Once I made my Spicy Chicken Chili, I had to make a healthy version of cornbread to go with it. This healthy cornbread is made with a mixture of half cornmeal, and half flour so it gives the soft crumbly texture we love in a cornbread. A bit of honey gives it a touch of sweetness, which makes it the perfect pairing for chili. The next time you make chili, soup, or stew on a cold winter night, prepare to make this healthy cornbread as well! It’ll elevate your comforting meal and top off the night.
Normal cornbread can have up to a cup of sugar in it, not to mention butter and full fat milk. Lots of calories that really aren’t needed when you can make healthy cornbread taste this good. Instead of ⅔ - 1 cup of white sugar, I used 2 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1.5 tablespoon of honey to slightly sweeten the cornbread. That’s less than ¼ cup of sugar in total. It’s a much better alternative - great for diabetics as well.
Three reasons why you need to make this recipe!
It’s only 100 calories per serving.
As long as you don’t lay on the butter, this cornbread is a great healthy staple to add to your soups or stews. You can use spray butter or a light whipped margarine if you can’t have cornbread without the buttery taste. Either way, it’s still light on calories, but full of flavor.
It’s a fan favorite.
Seriously- everyone that has tried this cornbread raves about it. Even those that didn’t know it was healthy. Sneak it into your families’ lives to keep them happy and healthy.
Healthy cornbread is made with very basic ingredients.
If you make a lot of my other recipes, then you likely have all of these ingredients on hand. The only thing you may need to buy is the actual cornmeal. And there are only 5 steps, including the baking. You’ll have healthy cornbread on the table in no time.
Ingredients you need to make Healthy Cornbread:
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- â…“ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg white (I use the carton of liquid egg whites)
- 1.5 tablespoon honey
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
How to make Healthy Cornbread (step by step):
- Preheat the oven to 375F, and spray a 9 inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
- In a bowl whisk together the egg, egg white, and brown sugar. Add in the honey, apple sauce, and milk, and mix well.
- Stir in the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Pour it into the nonstick dish and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into 12 squares.
Makes 12 servings. Nutrition info for 1 serving: Calories 102, Fat 1 g, Saturated fat .14 g, Carbs 21 g, Fiber 1.3 g, Sugars 3.5 g, Sodium 118 mg, Protein 3 g.
WW Points
- Yellow corn meal 13 points
- All purpose flour 13 points
- Baking soda and baking powder 0 points
- Unsweetened apple sauce 0 points
- Brown sugar 5 points
- 1 egg and egg white 0 points
- Honey 8 points
- Unsweetened almond milk 1 point
3 points per serving based on the WW app recipe creator.
If you’re using an older version of WW, check out these points below.
3PP, 3SP on blue, green & purple
Different ways to change up this recipe:
- Add some whole, sweet corn and diced jalapenos for a southwestern flare.
- Make these into cornbread muffins by baking the batter in a 12 cup muffin tin. Just reduce the baking time to about 15-18 minutes.
- Since eggs are zero points, you can use 2 eggs instead of 1 egg and 1 egg white if you don’t have the carton of liquid egg whites.
- To make these gluten free, use a gluten free all purpose flour blend and increase the baking powder to 1.5 tsp.
- If you don’t like sweet cornbread, take out the brown sugar and add diced green chilis and/or jalapenos. It’s still a great base for Mexican cornbread. Still leave the honey in the recipe though, it brings out the classic cornbread flavor.
- If you want it a little sweeter, melt 1 teaspoon of honey in the microwave (so it’s easy to drizzle) and drizzle it over the baked cornbread right when it comes out of the oven. The heat will help it seep into the cornbread, adding a bit of sweetness.
Tips and Tricks for Making Healthy Cornbread:
- Best stored in a sealed container and after day 1 in the fridge.
- You can use self rising flour instead of using all purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda. You could also try substituting Kodiak’s Buttermilk Pancake mix for the all purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda. It’ll add a little extra protein.
- You can use 1% low fat milk instead of almond milk if you prefer.
- If you have a cast iron skillet, definitely use it for this healthy cornbread. Put the cast iron skillet in the oven while it’s preheating. Carefully pull the skillet out when you’re ready to pour the cornbread batter in. You want the cast iron skillet piping hot when you pour the batter in. It gives the cornbread edges a yummy, buttery crust.
Similar recipes you’ll enjoy:
- Pull Apart Christmas Tree Cheesy Bread
- Everything But the Bagel Cheese Ball
- Hot Chicken and Cheese Rolls
Healthy Cornbread
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow corn meal
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- â…“ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg white I use the carton of liquid egg whites
- 1.5 tablespoon honey
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F, and spray a 9 inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
- In a bowl whisk together the egg, egg white, and brown sugar. Add in the honey, apple sauce, and milk, and mix well.
- Stir in the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Pour it into the nonstick dish and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into 12 squares.
Libby
What timing! I have black beans cooking in the crockpot and was just wondering about low sugar corn bread. I'll give it a go! Thanks!
Drizzle
I hope you enjoy it Libby 🙂
Sara M
I’ve tried several of your recipes (double chocolate coffee oat muffins are a weekly staple) and am always impressed. So when I found myself with cornmeal, I thought to check if you had a cornbread recipe. I thought it was delicious, and took some to an impromptu family dinner. Everyone raved - with several real foodies saying it was the very best cornbread they had ever had! Highest of compliments!!! Thank you so very much!! And let’s keep the fact that it’s WW friendly our little secret - great to keep my family members happy and healthy!!!
Drizzle
Hi Sara.. Oh WOW I'm truly humbled that some said it was the best they had!! Thank you for sharing, you just put a big smile on my face 🙂
Danielle
Hi Kate,
Thanks for your amazing recipes. My husband and I are obsessed with your website and will be making this cornbread tonight. Can we sub 1% milk for the almond milk? Would that change the points?
Thanks 🙂
Drizzle
Hi Danielle, thank you for your kind words, so glad to hear your both enjoying the recipes, yes you can sub the milk, it will add a few points overall to the recipe (I think 4) but probably won't affect each serving , hope you enjoy it, I'd appreciate any feed back on it (good or bad) I was really nervous on this one, cause many hold cornbread near and dear lol 😉
Danielle
Kate it was FANTASTIC! SO YUMMY! We made your spicy chili and they paired great together. Thanks for creating these amazing recipes, we are really enjoying everything. Last night I made the meat lovers bubble up and wow. We loved it. We live in Windsor and if you ever want to go shopping cross border in Michigan, I can be your shopping partner ha ha. Thanks again! 5 stars for the cornbread!
Linda
I would like your spicy chili recipe please.
Drizzle
Hi Linda, it is on my blog, you can search any recipe by keyword in the right hand side bar
https://drizzlemeskinny.com/spicy-chicken-chili/
Ruth
I made this with Cloud Nine gf flour, though it adds a point. For the same WW points you can use Bob's GF All purpose instead. I switched the egg out for only egg whites, honey for the brown sugar, and left over pumpkin puree instead of applesauce. I also made it in a muffin tin, delicious!
Drizzle
Hi Ruth, wow your substitutes sound awesome, I will have to try it 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Katie
When you say 9 inch pan, do you mean 9x13 or would an 8x8 pan work? Thanks!
Drizzle
no a 9 inch square pan (I always state if its a 9x13) 8 would work they will just be a little smaller pieces 🙂
Crystal
I made this cornbread to pair with the butternut squash and pumpkin soup, that I made for my and my husbands lunches this week. We love cornbread and this recipe is a keeper and will be made often in our house. Thanks.
Drizzle
That is so awesome to hear Crystal, happy you both enjoyed it 🙂
Marcia
This cornbread was the bomb!! Tasted as good as my high calorie recipe and so moist! I used brown sugar substitute so would that change the WW points? And does it freeze well? Thank you for sharing.
Drizzle
Hi Marcia, I am so glad you enjoyed the cornbread, I don't think the brown sugar substitute would change the points overall as it is such a small amount in the recipe, yes the cornbread will freeze well 🙂
Andrea Westfall
I was searching high and low yesterday for a low-point cornbread or cornbread muffin recipe that used cornmeal as the base -- this morning I thought 'duh, check Drizzle me Skinny!' and here it was. Thank you! Trying this tonight to go with some turkey taco chili!
Drizzle
Ha.. I hope it was meant to be 😉 Let me know if you enjoy it
Ashley
LOVE corn bread but all the recipes I have found are high in points. I can not wait to try this! Since it serves 12, have you ever tried cooking in a 12 cup muffin tin? Just curious... sometimes when I have made cakes or loaves I have found that the slices very in size so I am not sure if I am over or under as far as points are concerned. I haven't quite reached my goal yet so I try to be exact, haha! Thanks so much 🙂
Drizzle
Hi Ashley, I have never tried in in muffin cups but I think it will bake just the same .. I think I have seen others do so on Instagram using my recipe, I hope you enjoy it 🙂
berneva
Love this web site and all the support I get joined Saturday down almost 5 lbs..
Drizzle
Woohoo, that is awesome, keep up the great work! Hope you enjoy some of the recipes 🙂
Carol
To half the recipe I used just the egg and not the egg white, used 3tbsp of apple sauce and left out the honey. I halved everything else and put it in 6 muffins instead of a pan. I also used vanilla almond milk whic is all I had but made up for not having the honey. They turned out good.
Drizzle
Hi Carol, thanks for the tips, so glad you enjoyed the cornbread 🙂
Lori
Hi. My search for a lightened up cornbread recipe lead me to your site. I'm so glad I found it!
I made the cornbread tonight and it was a hit. I made them as muffins for easier portioning and shortened the baking time to 20 minutes. I did make a few other changes. I used two eggs instead of 1 egg and 1 egg white (I forgot to separate the 2nd egg). I also used fat free buttermilk in place of the almond milk. It added 2 freestyle points to the recipe but didn't change the per-serving point count. My 18 year old son ate three of them with his chili at dinner. Always a good sign 🙂
Drizzle
Hi Lori, yay that's awesome, thanks for your tips I always love it when people share 🙂 so glad your son enjoyed them as well 🙂
Theresa
Thank you for the recipe. It will be perfect for my son’s birthday Party - served with kid friendly chili, on Cinqo de Mayo 🙂 Do you think it would still work if I added some fresh corn kernels?
Drizzle
Oh what a fun birthday theme 🙂 yes I think adding the fresh corn will be ok .. Happy birthday to your little guy 🙂
Jenese
I’m wondering why mine was so bland. I followed the recipe almost exactly (2 whole eggs instead of 1 plus 1 egg white). But there was no flavour. None. So disappointed as I love cornbread.
Drizzle
I'm so sorry you did not enjoy it Jenese, while I aim to please everyone I'd be a genius if I could 😉 We all have different expectations
Ida
These were went really well with our chili the othet night love your recipes