Blender Cornbread

We love to have veggie nights out our house 2-3 times a week; it's easy on the wallet and the waste, and to me it's always a relief to not have to deal with making meat or some type of big main course. Cornbread is a great addition to a veggie night, and I just tried this new recipe. I've never made cornbread from actual corn kernels, but it was very easy and healthy because it's straight from fresh whole grains. This is a great way to prepare a whole grain quick bread without a grain mill; all you need is a blender. This recipe was a cinch and all I had to do was plan ahead and make the batter part in the morning so it could sit during the day before I baked it. We ate part of it for dinner and finished it up the next day at lunch!

Soaked Blender Cornbread

Adapted from Sue Gregg’s Meals In Minutes Cookbook
and courtesy of my friend Kelly
My comments / changes are in italics

I N G R E D I E N T S :

1 cup cultured milk or sour raw milk (plain yogurt thinned with a little water to consistency of buttermilk, or plain kefir, or buttermilk) (I actually used about 2/3 cup regular milk and 1/3 cup plain yogurt)

3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey (If you do not want your cornbread to be sweet, omit this)

2/3  cups dry popcorn corn (plain dried corn kernels)

2⁄3 cup whole wheat pastry grain or 2/3 c cup spelt grain ( I used whole wheat pastry flour)

1⁄₄ cup melted butter or melted coconut oil (I used butter but if you use coconut oil, add it gradually after getting the blender started)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄₂ teaspoon baking soda

D I R E C T I O N S :

Place milk/yogurt combo or kefir or buttermilk, maple syrup or honey, whole popcorn kernels, grain, and butter in a blender (unless using coconut oil, then add gradually after blender is started). The blender will "grind" the corn kernels along with the other ingredients, leaving maybe just a slight grainy texture, but I didn't really notice any. It was very cake like in texture for me.

Blend all of that at high speed 3-5 minutes.

Cover blender and let stand at room temperature for 8-24 hours for improved nutritional value.Preheat oven to 325°.

Grease 8×8 glass baking pan with soft butter.

Blend in eggs for 2 or 3 minutes on high speed; combine baking powder, soda and salt; add them at the last, just to blend in.

Pour batter immediately into buttered baking pan.  

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until knife comes clean out of center (It only took me about 25-30 minutes).