Southern influence

Yesterday I got up and in a frenzy busted out some sweet potato and black bean chilli. I had a cup of beans leftover after soaking them to make a version of a recent Vegetarian Times recipe for Edamame and Black Bean Sliders ... me I had tortilla to use up (nothing comes in small packages here!), that is another delicious post in the making, but I was flummoxed about what to serve it with after a rice heavy week last week and I ended up giving these cornbread muffins a crack. Awesome, if a little on the sweet side, next time I will trust my instincts and reduce the maple syrup content more than I did this time!

Cornbread (Adapted from The Kind Diet cookbook)

1/2 cup maple syrup (I used half a cup and skipped the brown rice syrup)

1/2 cup brown rice syrup

1 + 1/4 cup almond milk

1/4 cup safflower oil

1 + 1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1. Preheat oven 400F. You can use 9″ x 9″ baking dish, but I used 12 cup muffin tins instead.
2. Combine maple syrup, rice syrup, almond milk and oil in a bowl and mix well.
3. In another bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt.
4. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, and mix just until well combined. Stir the batter just enough to combine the ingredients. Muffins can become heavy and tough if you over-mix the batter.
5. Pour the batter in the baking dish or muffin tins. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cornbread/muffins comes out clean.

And PS. I even cooked up some collard greens, waaahooo!