clarify, my original comment was not about the merits of buttermilk versus buttermilk substitute, but which substitute is most similar to buttermilk, given that real buttermilk is very low in fat. Thanks again!
I love all your recipes, keep them coming…
Thanks so very much Suzanne!!
I originally got a similar recipe from my mother-in-law years ago. It’s a win-win for my family. Some of them prefer it with chili instead of corn bread, the rest like it as a cake for dessert.
This has been a fun journey for me to learn about the history of it and to speak with so many folks about it who taught me so much and shared so many wonderful memories!
l Love all of your recipe s wished you had a cook book for all these good recipes Elsie Anderson thank you for the ones we get now
You are so very sweet Elsie! I do have a small cookbook. There’s only 25 recipes in it but if you’re interested, you can purchase on Amazon 🙂 https://a.co/d/hMRm5rx