Wow, this cornbread tastes so much like a childhood favorite of mine: that B&W bread in a can. I remember those days of slathering the dark rounds of sweet bread with cream cheese... mmm. I don't want to imagine what the ingredients are in that bread, though...
As it is, this recipe is vegan; however, I suspect you could use regular whole milk and it would be fine.
The recipe is adapted from a new (to me) cookbook, 'The Kind Diet.' I tend to shy away from celebrity cookbooks (this one is written by Alicia Silverstone), but I grabbed this one at the library to look through while waiting for my kids. I found many recipes I wanted to try. This was one of them. I've changed it up a bit because as it was, I don't think the dry to wet ingredient ratio was correct. I also use a different sweetener than the original, and for mine, I used freshly ground grains.
It turned out wonderfully! The sweeteners carmelize and brown the cornbread as it bakes, rendering it scrumptious!
This cornbread has so many possibilities. It's just calling out for an addition of dried blueberries. As reminiscent as it is to cake, I used it on my own healthy version of strawberry shortcake: cornbread, fresh strawberries, and cottage cheese.
And of course, I enjoyed it with the perfectly satisfying lunch I had yesterday (photographed above): sauteed collards with lots of garlic, a splash of ume vinegar, and a drizzle of tahini. The salty greens with the sweet cornbread was oh so good!
Whole-Grain Cornbread
**Printer-friendly**
1/2 C. grade B maple syrup
1/2 C. brown rice syrup
1 1/4 C. soy milk (or other type of milk)
1/4 C. vegetable oil
1 1/2 C. cornmeal
1 1/2 C. whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Method: Preheat oven to 400-degrees and oil a 9x9 baking dish. Combine the syrups, milk, and oil. Whisk until smooth. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and only stir until just combined. The mixture will be fairly wet, like a thin pancake batter.
Pour the mixture into the greased pan and bake for approximately 30-minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. They will turn a deep golden brown. Enjoy!
