It’s not unheard of to end up with dry cornbread, even if you make it from scratch, so Martha White’s mix is not the rarest of anomalies. In this case, the most likely cause of the dreaded crumble is the use of excess cornmeal in its ingredients. Unlike wheat flour, cornmeal lacks gluten – and hence elasticity. So, when added in excess amounts, it can lead to a dry texture and bread that disintegrates easily. The best remedy for this is simple: Add more wheat flour.
Wheat flour gives cornbread mix elasticity that will make the final product lighter and more chewy instead of crumbly. If you compare the ingredient list of Martha White’s cornbread mix to our top-ranking one — Bob’s Red Mill Golden Cornbread Mix — you’ll notice that Bob’s Red Mill lists flour as its first ingredient, followed by sugar, then cornmeal. Contrastingly, Martha White lists a blend of cornmeal and flour first.
Because ingredients are listed according to quantities (most to least), this may indicate a high proportion of cornmeal in Martha White’s mix, explaining its more crumbly texture. Additionally, Martha White’s cornbread mix calls for just water to mix with, whereas Bob’s Red Mill and most other store-bought mixes call for eggs, melted butter, or a combination with water. Perhaps Martha White’s cornbread mix can be rescued by our foolproof addition for cornbread that’s actually moist, which is loaded with fats to make it tender.