Pumpkin Cornbread

I think every good meal should have a starch of some kind, whether that's some kind of bread, pasta, rice, potato, you know what I mean. When I had my brother and sister-in-law over for lunch a few weeks ago I decided to make chicken fajitas and even though I had already made some soft flour tortillas, that was more of the main dish and I decided that we needed something else on the side, some kind of starch. I have had this pumpkin cornbread pinned for a while now, and since it is fall and I'm in the pumpkin spirit it sounded like the perfect thing. 

It was the perfect thing. I thought this cornbread was absolutely delicious. I'm a big cornbread fan in general so it wasn't too big of a jump for me to love this recipe too. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that it is fairly healthy as cornbread goes. I like my cornbread sweet and moist, I am not a big fan of the leaner, dry and crumbly cornbread that some people like. A lot of recipes (my favorite Cornbread Muffins included) are nice and rich, full of butter, milk and sugar. All good things but sometimes I want something a little leaner and this recipe fit the bill. 1/4 cup oil is the main fat, and I think next time I'll see what happens if I replace some of the oil with yogurt. Some sugar and a few eggs round out the main ingredients, and the pumpkin too of course, a nice amount of it for a good amount of moisture. They all come together to create this perfectly delicious, and beautifully golden cornbread, good as a simple side dish with any meal all year long. 

If you are worried about adding pumpkin to cornbread, don't be. I couldn't at all tell that it was there. The only thing I noticed was the beautiful golden color that it added to the bread, the flavor wasn't affected in the least bit. A good way to sneak a little vegetable into your meal without even trying. Like most cornbread, this recipe is a synch. Mix together the dry ingredients, then mix together the wet ingredients. Combine the two and throw the whole thing into the oven. Couldn't be simpler, and really couldn't be more delicious. If you like cornbread at all I highly recommend you give this recipe a try, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. 

The perfect side to a wonderful lunch of chicken fajitas

Pumpkin Cornbread

Adapted from Deliciously Yum
Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• 1/4 cup canola oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish and set aside. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and cornmeal.

In another bowl, beat 2 eggs and add pumpkin purée, oil and honey. Mix until well combined and slowly stir into the dry cornmeal mixture. Stir until well incorporated and pour into baking dish. Even out the surface of the cornbread mixture and put into oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting.