Light and Healthy Cornbread Recipes | Simple Nourished Living (2024)

WW Recipe of the Day: Light and Healthy Cornbread

Today I'm sharing a collection of light and healthy corn bread recipes perfect for Weight Watchers.

I love warm-from-the oven cornbread with a bowl of chili or soup—belly-warming comfort food at its finest. I always make it a few times during the cooler months.

The trouble with lots of today's cornbread recipes is that they're full of sugar and fat making them high in calories and really high in WW SmartPoints. (WW SmartPoints go up the more sugar and/or saturated fat a recipe contains.)

So if you are looking for lighter healthier traditional classic cornbread made with less fat and sugar you have come to the right place.

Here's a great recipe for a simple classic light and healthy cornbread from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook (affiliate link), a great basic cookbook for people who want to lose weight and eat healthier. (I have a pretty big collection of Weight Watchers Cookbooks and they're some of my favorites.)

This WW Skinny Corn Bread makes the perfect side dish for chili, soups and stews. Such a delicious treat! I also love it topped with low sugar preserves for breakfast.

WARNING: This is old-fashioned cornbread is hearty and crumbly, which might take some getting used to if you've only ever made the kind from a mix, which tends to be a lot more fluffy and sweet. Because this cornbread is low in sugar, each serving has just *3 WW SmartPoints (blue, green, purple)! Woohoo!!

According to my calculations, each serving has 102 calories. To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!

Are You Ready To Firmly Plant YourselfOn The Path To Lasting Weight Loss Success?

Healthy Cornbread Variations and Substitutes

• Cornbread muffins: bake in regular or mini muffin tin (grease bottoms of muffin cups or line with paper baking cups)
• WW cornbread with creamed corn: decrease buttermilk to ½ cup and add 1 (14 ounce) can creamed corn (4SP)
• No buttermilk? substitute regular milk or your favorite non-dairy milk, omit the baking soda and increase baking powder to 3 teaspoons
• Moister? add ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• Richer corn bread? add ¼ cup melted butter and an additional egg
• Skillet corn bread? Cook in a greased 8 or 9-inch cast iron skillet that you have preheated in the oven until hot. Being careful to use often mitts and not burn yourself, pour the batter into the hot skillet. (It will with bubble and sizzle and form a crispy crust as it bakes).
• Spicy cornbread - stir in one can (4.5 ounce) diced mild green chiles, drained and ½ cup shredded reduced fat pepper Jack cheese before baking. (4SP)
• Sweeter corn bread - increase sugar/sweetener to ½ cup
• Yankee Corn Bread Variation (Betty Crocker): 1 cup milk, ¼ cup melted butter, 1 large egg, 1-¼ cups cornmeal, 1 cup flour, ½ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt

Is cornbread healthy to eat?

Corn meal, the basic ingredient of corn bread, is a whole grain. Whole-grain foods contain the bran as well as the germ and endosperm of the fruited grain -- and all of the nutrients they contain. Whole-grain cornmeal is a wonderful source of fiber that happens to also be gluten-free. Corn bread is a good source of several nutrients including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, folic acid, and vitamins A, B-6 and B-12.

Making healthy cornbread from scratch is so easy and allows you to control the ingredients. While convenient, many boxed cornbread mixes contain partially hydrogenated fat and/or oil, sugar and plenty of salt. If you do opt for a prepared mix, be sure to read the label carefully. In addition to containing the same major nutrients as other whole grains, corn bread has a good taste that even picky kids love.

Can I substitute honey for sugar in cornbread?

Yes, though honey is generally sweeter than sugar you can use a one-to-one substitution of honey for sugar in most yeast breads, waffles, pancakes, muffins, and quick breads, including cornbread. You’ll want to choose a light-colored honey to keep the sweetness as neutral as possible. Honey is sticky, so when using measuring cups and spoons, coat them with water, oil, egg white or non-stick spray before dipping into the honey jar. Honey also burns faster than sugar, so to prevent your cornbread from burning, try reducing the oven temperature by 25F degrees. Click here for more tips on replacing sugar with honey in your favorite recipe.

Can you substitute applesauce instead of oil in cornbread?

When baking cornbread, you can shave off a few calories and fat by using applesauce in place of the oil. The recommended replacement is 1:1 - so if your recipe calls for ⅓ cup of oil, you can use ⅓ cup of applesauce instead. This substitution works well with most muffins and quick breads.

If you like this WW Cornbread Recipe you might also like: Skinny Mini Corn Dog Muffins,

If you've made this lightened up Traditional Cornbread, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.

Source: Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook (affiliate link)

*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.

More Light and Healthy Cornbread Recipes for Weight Watchers

• Skinny Mexican Style Chicken and Cornbread Casserole - My husband and I love this main course casserole so much, we ended up eating it 3 days in a row! I hope you get a chance to try it. It’s a real cinch to make, freezes great and only needs a side salad to serve with it! Easy, right and did I mention that it’s absolutely DELICIOUS? (Skinny Kitchen)
• Oprah's Skinny Corn Bread - from her Food, Health and Happiness (affiliate link) Cookbook, with great consistency, just the right amount of sweetness and corn taste plus a little kick from the jalapenos. Found at SouffleBombay.
• Excellent & Healthy Cornbread - made with nonfat yogurt, each piece of this light and healthy cornbread has just 117 calories, 1.4 g fat and 3 Weight Watchers PointsPlus value. Found at AllRecipes.
• Moist Mexican Corn Bread - This moist cornbread calls for ground flaxseed, which is a great source of omega 3 fats, antioxidants and fiber. It gets it's Mexican inspiration from the addition of chopped sweet red pepper and and reduced fat Monterey Jack cheese.
• Parmesan Cornbread Muffins - Parmesan topped light and healthy cornbread baked in muffin tins. Each muffin has 151 calories, 4.9 g fat and 4 WW PointsPlus value. From Cooking Light found at MyRecipes.
• Salsa Cornbread - a moist vegetable studded light and healthy cornbread with just 138 calories, 4 g fat and 4 PointsPlus found at Eating Well.
• Skinny Cornbread Casserole - decadent super rich, moist, creamy and loaded with flavor with only 5 WW PointsPlus found at Skinny Kitchen
• WW Cornbread - This recipe is a play on a classic corn casserole, but using some alternate ingredients. I like that it gives me that cornbread flavor without the points and calories. Especially for paring with things like our favorite soups and chili recipes! Found at You Brew My Tea
• Maple Syrup Cornbread - A good-old New England cornbread recipe that's sweetened with maple syrup and tastes great with spicy chili! Found at Taste of Home (affiliate link)

This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!

References:

1. Rules for Successfully Swapping Honey for Sugar
2. Baking Fat Substitutes
3. Nutritional Benefits of Cornbread