Low Fat Cornbread

I'm a little obsessed lately with substituting applesauce for the fat ingredient in baked goods. Gingersnaps, banana bread, oatmeal cookies, and now, cornbread. The great news is that it works! I never substitute all of the fat, just most of it. Like in this recipe, which called for 1/2 cup of oil, I used 6 tablespoons applesauce and 2 tablespoons canola oil. And the cornbread is fantastic!


1 1/2 cups cornmeal
2 1/2 cups milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs (I used two egg whites and one egg, to lower the cholesterol.)
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat to 400. Combine cornmeal and milk; let stand for five minutes. Grease a 9x13 pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix in the cornmeal mixture, eggs and oil until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.

If you already have a favorite cornbread recipe, you're welcome to share it in the comments! And you could always use your tried-and-tested favorite but try switching out most of the oil for applesauce. I couldn't even tell a difference!

If you're looking for an easy meal idea, tonight we served the cornbread with barbecue chicken and mushrooms. I often throw a couple chicken breasts in the crockpot, salt and pepper them and slather them with barbecue sauce, some shots of hot sauce (I use Frank's) and a few shots of Worcestershire. Cook on low for a long time to get the chicken fall-apart tender. Toward the end, I throw in some sliced or halved mushrooms. The moisture in the crockpot cooks them nicely, and it saves me from cleaning another pot!