Please tell me that food in jars isn’t past its heyday, as I’m just now jumping on the bandwagon… unless of course you account for the oats-in-a-jar (OIAJ, anyone?) I’ve been enjoying for a few years (the best way to empty out a peanut butter jar!).
This recipe marks my first foray into using jars as a baking vessel, so I had to do some research regarding oven temperature. According to my *limited* research, you can bake most anything in a jar so long as you set the oven temperature low enough to keep the glass form breaking.
You also have to be mindful of baking time, as different sized jars will require different amounts.
So. Food in jars.
I decided to keep things simple for my first go-around by making cornbread, but I amped up the seasonal flavor by including pumpkin and warm autumnal spices.
Maple syrup and brown sugar add a subtle sweetness, and a dusting of Turbinado sugar yields an irresistible crunchy topping.
The bread is moist, slightly spongy, pleasantly dense, and gorgeously sunset-hued. The serving yield will depend on the size of jars you use… I used three mismatched jars I’ve kept from various purchased products.
I’m getting a little ahead of myself here, but I think this would be a fun presentation for Thanksgiving! We don’t often have a bread offering – other than stuffing – on our Thanksgiving day table, but petite jars filled with this tasty pumpkin cornbread would make for cute place card settings.
Or, you could just make them for yourself and blow through two jars in one day like I did ;).
Pumpkin Cornbread Baked in Jars
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30-45 minutes
Keywords: bake appetizer bread side snack pumpkin Halloween Thanksgiving fall
Ingredients (2-4 servings)
- 6 Tbsp finely ground cornmeal
- 6 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp each ground ginger, nutmeg, & cloves
- 1/4 cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
- 2 Tbsp low fat buttermilk
- 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 1 egg, preferably organic
- 2 tsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp Turbinado sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease glass jars (I used three of varying size).
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices.
In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, buttermilk, pumpkin puree, egg, and maple syrup.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir just until combined. Pour batter into the prepared jars, and sprinkle each evenly with the Turbinado sugar.
Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean & cornbread springs back when you gently push on it, about 30-45 minutes, depending on jar size.
