There are a lot of things you can do with country sausage. Stuffing sausage into corn muffins that are tender, tasty and made from scratch is one of them that is a perfect Southern treat.

The process is fairly easy. Brown the sausage and drain and then decide which cornbread camp you’re in. Do you want your cornbread to be more cornbread texture, crumbly? Use 1 1/2 cups cornmeal to 1/2 cup flour.

You have to decide if your sausage corn mufins to have cake-like or more cornmeal-like texture

Do you want your cornbread to be more cake-like in texture? Use even amounts of cornmeal to flour.

Do you like your sausage corn muffins on the sweet side?

Once you’ve solved that, do you want your cornbread sweet? This decision changes region to region.  Usually, I like a little bit of sweetness, but not so much when I’m adding sausage. If you like sweet, add the optional sugar.

Now you have to decide if you want spicy or mild sausage. Both are good, but I do tend to like spicy. You can use loose country sausage or just crumble up sausage patties.

Make Sausage Corn Muffins Gluten Free

When you choose to make sausage corn muffins gluten free, use the ratio 1 1/2 cups corn meal to 1/2 cup gluten free flour. Make sure your corn meal is made in a gluten free factory or is designated officially gluten free like this brand. My favorite gluten free flour is this brand.

Now that you’ve decided how you like your cornbread, make these muffins for your next brunch. You can also make these ahead, keep frozen and heat up for quick made from scratch breakfasts.

More Quickbreads from Spinach Tiger

More Cornbread Recipes from Spinach Tiger

Your might love this pimento cheese cornbread.

If you love this recipe, You might also love this sausage mozzarella biscuit with an Italian flair.

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Sausage Cornbread Muffins

Savory country sausage stuffed inside corn muffins is a wonderful breakfast treat.

Course Muffins

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound cooked, drained and crumbled mild country sausage
• 1 and ½ cups buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 ½ cups cornmeal see cooking notes order here
• ½ cup all purpose flour see note for gluten free option
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar optional
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

• Cook sausage patties in oven according to package instructions.
• Crumble into small bite sized pieces. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Melt butter in microwave (20-30 seconds)
• Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, sugar with a whisk until well incorporated.
• Mix in butter, shredded cheese, reserving 1/3 cup cheese to top muffins.
• Mix in sausage.
• Mix eggs with buttermilk and blend into dry mix. (Don’t over mix).
• Prepare muffin pans with baking spray or oil, or use cupcake liners.
• Pour into muffin pans.
• Top with about a teaspoon of cheese.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes until a tester comes out clean.
• Cooking Notes: for a more cake-like cornbread, mix 1 cup corn meal to 1 cup flour.

Notes

When making these gluten free, I use Bob's Red Mill one to one baking flour.

The post Sausage Corn Muffins, Gluten Free Option appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

The sage cornbread biscuit came about in my quest for making a biscuit that tasted a little like Thanksgiving. It has the sage, rosemary, cornmeal and reminds me a little bit of Cornbread dressing, a recipe coming soon.

This is a busy and wonderful time of year for a serious food blogger. My kitchen has been in Thanksgiving mode for several weeks now, and I’m going at full speed.  On Sunday I made four cooking videos just for you, all based on this holiday. Last year I made this video for roasting a turkey using cheesecloth and I didn’t get it up until after Thanksgiving, so be sure to watch it because it’s funny and it makes the best turkey without a lot of worry or fuss. It’s the only method I’ll use.

I didn’t grow up on cornbread dressing. I grew up on stuffing, but what makes both of  so delectable is that fresh sage, a fragrance that hits me deeply in the soul. It grows so bountifully in my herb garden and calls me to use it, lots of it, before that first big freeze when it all goes away. Sage is not as hardy as rosemary and thyme which will provide all year long, so I want to take full advantage of it while I have it.

These are made slightly different than my normal Southern Fluffy biscuits, my all time number one post  and has been visited by hundreds of thousands of people. Mind blowing right?  It has a video and this recipe will too. As soon as it’s edited, I’ll embed it here. If you subscribe to my cooking channel, it will be in your inbox.

I made these two different ways, each recipe providing a different texture. If you like a crumbly biscuit, use the recipe with half cornmeal and half flour. I prefer a less crumbly texture and I remade it with only 1/4 cornmeal, 3/4 flour ratio and liked that better, but it’s really a matter of taste. Both are good and this biscuit is especially nice with this chipotle cranberry sauce from Southern Flavors or sweet potato butter. Stay tuned for a very nice giveaway of their products.

As far as herbs, I used sage, rosemary, celery leaves which I toasted in the oven. You could use a dash of celery salt. This brought me as close to that flavor profile of corn bread dressing while still being a biscuit.

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Sage Cornbread Biscuits with Video

The sage cornbread biscuit is a nod to cornbread dressing, fluffy, crispy and aromatic.

Course Biscuit

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 cup cormeal
• 1 cup all purpose flour see notes
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried celery leaves
• 4-6 sage leaves
• 6 tablespoons butter frozen in one piece
• 1 cup buttermilk
• milk for brushing over biscuits

Instructions

• Mix together the cornmeal and flour.
• Add together, salt, baking powder, sugar
• Prepare herbs by roasting fresh sage leaves and leaves from celery for about five minutes at 400. Optionally, you can use fresh sage as is and substitute 1/8 teaspoon celery salt.
• Add in fresh herbs.
• Grate butter in. Or cut butter in chunks and incorporate in with fingers.
• Add in buttermilk. Form dough.
• Pat down. Cut out 8-10 biscuits.
• Brush with milk
• Put in cast iron pan, touching (or baking sheet).
• Bake for 15 minutes at 450.

Notes

For a less crumbly biscuit change the recipe to 1/2 cup of cornmeal and 1 1/2 cups of flour

The post Recipe for Sage Cornmeal Biscuits with Video appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I have made cornbread six times in the last two weeks and I thought I was going to say “this is my last corn bread for a while” But, I know it’s not. I made two cornbread pans with an enriched cornmeal, and then I purchased corn meal from the guy at the farmer’s market that ground it himself. White, Yellow and Blue. And, I was driven to dig into cornbread, trying to figure out why my husband’s grandmother, aptly called Mema (pronounced meemaw), would eat corn bread every night for dinner, made in a cast iron skillet, inside a wood burning stove. And, D.C. said it tasted just as homey and good as it sounds.

The first answer, of course, was that they grew their own corn. But, I think the second answer would be a corn bread addiction. I never made corn bread in my life, but one slice was leading to the next slice to the next pan. Perhaps, it’s the sweetness of the corn, although in true East Tennessee tradition, I barely added sugar. Perhaps it’s the texture, chewy, crispy bottom, moist and crumbly on the inside. And, there is a third reason…cultural pride of cornbread tradition. And, I like that. The Italians have their food pride in every region, so I respect and appreciate the Tennessee pride in good corn bread.

And, then I discovered there is a National Cornbread Festival in South. Pittsburg, Tennessee (near Chattanooga) in April. Well, you just bet that I have marked my calendar for this. They even have a national cornbread theme song. They sing about pinto beans, turnip greens, corn bread, clowns, puppeteers, a 5K corn bread run, music, all happening April 24-25.

As I looked through the winning recipes, I realized just how corn bread boring I am. Last year’s number winner won with buffalo chicken cornbread and blue cheese salad, while I’m still trying to get just good old-fashioned corn bread perfected. And, to mildly exciting, here is blue cornbread with pine nuts. The texture is perfect, and you can see the bottom browned and crispy/chewy. I used a mixture of buttermilk and sour cream because it was what I had available.

This time I made it in a rectangular stone baking sheet, which makes nice small squares. Blue corn meal is a bit sweeter than regular, and in the Native American culture, thought to to mean long life. Blue corn meal is often prepared with pine nuts. Instead of using a little sugar, I used some raw agave nectar, but not too much, as this shouldn’t be a really sweet bread. From this recipe, one could make croutons for a bean soup, or even prepare a corn bread dressing.

Natasha of 5 Star Foodie challenged her readers to prepare cornbread this month, using either traditional or innovative recipes, and this is my entry for her 5 Star Makeover.

Traditional Southern, Buttermilk Cornbread, recipe found here.

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Blue Corn Bread with Pine Nuts

3 tablespoons canola oil 3 cups blue cornmeal 2 tablespoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 cup buttermilk 1 cup sour cream (or a second cup of buttermilk) 1/2 cup milk 2 eggs 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons raw agave nectar 1/2 cup lightly toasted pine nuts (optional)

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 cups blue cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup sour cream or a second cup of buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons raw agave nectar or sugar
• 1/2 cup lightly toasted pine nuts optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425. Put rectangular stone pan (or 10” cast iron) pan into oven with oil. As soon as oven is heated, pour any excess oil into batter below. Pour batter into pan and bake for 15 -20 minutes.
• Mix dry ingredients together.
• Mix eggs, buttermilk, sour cream and agave necar. Add dry to dry ingredients.
• If using rectangular baking sheet, bake for 15 minutes.
• If using cast iron pan, bake for 20 minutes.

The post Blue Corn Bread with Pine Nuts appeared first on Spinach Tiger.