Quickie cornbread

My mother has a great recipe for southern-style cornbread that’s baked in a cast iron pan. It’s absolutely delicious–but (there’s always a but, isn’t there?) it’s complicated, time-consuming and calls for an alarming amount of oil. That is to say, while I’m happy to eat hers, I myself never make it.

The other day, I made a pot of chili (stay tuned for the recipe) and wanted cornbread to go with it, but didn’t want to make my mom’s, or a boxed mix, either. Instead, I modified a recipe I found online–swapping out white flour for whole wheat and slashing the sugar and the oil–and came up with might be one of the easiest recipes I’ve ever made. (And, of course, it’s healthy and tasty too).

Quickie cornbread
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons canola oil (you can use olive in a pinch)
3/4 cup diced low-fat sharp cheddar (I like Cabot’s 75% reduced fat sharp reduced fat cheddar)
*Note: if you want to add an extra kick, throw in 1/4 cup diced jalapeños and/or 1/2 cup sautéed onions

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine and stir all of the dry ingredients except the cheese in one bowl; then combine and stir all of the wet ingredients in another. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir well. Then add the cheese chunks and pour the batter into lined muffin tins, an 8-inch pan or two small 3×5 tins that have been well-sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 20-25 minutes and you’re set.

-Camille