Summer, summer, summer. It’s finally here! I don’t know about your town, but summer in New York took its sweet time to arrive. It was unusually chilly for far too long and I heard somewhere that it’s rained 75% of the days in June. Acting out on a little Seattle envy, my dear NY?
Good news is that it seems warmer days are now upon us. Hooray! In an attempt to celebrate the recent summertime glow enveloping the city, I decided to bake a sunny treat. And to me, sunny means lemon!
Now I’ll be up front with you here. I’m not the biggest lemon fan. Yeah, a nice lemon bar is alright every once in a while, but I’m not really a refreshing treat kind of girl. I much prefer rich, deep flavors to light, airy ones in my sweets. So I didn’t go the super sweet route with this recipe. Instead, I concocted something slightly sweet – a lemon-infused cornbread type of thing.
Here’s my recipe for Lemon Honey Corn Muffins:
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 (6 ounce) container plain nonfat yogurt
1 egg
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup stone ground cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 375*F. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together honey, applesauce, yogurt, egg, lemon juice and lemon zest until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix brown rice flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Stir the dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just blended. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.
These were an interesting twist on traditional cornbread! I’ve clearly taken a liking to creating recipes like that – as can be seen here and here. The lemon makes the muffins taste quite fresh and the honey adds just the right amount of sweetness. Perfect for summer!
What’s your favorite lemon baked goodie?
Lemon is definitely a flavor that I like, but can do without. Lemon Poppyseed muffins are a real treat though 🙂
I thought you were in Germany??
What an original idea for cornbread! I’ll have to try it, poppyseeds might be intersting in this concoction, too.
These muffins sound and look fantastic, Ashley! The lemon infusion is the perfect light & fresh summertime addition to cornbread.
oh those muffins look yum!
These look amazing, and since they’re gluten-free I’ll definitely be trying them! My favorite lemon dessert is lemon squares. I have an amazing recipe that I have to figure out how to make gluten-free…I’ll be working on that one.
What lovely muffins! Lemon is so perfect for summer baking and strawberry lemonade is one of my favorite summer treats!
I have to tell you, I am so impressed with your creative, healthy recipes. In fact, when I first found your blog (and before I found the amazing Google Reader!), I added it to my “favorites” and titled it “Sweet and Natural – great recipes”, haha!
Oh my, that sounds delicious. I love corn bread, I love lemon. I can’t imagine how they must be when combined!
Wow, yum!!! Those sound great! I LOVE lemon :). Are they breakfast, dessert, a snack or a side dish?? I guess it doesn’t really matter, but I like the idea of having them with a meal…I just don’t know what I would want with them! Maybe with chicken salad and fruit???
These do sound just delightful!
If I could hug you now I would!!!!!!!!! These rock!!!!!!!
In the old days, it was lemon poppyseed muffins, veganized. I still make them on occasion for my Mom and me (the Vegan with a Vengeance recipe)
What a great recipe! I need to make these!
i wish i had a muffin pan 😦
these look really good ash! i always forget how much i like lemon. what should we make together in september?! it has to be something really awesome!
These look so amazing! 🙂
Summer still hasn’t arrived here…rain rain rain! YUK! I thought that was for spring!
I love this twist on cornbread!
Lemon cake is amazing, it’s such a summer cake!
These look amazing! I’m thrilled I stumbled upon your blog… Love the refined-sugar take on my favorite baked goods.
Hi! I made your corn muffins last night and they are fabulous! I had been making cornbread with nonfat yogurt but my recipe called for a cup of sugar! So, after searching a very long time online for a more healthful recipe, I found yours and am very glad I did!
Thanks for sharing your bright, healthy ideas!
Thanks for this – made them tonight to go with my veggie chili. I didn’t have organic lemons, so I opted of using the zest, but I’m always happy when I can find simple gluten-free recipes without xanthan gum that work!