Clipped Recipe: Pumpkin Corn Bread

Comfort food was a must this week. What with being sick and the weather getting more cool and brisk, I needed some good warm food. I’ve been wanting to try a recipe that I clipped from the Better Homes and Gardens magazine November 2009 issue for Pumpkin Corn Bread. I love corn bread and all things pumpkin, so I knew this would be a great recipe, especially for fall. Chicken noodle soup was exactly what I needed to help get over my cold. My mom always made corn bread to go with soup when I was growing up. It’s such a warm and comforting combination, either when you’re sick or if it’s really cold outside. We always eat our corn bread warm with maple syrup.

The unique thing about this recipe for Pumpkin Corn Bread is that it is gluten-free without even trying. It calls for masa harina or corn flour. I didn’t want to buy a whole bag of corn flour just for 2 tablespoons, so I just used regular all-purpose flour. But if you need to eat gluten-free, corn flour is the way to go. I changed a couple of other things about the recipe too. I reduced the salt from 1 tsp. to 1/2 tsp (an excellent decision) and doubled the pumpkin pie spice.

I choose a very easy, but still homemade, chicken noodle soup called Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup from allrecipes.com. It is very similar to a recipe I made up years ago. This time I tried a new product we sell at the store, Mrs. Miller’s Organic Egg Noodles. These noodles took the soup up a notch and made it taste really homemade. Someday I would like to try making a truly homemade chicken noodle soup, the kind where you make your own broth by boiling chicken and veggies together. Maybe some weekend when I have a lot of time I will do that, but for now packaged organic chicken broth is good for us.

I searched online for the Pumpkin Cornbread recipe, but couldn’t find it, so I will share it with you here, with all credit being given to BH&G.

Pumpkin Corn Bread
(This is not a low-FODMAP recipe)
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, November 2009

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cups cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour (or masa harina or corn flour for gluten-free)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 cup buttermilk
1 8-oz. carton sour cream
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1. Heat oven to 350º F. Melt butter in 12-inch cast iron skillet over low heat.
2. In a large bowl combine cornmeal, sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Measure out 2 Tbsp. of the melted butter from the skillet and add to another bowl; add the buttermilk, sour cream, egg and pumpkin. Whisk this mixture into the cornmeal mixture.
3. Brush the skillet with the remaining butter in the skillet and pour in batter.
4. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted off-center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack; serve warm with butter, maple syrup or your choice of topping.