This little cake is perfect for a last-minute breakfast dish. It is tender, lightly sweetened and gluten-free. The delicate combination of the Masa Harina and coconut flavors is gentle and comforting. Best served warm.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Grease an 8 x 8 inch glass baking dish with coconut oil.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the coconut flour, Masa Harina, salt and baking powder and whisk together.
In another bowl, thoroughly beat together the honey, vanilla, eggs and melted coconut oil.
Add the dry ingredients all at once to the egg mixture and beat until well combined.
Pour batter into greased baking dish.
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes. When you can lightly touch the center of the top, and it springs back and is nicely browned, the cake is done.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Serve.
This cornbread is a variation of one that has been in the family for many years. It is filed in my recipes under “Grandma’s Cornbread”. I tweaked it not too long ago to make it healthier by soaking the grains for 12 hours. This is not a super-sweet, cake-like cornbread, so if you want a thicker, sweet cornbread, I would add more sweetener and use a smaller pan to bake it in.
Combine first four ingredients and soak 12-24 hours.
Preheat oven to 425° F. Put about a tablespoon of olive oil or butter in a 9×13 glass pan. Place pan in hot oven while preparing the cornbread.
Combine the egg, oil/butter and sucanat into the cornmeal mixture and stir until well mixed. Mix in salt and baking powder until just mixed.
Pour batter into hot pan and smooth the top. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.
*Editor’s Note: The best way to prepare corn for easiest digestion involves soaking it in lime water like Native Americans and other indigenous cultures have. To do this soak your corn meal in lime water for 12-36 hours, rinse and drain. Then proceed with the recipe as stated above (may require less liquid since the corn has absorbed some). Alternately, you can use masa, which is ground corn that has already been treated with lime, in place of the corn meal.
I make the basic cornbread to use as a base for my Thanksgiving stuffing (or “dressing” as we typically call it). I generally make the honey cornbread into muffins to have with soups and stews during those cold winter days, and serve with warm, honeyed butter. The Southwestern style cornbread is great with traditional Texas beef chili or white bean and chicken chili.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a large glass bowl, beat eggs and butter together, add milk and stir to combine. In a separate glass bowl, mix dry ingredients together and then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
Pour into a buttered 8×8 glass baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until top is golden brown and a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cornbread.
Popular Variations
Honey Cornbread
Mix in 2 TBL honey to wet ingredients before mixing in the dry. Serve with warm honey butter.
Southwestern Style Cornbread
Mix in 1 cup shredded organic grass-fed cheese and small jar of chopped green chiles before pouring into glass baking dish.
*for diary free substitute coconut milk and ghee.
Here is a tasty and wholesome version of cornbread. Soaking the cornmeal in lime water helps the phytic acid in the corn break down. Though it sounds complicated, it really isn’t and only takes a minute.
First, you will need to make some “lime water.” It is very easy. Just put about 1 inch of “pickling lime” into the bottom of a 2-quart jar. Fill with water, cover tightly and shake well. Then, let it sit on the counter all night and the lime will settle.
In the morning, carefully pour off the slightly cloudy liquid, leaving the lime in the jar. Save the liquid in a cool place, but there is no need to refrigerate it.
Stir 3/4 cup lime water into the cornmeal, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it soak overnight.
Line a colander or wire strainer with a cotton cloth and set it in bowl and then pour the soaked meal into it and let the liquid drain out. Next, add fresh water, stir it up again and let it drain again.
Finally, gather up the cloth and carefully press as much liquid as you can from the soaked cornmeal and empty the damp meal into a mixing bowl.
Then it is time to make the cornbread. This all can sound rather complicated, but it takes much more time to talk about it than to actually do it, and like so many things, after a bit of practice it becomes second-nature.
In a mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, milk and whey. Stir well. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for at least 7 hours, or up to 12.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.
Add the baking powder, egg and Sucanat to the soaked mixture and stir together thoroughly. Add the melted butter and incorporate.
Pour into prepared baking dish. Place in the 425 degree F oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes.
A cornbread recipe using masa instead of cornmeal. Masa has been soaked in lime to release the nutrients.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place 2 Tbs of the fat in a cast iron skillet or 8×8 pan and set it in the oven to melt.
In a bowl, combine the masa, baking powder and salt. With your fingers, pinch in the remaining 2 Tbs of the softened fat until the mixture has little pea-sized lumps and is evenly distributed. Set aside.
In a second bowl, beat together the sucanat, eggs, milk and starter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour the batter into the heated pan with the melted fat and smooth the top. Bake 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. Turn out onto a plate or cooling rack to cool if you’d like the crust to stay crisp.