As far as Sam was concerned I didn’t want to “trick” him with the puree, which would have been hard to do anyways with the sharp contrast in colors. He was busy in his sandbox and not interested in helping me make these, so I made sure to point out that the corn bread had blueberries in it, especially because blueberries are really hit or miss with him. He loves most anything related to bread and gobbled them up. Again, because he liked them so much I highlighted how good the blueberries were that were in the bread. If you think your kid might pass on them definitely try to get them involved in cooking these with you.

Silicone Mold for Muffins

I left some of my muffins plain. The blueberry was an experiment after all.

Print

Blueberry Cornbread

Blueberry Cornbread Recipe

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword Blueberry Cornbread

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 10 People

Ingredients

• 1 cup Cornmeal
• 3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 cup Honey
• 1/2-3/4 cup Pureed Blueberries
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 Egg Whites
• 1 cup Skim Milk
• 1/4 cup Applesauce (or 1/4 cup Low Fat Mayonnaise

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Combine dry ingredients and mix. 

3. Combine wet ingredients and mix. 

4. Slowly pour wet ingredients into dry. Fold in gently. Take care not to over-mix. 

5. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes if using 8x8 pan, 
   15 minutes for muffins, or 12 minutes for mini-muffins. 

6. Let cool and cut into 20 squares or remove from muffin tins. 

7. ** If you want there to be a swirl in your cornbread pour blueberry puree in while almost done folding wet and dry ingredients. If you want to pour puree on top of the bread and use a butter knife to swirl through. if you are using a mini muffin pan pour a small dollop on top of each muffin and stir through with a toothpick. 

• Kids of all ages may have some difficulty with the texture of cornbread, as Isaac did. A different texture like this, can catch them off guard, and then they may refuse to eat it. As you present cornbread to your kid, try to describe what it is going to feel like in their mouth, when they take a bite. You might say something like, “This bread falls apart very easily so little pieces will go all over your mouth and might fall on your lips and chin. The little crumbles melt quickly and are easy to chew.”  If your kid seems nervous, you might say something like this first, “Let’s try a little bite first, with some butter on it.”  By taking a small bite, the texture won’t be as overwhelming, initially. Also, the butter will change the texture a little, making it less harsh. This tactic can apply to any new or non-preferred food you are giving your kid.

• As I have mentioned before, I am not a big fan of hiding food as purees in other highly desirable foods. It is necessary in some instances, and is appropriate in some recipes like the Blueberry Cornbread. Since Sam liked the blueberry cornbread so much, I took the opportunity to use this as a door into eating fresh whole blueberries:
  • I served Sam fresh blueberries the next morning along side his whole grain bagel, which he initially ignored. It had been quite a while since he had them since they are so tart our of season. I nonchalantly asked him to try a blueberry half way through our bagels. He nonchalantly replied, “I am eating my bagel.”  I gave him another reminder a few minutes later, to which he said, “I don’t like blueberries.”  I ignored this statement and calmly grabbed the cute little green carton of berries. I looked in to the carton and acted like I was searching for something. I knew I had his attention. Then, I said, “Hmm, I wonder, if I can find a little baby blueberry in here?”  What a surprise (sarcasm), I did! I pulled it out and put it on his plate, saying, “Oh, look at this cute little baby blueberry. I am going to find one and eat one too!”  Next, I pulled one out for me and said, “Okay, let’s eat this little baby blueberries.” And, we did! Notice, I didn’t ask him if he wanted to eat it, I just set it up as an assumption (of course, he still might have said no). The blueberries were so sweet and ripe, I was fairly certain he was going to like them. I then continued our little game, finding little boy, mommy, and daddy, blueberries. In all he only ate 5 blueberries, but that was a success. In fact, if he had only eaten one it would have been a success. I will try and build on this the next time we have blueberries, trying to get him to eat more with less effort. However, he may very well refuse the next time, and if he does, I will try again. 

There were a few things that I think made this experience really successful:  I was giving him my full attention, we ate it together, and I remained calm. I was prepared to be disappointed, but not discouraged!