Blueberry Cornbread ♥ I love when you can eat the rejects

Berry season is in full swing. I hope everyone is buying cases of blueberries and freezing them while they are sweet as candy. Your tummy will thank you in the dead of winter. I can get 6 pints at $1.00 per and for me that is a bargain worth clearing a shelf in my freezer for. In the fall, when cranberries are ripe, I do the same.
Raspberries and blackberries need to be eaten when fresh, so let the commercial companies do the freezing for you.

Pancakes a must, a blueberry cheesecake a given, and instead of muffins I am baking a blueberry cornbread.
I also put a duck breast with blueberry port sauce on the menu and if there are any left over, I would like to make a small batch of jam.

I choose the cornbread instead of muffins because I can portion it out, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze them if they are not eaten in a few days. The Nudge has already committed to half. Without those blueberries he wouldn't have even answered me. It's a good way for me to get him to eat a breakfast that is all good.
I mean who doesn't already know that blueberries are a Super Food and it doesn't hurt that sweet blueberries make everything eatable.

While my usual 'go to' for baked goods is Martha, I thought the cornbread on Recipe Girl looked yummy, so I gave it a whirl. I have been buying corn muffins at BJ's for years and while I know they are over 500 calories each, they just taste great and I can't pass them up. I am hoping to fill in the 'tween time with hers and maybe be a suitable replacement.

Although I loved the ease of this recipe, there are a few things I would change if I make these again.
First, I did not have buttermilk so I would like to use that next time.
I would use half the berries called for, while I love them, they overtook the batter. The large ones tend to fall to the bottom no matter how much flour you mix them with so I would pull out all the large berries.
I also used a medium ground yellow cornmeal but I think a fine ground would work better and maybe even a mix of corn flour, cornmeal and AP, so the corn flavor is still there. That is why I choose this recipe after all.

I think the problem was with me. This really is a very good blueberry cornbread. The Nudge actually made a point of telling me it was delicious.
When I think about it, what I was going for is a cake (not too airy), using cornmeal (not dense like a cornbread) with a streusel topping.

If you would love a very dense cornbread with pockets of airy blueberries, this recipe is for you.
Me? I recently heard about a blueberry cornmeal coffee cake recipe straight out of Smitten Kitchen's cookbook. Just might be my holy grail.

See ya next week. Back to the drawing board for me, but no dis-pare.  Not a bad way to use up my stash, especially when you can eat the rejects!!

Blueberry Cornbread
Adapted from Recipe Girl and highly recommended by Wish Upon A Dish
Yield: 16 pieces
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 40 min

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal (stone/course ground works best)
1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, divided

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square Pyrex or metal pan with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugars, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients, then pour in the melted butter too. Mix just until incorporated (don't over-mix). Stir in 1 cup of the blueberries. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries on top.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until the edges turn golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.