This Pumpkin Cornbread is terrific served with a little honey butter, and it’s really great dunked into chili, too.
When I first made this recipe for Pumpkin Cornbread, it sounded so odd to me that I just had to make it. I wondered… would it be sweet? Would it be more like a breakfast bread? Or would it be appropriate to pair with chili, like other cornbreads?
How to make Pumpkin Cornbread:
The batter is a mix of white and whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose flour entirely, if you wish), cornmeal, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, eggs, pumpkin purée, brown sugar, oil and molasses. Yes, it will be a sweet cornbread, but probably not as sweet as you’d imagine.
It needs 30 minutes in the oven to bake.
This slightly sweet Pumpkin Cornbread is amazing. My whole family gobbles it up with smidges of honey-tainted butter. For the cornmeal, you can either use traditional fine grain cornmeal for a smoother, softer bread or a whole grain cornmeal (like Bob’s Red Mill). I like the whole grain variety for a little extra texture.
Leftovers are also perfect for breakfast the next day. You’ll find that it stays moist, and it’s still delicious. I recommend topping your breakfast cornbread with apple butter or pumpkin butter for a little morning treat.
I have tried pairing Pumpkin Cornbread with several of my chili recipes, but I most enjoy eating it with my Pumpkin Chili (of course). You can’t really taste any pumpkin in my pumpkin chili. It just has canned pumpkin puree in it, which basically serves as a texture enhancer to make the sauce in the chili smooth and velvety. It’s good stuff. Enjoy!
If you’re looking for more recipes to eat with this Pumpkin Cornbread, I suggest you try my Autumn Vegetable Soup and this Spicy Turkey Chili. Copycat Panera Squash Soup and Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili would be good pairings with this bread too.
If you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you’ll find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below.
Pumpkin Cornbread
Ingredients
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
- ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 tablespoon molasses
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 10-inch glass pie pan or 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray.
- Sift the flours, baking powder, salt and spices into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the cornmeal.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs lightly. Whisk in the pumpkin, brown sugar, oil and molasses.
- Make a well in the dry mixture. Add the pumpkin mixture and blend the batter with a few quick strokes (just until blended- don't over-mix).
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cornbread is browned and the surface has a slightly springy feel.
Notes
- We like to use Bob's Red Mill coarse grain corn meal for an added crunchy texture.
- Terrific with pumpkin chili!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thank you for the recipe! We drizzled pancake syrup on the batter before putting it in the oven.
I love that idea, thanks!
This sounds wonderful Lori and I’m going to try it soon. But I was almost put off by “honey-tainted” – taint means contaminate or pollute, and I’m sure you didn’t mean that! Love your recipes!
I ate some with the white chili I made and it was wonderful with it. My fiance loved it too. Yummy
I loved this! I only used 1/2 brown sugar. It tasted great and looked good too.