Cornbread Muffins (Lightened Up But the Best Ever)

I'm a huge fan of anything that is able to be lightened up that can actually outdo its less healthy, original opponent. This muffin is just that! It is my favorite cornbread, EVER! I adapted it from my Lightened Up Cornbread Recipe. I made these because I needed a shorter cooking time than that of the 8x8 pan version since dinner was close to being done, so I thought muffins would be perfect. Any version of this, muffin or cornbread will disappear in a flash. 
I say these are lightened up because your average cornbread uses a whole stick of butter, with this recipe I use some applesauce as a source of moisture therefore requiring less butter. These are my idea of the most moist and tasty cornbread muffins ever! Then when they are topped off with freshly whipped honey butter, awww my mouth is watering. If you are lucky enough to have any leftover after dinner they make an excellent breakfast the next morning. That's one thing I love about these muffins, they are a perfect side dish to dinner, a great breakfast and even an amazing dessert. They have just the right amount of sweetness. They are making me crave a good Southern Ham meal with some of my Mom's perfect mashed potatoes with ham gravy, mmmm. Good luck stopping at just one muffin, I never can =).

Cornbread Muffins
Yields 18-19 muffins


Ingredients:
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 Tbsp honey
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 recipe Whipped Honey Butter, recipe follows


Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cornmeal and buttermilk until well blended, allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.  Add applesauce, melted butter, honey and sugar to cornmeal mixture and whisk until well combine.  Mix in eggs.  Stir in dry ingredients and whisk just until combine and no longer lumpy. Divide mixture evenly among 18-19 paper lined muffin cups filling each one 2/3 full. Bake in preheat oven for 13-16 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool completely if "frosting" with whipped honey butter, or serve warm slathered with whipped honey butter (melty and drippy delicious mmm).


Whipped Honey Butter

Ingredients:
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, with an electric hand mixer, whip together all ingredients until light and fluffy about 2 minutes.



Recipe Source: Cooking Classy (from my Lightened Up Cornbread)

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Cornbread Sugar Cookies with Honey Butter Frosting

Cornbread meets sugar cookies!  Some of you may be thinking hmm, that sounds strange.  Let me just tell you these are one of the best sugar cookies you will ever eat, yes I'm going to brag a little =).  They are such an exciting twist on the classic bakery style sugar cookies.  These still hold true to all the wonderful characteristics you find in a perfect sugar cookie. They are fluffy, tender, sweet, and undeniably delicious.  These are one of my families favorite desserts.  I have to give some away or I will just devour them all on my own.  
You could also make Cornbread Sugar Cookie Squares with Honey Butter Frosting which are nearly the same but in bar form.  I adapted both that recipe and this one from my Sugar Cookie Squares and Sugar Cookies recipes, I decided to experiment one day and came up with these.  They are everything you love about honey buttered cornbread and soft, frosted sugar cookies combine into one.  If you ask me I think they are good enough and exciting enough to be the next new cookie craze!

Cornbread Sugar Cookies 
Yields about 2 dozen


Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups corn flour (this is NOT cornmeal, cornstarch or masa harina)*
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon juice
1 recipe Honey Butter Frosting, recipe follows


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a mixing bowl whisk together, all-purpose flour, corn flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer whip together butter and sugar until light and fluffy about 3-4 minutes.  Stir in egg and egg yolk.  Mix in sour cream, vanilla and lemon juice.  Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated.  Form dough into balls by the heaping tablespoon fulls then place on cookies sheets and flatten dough balls evenly to about 1/2" with your hands.  Bake in preheated oven for 9-11 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before frosting with Honey Butter Frosting.


*You can usually find this in the health foods section or gluten free section of the grocer or supermarket.  If you can't find it there you can also purchase it online here. 


Honey Butter Frosting


Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup honey
2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt


Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, whip together all ingredients until light and fluffy about 1 - 2 minutes.


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

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Cornbread Sugar Cookie Squares with Honey Butter Frosting

It's official, I'm in love with cornbread lately!  I posted my recipe for Cornbread Pancakes with Honey Butter Syrup a few weeks ago (I've made them again twice since =) and it got me thinking what else I could give all the delicious flavors of the classic cornbread to, honey butter and all.  Sugar cookies are a favorite cookie of many people (including myself), so I set out on a venture to turn my Simple Sugar Cookie Squares into a cornbread version.  I'm ecstatic that my experiment turned out so wonderfully =).  Sometimes I get one of these random food ideas and they are a total failure, but the ones like these that are successful are the ones that keep me experimenting.  These are truly one of my new favorite cookies.  I love that they are so unique.  I've never tasted a cookie like it.  Yes, they have nearly the exact same texture as frosted sugar cookies but they have a flavor all their own, a sweet cornbread covered in creamy honey butter flavor.  I couldn't think of what to call them, so I just decided to name them after their inspiration, cornbread and sugar cookies.  
I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!  Oh and bonus they are even healthier than your average sugar cookie because the corn flour adds in whole grain, wahoo, unintentionally healthier =).  These are so easy to make, so get going and make a batch!


Cornbread Sugar Cookie Squares 
Yields 24 squares


Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole grain corn flour (this is NOT cornstarch)*
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 tsp lemon juice
1 recipe Honey Butter Frosting, recipe follows


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a 13 x 9 baking dish, set aside.  In a mixing bowl whisk together all-purpose flour, corn flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip together butter and sugar until light and fluffy about 3 - 4 minutes.  Stir in egg, egg yolk, sour cream and lemon juice.  Slowly mix in dry ingredients and stir until well blended.  Gently press mixture evenly into buttered dish and bake 16 - 18 minutes until edges are lightly golden.  Allow to cool completely then frost with Honey Butter Frosting.  Store cookies in a single layer in an airtight container.


*Cornflour can be found in the health foods or gluten free section of the supermarket, if you can't find it there it is also sold online (here).  I used Bob's Red Mill brand.  This is entirely different from cornstarch so do NOT use cornstarch, I know some people refer to cornstarch as cornflour so I just wanted to clarify here that's not what you use in this recipe.


Honey Butter Frosting


Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter, softened
3 1/2 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt


Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

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Cornbread Pancakes with Honey Butter Syrup

I'm so excited about these pancakes!  We eat breakfast a LOT in my home, mostly for dinner =) so I love when I can make a new delicious recipe to add to the rotation.  These pancakes are so easy to make, just be sure to plan a bit ahead of time since the cornmeal has to soak overnight.  I decided to do this because it softens up the cornmeal a bit so it's not so gritty, so you don't feel like your eating sand pancakes.  I've tried cornmeal pancake recipes in the past that don't soak the cornmeal and the pancakes were grainy.  So, I guess if you don't mind gritty pancakes you don't have to soak the cornmeal but I think it's much better soaked.  When I created this recipe I wanted to mimic all my favorite flavors of cornbread, honey butter and all.  I had some amazing cornbread last week so it got me thinking how I could make it in pancake form.  I love these pancakes with the honey butter syrup but they are also  amazing with blueberry, vanilla cream or maple syrup. 

I hope you try these pancakes so you can add them to your breakfast rotation too!  It's nice to change things up a bit and you will be delighted with these.  They are moist, flavorful, fluffy and oh so delicious!  Note, these pancakes are fairly thin because that's they way I love pancakes, but if you're a thick pancake lover I would just omit several tablespoons of the buttermilk.

If you like cornbread these may just be your new favorite pancakes.  I've already made these twice in 3 days.  I think they are fancy restaurant worthy =).  Enjoy!

Cornbread Pancakes

Yields about 18 pancakes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

3 Tbsp applesauce

Directions:

In a bowl, whisk together cornmeal and buttermilk, cover and refrigerate overnight.  

Preheat a non-stick skillet or griddle to medium heat (I heat an electric griddle to 350 degrees).  In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.  Remove cornmeal mixture from refrigerator and stir in sugar, eggs, vegetable oil and applesauce.  Gently whisk in dry mixture and stir just until combine, batter should be slightly lumpy.  Butter griddle (note: if you have a really good non-stick griddle, that's really non-stick, I would recommend NOT buttering it then the pancakes don't spread as much) and pour 1/4 cup mixture onto griddle at a time.  Flip pancake when bubbles start to appear on surface and bottom is golden.  Cook opposite side until golden.  Serve warm with honey butter syrup, blueberry syrup, vanilla cream syrup or maple syrup.

Honey Butter Syrup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp baking soda

 (easy recipe to memorize eh? =)

Directions:

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium low heat , stir powdered sugar and honey and whisk until combine.  Mix in buttermilk.  Bring mixture just to a boil stirring constantly, then remove from heat and stir in 1/2 tsp baking soda.  Stir mixture until frothy about 10 seconds.  Serve warm.  

Store syrup in refrigerator in an airtight container up to one week, reheat in the microwave until warm.

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Cornbread (lightened up) and Whipped Honey Butter

You're probably wondering could a lightened up cornbread really be better than your traditional cornbread?  The answer: yes, much better!  This cornbread is simply amazing!  Random craving, but my neighbor had brought over some incredible cornbread a few days ago so I was dying for more. 

I made this recipe to be moist, fluffy, lower fat/lower cal, with just the right amount of sweetness and a bit of extra flavor from the buttermilk.  This recipe is more than simple and its outstanding served with an also very simple, whipped honey butter.  I served this to my family as a side to go along with the turkey we had for Sunday dinner and I'm pretty sure the entire pan was gone withing a couple of seconds =). Everyone was fighting over the last piece.  Please try this recipe and it's likely you will be converted for life to this lightened up version.

Moist Cornbread (lightened up)
Yields 12 servings


Ingredients:
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup applesauce
2 Tbsp honey
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
Whipped honey butter for serving, recipe follows


Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cornmeal and buttermilk until well blended, allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.  Add melted butter, applesauce, honey and sugar to cornmeal mixture and whisk until well combine.  Stir in eggs.  Stir in dry ingredients and whisk just until combine and no longer lumpy.  Pour mixture into a greased 8x8 dish and bake 30-35 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool about 5 minutes before slicing.  Serve with whipped honey butter.

Whipped Honey Butter
Ingredients:
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup powdered sugar


Directions:
In a mixing bowl,using an electric mixer, whip together all ingredients until light and fluffy about 2 minutes.
Alternate method: add in a bit of cinnamon and hint nutmeg for a delicious spiced version.

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