Pumpkin Spice Cornbread

Last you heard, I was wallowing in my hot apartment. But within the last week, the weather in the Midwest has done a complete 180. It is now snowing and icy and I'm grateful for my pleasantly warm apartment. So this week, I decided to fully embrace fall with a lightly sweetened pumpkin cornbread. 

As I've said time and time again, cornbread is one of my very favorite foods. In this rendition, the cornbread is baked in a cast-iron skillet, making it perfect for slicing up and sharing on holidays (or just, like, a Wednesday morning). This bread also keeps really nicely at room temperature, so you can make it a few days in advance. Top with a drizzle of maple syrup or honey and a pat of butter and you're good to go. 

I adapted this recipe from Martha Rose Shulman's New York Times Pumpkin Cornbread recipe. Her recipe called for less pumpkin, more milk and no spices. I added in more pumpkin to make the bread a little more moist and add the pumpkin spices to make it more flavorful. 

Let me know what you think of the recipe and don't forget to follow the sustainability tips below!

Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 8 people

Equipment: An oven-safe 9-inch skillet

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (15 ounces) canned or homemade pumpkin puree

• 2/3 cup milk of choice

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

• 2 eggs

• 1 1/2 cups stone-ground cornmeal

  • Note: You can use fine ground or medium ground cornmeal, but the flavor won't be as strong

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• a pinch of ground ginger

• a pinch of ground nutmeg

• 1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 400 F and place an oven-safe 9-inch skillet on the middle rack. 

2. In a large bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the pumpkin, milk, oil, syrup and eggs. Sift remaining ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold to combine, being careful not to overmix.

3. Take the hot skillet out of the oven and place the coconut oil or butter in it to melt. Once melted, tip the skillet to evenly distribute the oil on the bottom and sides of the skillet. Pour the excess oil into the batter and stir to combine. Pour the batter into the skillet and gently spread it to the edges of the pan.

4. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup and some butter if you're feeling wild. Store at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 3 days.

Sustainability Tips

• Pumpkin puree: Grow your own baking pumpkin, buy one from a local organic farm or buy organic canned pumpkin puree. Using one of these options can cut down on nasty pesticides used to grow your pumpkin and on greenhouse gas emissions from travel. Don’t forget to recycle the can if you’re using canned puree!

• Flour and cornmeal: I like to buy King Arthur brand grains because King Arthur is a B Corp, which means that they're held to a high environmental and social standard. Alternatively, you could seek out a farmer who grows and mills flour and cornmeal locally. Buying locally can help connect you to your local food system and cut back on the miles your food has to travel.

• Eggs: Local eggs are really easy to find if you look for them. Buying locally means your eggs won't have to travel as far, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy use.

• Milk and butter: Since cows contribute a lot to climate change, I like to buy my dairy products from B Corps, which are held to really high environmental and social standards. You could also try out vegan dairy options, like almond, cashew or oat milk, or vegan butter.