Whole Wheat Cornbread Muffins

I have fond memories of my mom making cornbread in a cast iron skillet when I was a kid. My siblings and I would enjoy a warm piece drizzled with honey. It was a special treat.
I don't get to eat cornbread very often now, simply because no one in my family really likes it and I don't want to eat an entire pan of it. And, it can be a very unhealthy food.

Because of all this, I was very excited when I spotted a recipe for Whole Wheat Cornbread in a recent issue of Food Network Magazine. It used whole wheat flour, a small amount of honey as a sweetener, and buttermilk. I made it a little bit healthier by swapping canola oil for the melted butter and I used nonfat buttermilk.

I decided to make these into muffins since those are easy to freeze and enjoy as a single serving. Much to my surprise my 5 year old really liked these. One by one, maybe I can get my family to like cornbread. This recipe is a great way to start that trend.

Here is the recipe for Whole Wheat Cornbread
* I used whole wheat pastry flour
* I subbed canola oil for the melted butter
* I used nonfat buttermilk
* I reduced the baking time by a few minutes

Black Bean Pumpkin Chili with Pumpkin Cornbread

Chili and cornbread. They go together this time of year. Some people don't care for either of them, like my hubby, so I rarely make either.
I saw a post on Real Mom Kitchen about this cornbread, which contains pumpkin puree and whole wheat flour and I was very intrigued. She got the recipe from The Recipe Girl, so I went over to Lori's site and found out that she served the pumpkin cornbread with a pumpkin chili. Sounded like a great combination.
At first I was going to half the recipe for the cornbread, but then my hubby told me some friends were going to be stopping by for dinner and I figured this was the perfect time to serve both of these foods.
I changed the pumpkin chili recipe up a bit. I do not like beef or ground beef, so I thought that I would make a bean chili, but then decided to add some lean ground turkey since there were going to be so many people eating with us.
I also added a zucchini, since I had one I needed to use, and black beans. I changed the spices, so that it would be mild enough for my kids to eat and switched the toppings.
The pumpkin puree in the chili is very subtle- it adds texture, but not so much flavor.

The pumpkin cornbread was fabulous. I love cornbread-I grew up eating it all the time, so I really liked this version. It had a hint of sweetness, great spices and a nice pumpkin flavor. The best part is that my kids all liked it! I couldn't believe it. None of them like regular cornbread, I think because of the texture, but this cornbread was a winner. I was so happy about it.
The pumpkin cornbread also tastes good the 2nd and 3rd day after it is made, which is usually a problem with cornbread because it dries out. The pumpkin keeps this one tasting good for leftovers.

The friends who were supposed to join us for dinner didn't make it, so I actually saved the chili and cornbread and invited some other friends over the next night. Great thing about chili is it tastes better after sitting in the fridge and being reheated. The flavors were great.
If you like a spicier chili, up the chili powder or add a jalapeno.
And try this cornbread, it is really good!
Black Bean Pumpkin Chili adapted from The Recipe Girl

1 Tbls canola oil
1 lb ground turkey (93% lean)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red, yellow, or green bell pepper (I used all three)
1 small zucchini, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14 1/2 oz cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp chili powder
1 heaping tsp cumin
dash of oregano
pepper and salt to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup chicken broth
toppings- greek yogurt, shredded cheese, cilantro

In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey, onion, green pepper, and zucchini. Cook for a few minutes, until veggies are tender and meat is browned.
Add garlic and cook for additional minute.
Add tomatoes, black beans, pumpkin puree and spices. Add enough chicken broth to loosen it up a little bit, but not too much.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Garnish with greek yogurt, shredded cheese, and cilantro.


Recipe for Pumpkin Cornbread

Blackberry Cornbread Muffins

Blackberries are yummy. They are in season and we eat a lot of them. I saw this recipe for Blackberry Cornbread a couple of months ago in Southern Living Magazine. I figured I should make it since I live in the south. The only problem is, no one in my family really likes cornbread.

Except me.

I grew up eating cornbread every once in awhile and we always had it with honey. My mom made it in a cast iron skillet.

My hubby did trick me once when we were newlyweds. We were eating dinner at someone's house and they had made some kind of cornbread that looked like little corncobs (some sort of cornbread pan), and he ate it.

I decided that was enough of a reason to make it at home. When I did, he wouldn't eat it. I told him I saw him eating it at someone else's house and he told me he was being polite. Those darn Southerners and their manners.
I went back and forth about making this, but the curious side of me won out. I decided to make the recipe into muffins, luckily the people at the magazine had already thought of this and had also made directions for muffins. I decided to reduce the recipe and make 1/4 of it. I would only end up with 6 muffins, which really isn't that many.

I was going to substitute greek yogurt for the sour cream and when I was mixing these up, I realized that I grabbed vanilla bean flavored greek yogurt instead of plain. Since I like my cornbread on the sweet side and these had blackberries in them, I decided to go ahead and use the yogurt I had anyway.
I also used some egg white substitute instead of trying to divide an egg into 4 parts.

The results? I really liked them! I thought they were a nice twist on cornbread. There was just enough sweetness that they didn't need any honey and the blackberries added a yummy little tart hint of goodness.
My 2 year old liked them too. My 4 year old discovered she doesn't like the texture of cornmeal and my 7 year old and my hubby wouldn't even touch them.
Since I only made 6 muffins, none of that even mattered. My baby and I enjoyed them for breakfast the next day.


Blackberry Cornbread Muffins adapted from Southern Living Magazine, June 2009

Prep: 15 min., Bake: 15 min., Cool: 5 min.
We also tested this recipe using 1/2 cup melted butter in place of the canola oil and loved the rich, pound cake-like flavor it gave to these sweet cornbread muffins. They're delicious with peach preserves.


2 cups self-rising white cornmeal ( I used 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup sugar (I used 2 Tbls)
5 large eggs (I used 1 egg and 1 Tbls egg white substitute)
1 (16-oz.) container sour cream (I used 4 oz. vanilla bean flavored Greek yogurt)
1/2 cup canola oil (I used 2 Tbls canola oil)
2 cups fresh blackberries (I used 2/3 cup blackberries, plus a few on top for decoration)

1. Preheat oven to 450°. Stir together cornmeal and sugar in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Whisk together eggs, sour cream, and oil; add to cornmeal mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in blackberries. Coat 2 muffin pans with vegetable cooking spray; spoon batter into muffin pans, filling three-fourths full.

2. Bake at 450° for (I baked mine for 14 minutes) 15 to 17 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack.

Yield: Makes 2 dozen muffins (I made 6 muffins)

TWD-Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe-Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins was chosen by Rebecca over at Ezra Pound Cake. It was a relief to have a savory, quick pick this week. A small break from the rich and decadent desserts!
You can find the recipe over at Rebecca's blog.
I decided to take this a step further and make these healthy corn muffins, well, at least a little bit healthier. I halved the recipe to start off with and made mini-muffins. I had to test out my new silicone mini-heart muffin mold a few weeks before Valentine's day, just to see if the muffins even ending up looking like hearts. Only half of them were baked in that silicone mold and the other half I baked in my plain old, mini-muffin silicone mold.
I also replaced half of the melted butter with plain yogurt and increased the amount of corn and chopped red bell pepper. I omitted the jalepeno and used a whole egg, instead of just the yolk. I also used reduced-fat buttermilk and reduced the sugar by half. I really didn't want a sweet cornbread taste with all the other savory components that were going on in these little guys.
Overall, we liked them. Perfect size to pop in your mouth. We enjoyed them for an afternoon snack. To see what the other TWDer's did with this recipe, go check out the Tuesday's with Dorie blogroll. And don't forget to come back next week because yours truly- yes, me- I chose next week's recipe!

Coming Tomorrow- Beet Risotto with Roasted Asparagus

Smoky Black-eyed Pea and Rice Cakes with Spinach Garnish on Cornbread

A few weeks ago, I saw this recipe in the Local Paper. It was taken from the Associated Press and the photo that went along with it was so, can I say cute? Anyway, I knew I wanted to make it and try to recreate the photo. Not so great on recreating the photo, but the taste was wonderful. The recipe was only for the Black-eyed Pea and Rice cakes, but it showed it with cornbread and collard greens. I used spinach, because I had some in the fridge and sauteed it the way I usually do. I tried a new cornbread recipe, which was pretty good, but next time I would probably add a pinch of salt and a tsp of sugar. With my husband being from the South and having lived there for almost all of our married life, I really thought this was an interesting take on Black-eyed Peas, Cornbread and Collards. It was easy and really yummy. The cakes taste best warm, so make sure to have the cornbread and spinach ready to go when they cakes are done. Happy Eating!

SMOKY BLACK-EYED PEAS AND RICE CAKES with Spinach Garnish on Cornbread

1 teaspoon plus 3 tablespoons canola oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
15-ounce can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
4 ounces Canadian bacon, chopped (1 cup)
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked white or brown rice
2 large eggs
1/4 cup roasted garlic-flavored tomato paste
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

In a small skillet over medium, heat 1 teaspoon of the oil. Add the onion and saute until lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the black-eyed peas, Canadian bacon, parsley, hot sauce, salt, pepper and rice. Transfer half of this mixture to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not pureed, no more than 10 seconds.Return the chopped mixture to the bowl and mix thoroughly.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and tomato paste, then add to the rice and bean mixture. Mix well. Put the breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Form the rice and bean mixture into 12 cakes and press both sides of each into the breadcrumbs to coat. In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the remaining oil. Add six of the cakes and cook until crisp and browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Set aside and cover with foil to keep warm. Wipe out the skillet, heat the remaining oil and cook the remaining cakes

Mama's Corn Bread- Curtis Aikens

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup flour

1 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

6 Tbls canola oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients except oil and mix well. On the stove top, heat the oil in a large skillet until hot but not boiling. Pour the hot oil into the bowl with the other ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into the skillet and bake for 35 to 50 minutes. Start checking for doneness after 35 minutes; it should be golden brown when done. To serve with cake on top, cut into 1/2-inch tall square slightly larger than size of cake.

Sauteed Spinach by Mary Ann

12 oz baby spinach

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

dash of fresh lemon juice

cooking spray or canola oil

heat oil in an electric skillet or spray with cooking spray. Add spinach and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and lemon juice. Saute until spinach is wilted and turn off or remove from heat. To serve on top of Black-eyed Pea Cake, spoon spinach into a Tablespoon measuring spoon and carefully arrange on top of cake.

BB-Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

Once again it is time for Barefoot Bloggers. This recipe was chosen by Sabrina and Alexander of Cooking with The Kids. I used skim milk and also, omitted 1 stick of butter because Anne said she had made it before that way and it didn't affect the taste or texture. Hey, if I can cut the butter in a recipe and still have it taste great, I will do it. I am glad I did. The texture was great. It was light and airy. It kinda reminded me a muffin or cake, not really cornbread. I guess the cornbread I am used to is really grainy. I still had the desire to eat it with honey (that is how we do it at our house), but refrained. It was a great choice and we ate it along side some great veggie soup (see below). Go check out the BB blogroll and see what everyone else thought about this choice!
Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread 2006, Barefoot Contessa at Home, All Rights Reserved

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 cups milk

3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan

8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided

1/3 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish, 3 scallions

3 tablespoons seeded and minced fresh jalapeno peppers

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don't overmix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, the scallions and jalapenos, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking pan.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar and extra chopped scallions. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature