Chili and Cornbread
So earlier this week I posted a delicious End of The Summer Veggie Stew/Chili recipe! If you haven’t had a chance to see this recipe you can view it here.
This chili is so delicious and if you are anything like me, I just love some cornbread with my chili! Check out the photo below, the chili and cornbread make for a perfect fall meal!
A Healthier Organic Cornbread Recipe
This recipe became quite the challenge because I didn’t want to use corn meal in the recipe. I was looking to create a healthier organic corn bread recipe to the traditional corn bread but I still wanted it to taste great!
I achieved a healthier cornbread by switching out corn meal with a flour called Masa Harina. Masa Harina is often used to make fresh tortillas (yep you guessed it, working on that recipe too! 🙂 )
What Is Masa Harina?
Masa Harina is made from freshly prepared hominy. To make hominy, field corn is dried and cooked and soaked in limewater and wood ash.
Lime and ash then break down the hemicellulose which is the glue-like component in corn. This loosens the hulls from the kernel and softens the corn.
In addition, the lime reacts with a corn so that the nutrient niacin can be broken down and easily digested in the digestive track. Simply put, Masa Harina has been prepared in a “traditional” way allowing it to be a much more digestible option.
Do You Have Troubles Digesting Grains?
Do you have troubles digesting grains? Try preparing the grains in a “traditional” way and see if it makes a difference for you. By “traditional”, I mean sprouting, soaking or fermenting. (click here for further reading)
I can tell you from my experience that I have a terrible time with grains spiking my blood sugar. I often become very irritable and edgy after consuming grains (a sign that my blood sugar is out of balance).
I did not want to go on a grain free diet so I set out to find out how I could eat grains. When you soak, sprout or ferment grains you are breaking down anti-nutrients and allowing the grain to become more digestible. Grains prepared properly oftentimes digest like a vegetable.
Traditionally Prepared Grain Recipes
Here are a few recipes that I have posted that included “traditional” methods of preparations.
- Sourdough Bread
- Traditionally Prepared Soaked Oatmeal
- Soaked Nuts & The Benefits (although not a grain, this is the “traditional” method of preparing nuts)
- Soaked Pecan Cinnamon Roll Quinoa
- Is Soaking Grains Necessary & How To Properly Soak Grains
I have a lot more in my recipe collection, these are just a few of my favorites. Feel free to browse around in our Recipe Gallery for more great recipes!
A Healthier Organic Corn Bread Recipe
Prep Time: 5 minutes- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 9 pieces 1x
- Category: side dish
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
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Pin RecipeDescription
This healthier organic corn bread recipe is perfect to pair with soups and chili recipes.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup masa harina flour – You Can Buy It Here
- 1/2 cup spelt flour, or other flour of choice, (with the exception of coconut flour, it won’t work in this recipe) I used sprouted spelt flour – You Can Buy It Here
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp unrefined sea salt – You Can Buy It Here
- 1/4 cup raw honey – You Can Buy It Here
- 1 tbsp sucanat – You Can Buy It Here
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk or coconut milk
- 1/4 cup grass fed butter or ghee, softened-You Can Buy It Here
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Mix together dry ingredients.
- Cut 2 tbsp of the grass fed butter into the flour mixture.
- In a separate bowl, combine honey (slightly melted), eggs, sucanat and milk and stir well.
- Combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix just until moist. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Place 2 tbsp of butter into a 8×8 square pan and place in oven until melted.
- Pour batter into pan and bake for 20 minutes or until edges are slightly brown.
- Remove cornbread from pan to cool so that the crust is still crisp.
Notes
This recipe was inspired & adapted from a recipe featured on www.chow.com
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece
Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masa
Thanks for the recipe! I have known about Masa Harina for years. I have issues with gmo wheat. It makes all my joints hurt. So, I looked for alternatives and remembered masa harina! This may not be the correct place for this suggestion, but I will tell you this. I wanted to make a peach cobbler and decided to try the masa instead of the traditional biscuit dough recipe used. It tasted wonderful! The sweetness of the masa complimented the peaches to perfection!
Will this recipe work in a cast iron skillet?
Sure would!
why doesn’t coconut flour work in this recipe?
I don’t like sweet cornbread. Will omitting the honey and sucanat create any problems?
I am not sure, I haven’t tried it without.
Last time I made this, I forgot to put in the honey, lol… It turned out delicious!
Great recipe, I have made this a couple of times! Thanks
★★★★★
So happy you like it Julene! 🙂
Hi – Can this be made without the sugar and honey? I want my 8 month old to be able to eat it. Will it mess up the consistency? Thanks, Nicole
I haven’t tried it without the honey, but you certainly can try. If it seems dry, add a little more liquid to give it the right consistency.
We use a gluten free flour mix we mill ourselves with this recipe, delicious. We had it with chili and it worked great!
★★★★
check out Azure Standard for organic Mesa harina (and other products) very inexpensive to buy and eat organic! Thanks for the recipe! i’m making it without sweetener!
Tortilla recipe….
Mass Harina
Water
Fry in pan
Sounds great!
For your healthier cornbread recipe can I use tapioca flour? Thank you.
I made this recipe in the form of muffins, and they’re fantastic. I used 1/4 cup maple syrup instead of honey + sucanat and am pleased with the results. Thank you!
I want to purchase your corn and use the recipe to make the bread but without the eggs and dairy.
The Medical Medium books all say to stay away from eggs, dairy and gluten.
Just curious if you have tried to make this corn bread without these two ingredients.
In other words is it used as a binder ?
I’ve got it in the oven now! Thanks for introducing Masa Harina flour to me. My husband was familiar (he’s an ND and quite familiar with natural mote Whole Foods and herbs etc). Is the batter supposed to be really thick prior to going into oven? 10 more minutes!
Thanks heaps again!