Maple Cornbread Muffins - Nourished By Nutrition
Maple Cornbread Muffins

Cooler weather calls for chili and cornbread. But actually cornbread muffins because they take less time to bake and are perfectly portioned. You can easily make a batch while you have a soup or chili simmering on the stove. These maple cornbread muffins also make a delicious side for Thanksgiving. Plus, they can be made a day in advance so you don’t take up any precious oven space.

Maple Cornbread Muffins

These golden pillows are soft, moist and naturally sweetened. Most of the sweetness comes from the natural sugars found in sweet corn with only a little extra coming from pure maple syrup. The secret to making these maple cornbread muffins sweet without a heavy portion of maple syrup is pureeing sweet corn and adding it to the batter. The natural sugars from the sweet corn add sweetness and flavor that you don’t get from just using ground corn meal.

Hesitant about pureeing sweet corn? Don’t worry, pureeing sweet corn is really simple. All you need is fresh or frozen, defrosted sweet corn (I use frozen organic from Trader Joe’s). Measure out 2 cups of corn kernels and place them in the blender with 1 cup of filtered water. Blend on high until silky smooth. You only need 1 cup of puree for this recipe but I promise there isn’t much leftover. If you want to get creative with extra sweet corn puree, you can add it to chili, mix it into oatmeal, or heat it up on the stove top to thicken and serve it as you would polenta.

basket of maple cornbread muffins
plate of maple cornbread muffins with honey
hand grabbing maple cornbread muffin from plate

NOURISHED BY NUTRITION FACTS:

Sweet Corn – contrary to the belief that corn has no nutritional value and is just loaded with sugar, sweet corn actually provides a variety of nutrients and antioxidants. Sweet corn has a good amount of B vitamins in addition to small amounts of iron, protein and and vitamin A. Yellow sweet corn contains lutein and zeaxanthin, two phytochemicals that contribute to good eyesight. Corn is also a good source of the antioxidant, ferulic acid, which research suggests plays a role in decreasing inflammation, aging and preventing cancer.

Carbs – These muffins are a good source of complex carbohydrates thanks to the corn meal, oat flour and sweet corn. Sweet corn is made up of complex carbohydrates and natural sugar. While an ear of sweet corn does have 6g of sugar, this is natural occurring and along side nutrients and fiber. The complex carbohydrates and fiber in these muffins help keep blood sugar more stable.

Fiber – The corn meal, oat flour, ground flax and sweet corn give these muffins a fiber boost. Most of the fiber found in oat flour and sweet corn is insoluble fiber. This type of fiber feeds the good bacteria in your gut, helping with digestion and keeping you regular.

hand holding maple cornbread muffin

IF YOU LOVE THESE Maple Cornbread Muffins, YOU’LL ALSO ENJOY THESE RECIPES:

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Maple Cornbread Muffins

Healthy gluten-free, vegan maple cornbread muffins, lightly sweetened with maple syrup and pureed sweet corn. Serve warm with a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen, defrosted organic sweet corn (I use frozen organic from Trader Joe’s)
  • 1 cup filtered water
  • 1 cup/140g yellow corn meal
  • 1 cup/90g oat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flax + 5 tablespoons warm water)
  • 1/2 cup plant-based milk
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil or melted coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with avocado or coconut oil. Place the two tablespoons of ground flax and 5 tablespoons of warm water into a small bowl. Mix together and let sit for about 5-10 minutes so a gel can form. This is your flax egg.

In a blender, blend together 2 cups sweet corn with 1 cup filtered water until completely smooth. Measure out 1 cup for the recipe.

In a large bowl combine the corn meal, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Whisk together to make sure all the ingredients are evenly distributed.

In a medium bowl combine the pureed sweet corn, flax egg, plant-based milk, maple syrup, oil and apple cider vinegar. Pour the mixture into the dry and gently combine. Careful not to over mix.

Using a cookie scoop, place the batter into the muffin tins, filling the hole 3/4 of the way up. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. The muffins are done when the center of the muffin is poked with a toothpick and comes out clean. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Muffins are best eaten within 4 days of making or store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Notes

This recipe calls for pureeing sweet corn. Don’t let this deter you from making the recipe. It’s really quite simple. All you need is fresh or frozen, defrosted sweet corn (I use frozen organic from Trader Joe’s). Measure out 2 cups of corn kernels and place them in the blender with 1 cup of filtered water. Blend on high until silky smooth. You only need 1 cup of puree for this recipe.

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