new take on a classic
April 7, 2011 What’s that lurking in the shadows?
Breakfast.
A new breakfast.
Get excited.
I am always inspired by HEAB’s savory breakfasts + meals and her love for cornbread, coconut, pancakes, oat bran and nut butter. Her combinations are creative + quirky and I love that! I feel like I’ve been craving everything that is hard to make when one has no oven. However, today I conquered one of those cravings.
Cornbread.
For one.
In under 5.
The microwave happens to do an excellent job at making buckwheat bakes. They have a bit of a different texture [more muffin-cake like] and are equally delicious as the oven bake versions, but in a slightly different way. I figured if you can make buckwheat bakes in the microwave, cornbread could also be mastered.
How about buckwheat cornbread?
I have always been a cornbread lover. The sweet, nutty flavor of corn flour is just perfect. I remember the nights when we had breakfast for dinner. My favorite was Jiffy cornbread, topped with butter + maple syrup and sausage or bacon on the side. Well, okay, Belgian waffle night was pretty dang delicious too. My dad was always in charge of Breakfast for Dinner nights. I don’t know why, but it was just “dad’s thing.” Right, Dad?
This texture was a cross between cornbread, cake, + muffin. In other words, pretty dang fantastic. If you don’t want to buy a whole bag of corn flour, check your bulk bins. It will probably be there!
Now how did I turn this into a complete breakfast?
Please don’t think I’ve gone crazy. Okay, maybe I have a little. Yes, I put beans on my breakfast. I’m not typically a savory breakfast girl, but I was enamored by HEAB’s cornbread bean photos the other day, so I just had to try it out.
Remember those adzuki beans I boiled + froze? Many people told me they are a sweet bean and that they’re commonly used in desserts in Asian cooking. In trying to add more protein to my breakfast, I thought this was a good idea.
And it was! I defrosted, mashed and heated about 1/2c adzuki beans and plopped them on top, along with peanut butter.
And honey! Definitely didn’t feel like a savory breakfast at all and this plate kept me full for 4.5 hours. Two thumbs up!
If you’re afraid of the beans, I understand. But trust me on the cornbread! What did I think of beans with breakfast? It definitely won’t be an everyday thing. If I mix beans + this cornbread again, it will probably be topping it with chili. :)
Cornbread Muffin-Cake [serves 1]
- 2T raw buckwheat flour [ground from raw buckwheat groats]
- 1T raw buckwheat groats
- 3T corn flour
- 4-5T 2% milk [or nut milk]
- 1T chia seeds
- 1/2T unrefined coconut oil, melted
- pinch of salt
- 1/4t baking powder
- 1 large egg
- In a bowl, whisk together egg + 4T milk.
- Whisk in all dry ingredients until just combined. If it seems too thick, add 1T more of milk.
- Grease a bowl and empty batter into bowl and smooth out.
- Microwave for 1min 30sec – 1min 45sec.
- Carefully tip out of the bowl [will be hot!] onto a plate and top away. Or top + eat right out of the bowl.
A few notes…
- Millet flour would be a great buckwheat flour sub in this recipe. If you have millet, you can just grind it in your blender until it turns into flour. You could also use oat flour, or make your own by grinding oat groats.
- For the corn flour. I used Bob’s Red Mill Masa Harina, golden corn flour [1T] and Fine Stone Ground Corn Flour [2T]. You could probably use any type of corn flour or even corn meal. However, the liquid amount might vary slightly depending on the mix you use. For this recipe I used 2 finely ground flours.
- I typically add 1/2 mashed banana to my buckwheat bakes, but didn’t want the banana flavor in this. If you want banana cornbread [which sounds good!!] I would mash 1/2 of a banana and reduce the liquid to 2T.
- If you don’t have chia seeds, use ground flax meal. If you don’t have either, leave it out, and lower the liquid by 1T.
- Sub 1 flax egg, instead of 1 large egg to veganize.
- If you add beans on top, definitely heat them up!
I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS. :)
With the beans + peanut butter, this recipe packs 550 cals, 25g protein, 15g fiber + 34% daily iron. Stellar!
What did I eat for lunch?
That should even have been a question. Repeat!
With cubed sweet tater + coconut butter on the side. The sweet tater definitely helped this meal stick to my bones!
Why am I showing a lot more of my daily eats lately? 2 reasons!
- It has been fun t to show you that even without a kitchen, or the time to turn on your oven, you can still create delicious + healthy recipes!
- I want to share my journey in trying to figure out which foods help in curbing my insane appetite. This was also why I went into detail about milk in my breakfast yesterday. Thanks for your suggestions – btw!
So what did I have for dinner? Reference the breakfast photos. Yup. Twice in one day. Breakfast for dinner. [Dad, you would have loved it!] This time, it was topped with honey + butter and accompanied by a hefty taco salad.
It’s 11:11 and I’m out! More EP – Home Edition coming soon!
Ashley
Reader Comments (89)
Yuummmmm! I love cornbread! :) I can taste it now! Drizzles with honey..sounds amazing! I have never tried those beans before. I am def willing to give it a shot tho!
Wow- you are quite the foodie genius, Ash! You can really master any recipe into your own. Major kudos to you!
On another note- I agree, HEAB is so unique with her quirky, but nutritious food combos. That's what I love about her blog! I bet you made her so proud with this recipe- and all, for that matter :)
I will SO be trying this for breakfast.... or dinner... in the near future. I bet it'd be great with chili when you don't want to cook up a whole pan and don't have time! xxx
That is totally a HEAB-inspired meal! :D Love the creativity. If I could eat corn, I would be allll ovah that goodness!
haha! I think I OD'd on red beans and red bean paste this week! but I still love 'em ;)
i like that milk jug!
i LOOOOOVE cornbread. one of my favorite foods too :D
I love cornbread texture. Was this comparative to regular texture?
Oh my, this looks awesome. I'm a sucker for cornbread, and so is my husband...I'll have to make this lovely breakfast this weekend for sure!
Cornbread is just so comforting.
Eeeek I love cornbread. I want it for breakfast!
Those sweet potatoes are so orange and just POP off the screen. The new kitchen lighting is apparently fabulous!
And the cornbread bake..you are sooo creative! :)
you are the breakfast queen! it kills me that i can't find buckwheat groats - i can only find kasha, and you said not to use that right??
I adore cornbread but I'm always so curious why more people don't use it as a breakfast food. I love this idea!
I'm not a savory breakfast person, but this looks fantastic!
i love savory breakfasts, but i don't know if i could do cornbread and beans...huevos rancheros are a different story though ;)
That muffin cake looks incredible! Totally simple, and I can definitely see why you're so excited about it! :)
Looks interesting! I have to say I made the buckwheat bake yesterday with a pear instead of a banana....oh yummy!
mmm cornbread! Amazing how great it looks from just the microwave. I bet that would be awesome with melted earth balance on top.
That looks delicious! I love red bean paste, being Chinese and all. I'm staring at that and thinking how lovely that'd be if you mashed the red beans even more to form a paste that could be spread between the corn bread like a delicious sandwich! Mmmm
Oh I meant to ask- do you think your hunger has increased because of the renos and being on your feet all day? I know when we were doing them, I had to add an extra meal to keep my energy up.
I heart HEAB! She's the reason I started topping my sweet potatoes with tahini and cinnamon. AMAZING. I gotta try putting unsweetened baker's chocolate on my oats once Lent is over!
Holy cow. I need to add this to the 12930438 of your recipes i want to make. soo yummmmy
You had me until the beans. I was really rooting for banana!!! However, this is going on my to-make list :)
I just put another batch of cornbread in the oven before reading this post! This version contains cornmeal, corn flour, and brown rice flour, and I made it with coconut oil. Your microwave version would have been much more convenient. Note to self: Always read Ashley's blog BEFORE making breakfast. :)
And yes, dads = breakfast dinner. Definitely my dad's best meal - Well, b'fast and anything that involved the grill.
P.S. Thanks for the kind words regarding my blog. Made me smile.
I LOVE cornbread! I'm so excited for this!
ohh interesting combo!
it's very heathereatsalmondbutter-like I'm not sure I can do beans in the am though :P
That sounds and looks wonderful. So funny but my husband was appalled when he saw me put honey on my cornbread. He thought that was the weirdest thing ever! I was like where did you grow up?? That is like the most most southern tradition...um ever. For the record he grew up in Texas as well...so how he missed that food combination is completely lost on me.
My appetite has been annoyingly out-of-control lately too. It's frustrating to eat a good sized lunch (we're talking 600 or more calories) only to still be hungry or hungry after just a few hours. I've tried all of my "tricks", lots of water, exercise, no exercise, distraction (maybe it's not real hunger), more carbs/fat/protein/volume...and I'm still hungry! Yuck. I am hoping it's hormonal and will pass soon.
The cornbread looks wonderful! My mom use to make it for breakfast sometimes with fresh corn kernels in it. Delicious!
Your eats are totally inspirational! Everything looks delicious! I've been reading recipes for adzuki beans for a while, but always substituted other beans because I was unfamiliar with them! I think I can definitely give them a try!
For those who just can't bring themselves to eat beans in the morning, I put coconut butter on mine, with the honey and cashew butter... the coconut was amazing! it complimented the cornbread very well :)
Thank you Ashley for yet another perfect breakfast! I'll be on the hunt for the beans today, gotta give it a try!
Girl. I am JUST eating one with banana and it is like cornbread banana CAKE!!!!!! So flipping good!!! The beans were just o.k....haha. Probably won't be doing that again. :)
You're so welcome!! Glad you enjoyed. Don't think I'll be doing the beans again...just wait til you try the banana version!
They were tasty...definitely won't be a common breakfast thing though. :)
I hope you figure it out soon! I felt like that while we were in the midst of all the house craziness!
Whaaaaaaaat! Honey on cornbread..yummm!! I remember when we lived in NC though, that people were very specific about their cornbread. There was one group for the honey and one for no sweetness at all.
Hahahah :) I just made a version with banana this AM and it was even better. Like cornbread cake with a hint of banana!! Too funny...our dad's sound similar. Sunday grill night?? Oh and you're so welcome. I LOVE your blog!!!! xo
Aw, hehe :)
HEAB is the best!
YES! It definitely did, but has calmed down a bit. When I was at the new house all day painting, but still living in the old house, I literally had to eat TWO full lunches everyday. Besides that though, my hunger is still more ferocious than it should be! haha
I'll have to actually try making the paste. The plain mashed beans were a bit dry. hehe
Ooooh, yum!!!
That breakfast looks great to me, beans and all! I'm an adzuki bean junkie but have never paired them with peanut butter. I will now!
Okay...forget the beans...just add nut butter + honey. mmmmm :)
It figures :) Just when I start trying the buckwheat bakes for breakfast, you come up with ANOTHER delicious looking treat that I HAVE to try!
We love cornbread too in my house :) I think this might make an appearance at dinner next week!
Not only are your photos outstanding, but you are so very creative. I love this. I also love that you're sharing more about satiety, hunger, and fullness. It's inspiring to see someone really tuning into their body and appetite :)
Please make this for me someday :)
living room lighting! haha
Well, it works completely fine...however, it has a very strong nutty/burnt flavor. A few people have said they like it, but it's definitely a different flavor. :) If you can buy bulk, maybe just buy like 1/2-1c and see if you like the taste. I like a small amount on top of oats or in granola for a little deeper flavor.
Yes it is!! Hope you both enjoy!
It was very similar to the other microwave buckwheat bakes. If you use a more coarsely ground corn meal or flour, it might be a bit crunchier.
Haha...I need to actually make the paste!
At least it still incorporates buckwheat though. :)