Corn Sticks/Corn Bread

With the dinner we had tonight corn bread seemed like the appropriate accompaniment. Not that anyone needs this, but I have a cast-iron pan shaped like little ears of corn that was begging to be used this evening. Removing the corn sticks from the pan is a little tough, but they are so cute …. I just had to use it.

This recipe is a modification of a recipe in Mark Bittman’s book How to Cook Everything. My version uses whole-wheat flour (of course), and doesn’t use egg or buttermilk but other than those changes the recipe is the same.

Corn Sticks/Corn Bread
Makes 10 sticks (approximately 1 1/2” by 6 “)

Dry Ingredients:

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of white cornmeal, finely ground
¼ cup of whole-wheat pastry flour
¾ teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
½ cup of corn kernels

Wet Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of golden flaxseeds, freshly ground
¾ - 1 cup of almond milk
1 tablespoon of canola oil

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. If using a cast iron pan you can coat it evenly with oil and heat it in the oven or on top of the stove. I used a corn stick pan and heated it in the oven.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to evenly distribute the ingredients. Add the corn kernels and toss them in the flour so that they are coated with flour. This flour coating will keep the corn from falling to the bottom of the batter. Set this bowl aside.

In a separate bowl combine the ground flaxseed, almond milk (start with ¾ cup) and canola oil and whisk to combine.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to form a uniformly moist batter. The batter should be the consistency of pancake batter (thick, but spoonable). If you can’t easily spoon the batter add a little more almond milk until the batter is the correct consistency.

Remove the cast iron pan from the oven and spoon the batter into the pan. Return the pan to the oven.

If using a corn stick pan begin checking the sticks for doneness after 15 minutes. They are done if you insert a toothpick into the middle of the pan and it comes out clean. If using a cast iron skillet begin checking it for doneness after 25 minutes.

Nutritional Information (per stick):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 71.61
Calories From Fat (35%) - 24.83

Total Fat - 2.83g
Saturated Fat - 0.24g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 165.53mg
Potassium - 67.46mg
Total Carbohydrates - 10.62g
Fiber - 1.8g
Sugar - 0.31g
Protein - 1.71g

Comments:

This recipe results in a moist, tender and flavorful cornbread. We didn’t use butter or oil on these at dinner tonight, and they didn’t need it. If you want to take this recipe over the top you can make a little orange/agave/Earth Balance.

My husband told me this was his favorite part of dinner this evening. I guess that says it all.

If you want a little more flavor these would be fabulous with a little hot crushed peppers, pickled jalapeno or even some finely diced roasted red peppers. Chili powder, cumin or minced cilantro would also be good in this recipe.