Blue cornmeal is a staple in all gourmet kitchens. It has a sweet, intense flavor & a hearty texture. We've provided recipes for blue cornbreads and tortillas! Thanks to Trent, we even have a recipe for dog treats!

Blue Corn Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup blue cornmeal
• 1/2 cup white flour, unbleached
• 2/3 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnut halves

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Use an ungreased cookie sheet, set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together, then add vanilla and egg. Now add the blue cornmeal and flour; mix well, fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Bake 8-10 minutes. Makes 1 dozen cookies.

The above recipe courtesy of Bob's Red Mill.

Blue Corn Poppyseed Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter (cold)
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs, well-beaten
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1 cup white flour, unbleached
• 1 cup blue cornmeal
• 1/3 cup poppy seeds

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, vanilla, baking powder and sea salt. Stir well. Add blue cornmeal and flour and mix well. Add poppyseeds.

Chill dough for an hour.

Preheat oven to 375-degrees F. Use an ungreased cookie sheet.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters (or not). Bake 10-12 minutes. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

The above recipe courtesy of Bob's Red Mill. 

Blue Corn Walnut Biscuits

• 1/3 cup butter (cold)
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup blue cornmeal
• 1/2 cup white flour, unbleached
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup chopped walnut halves

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet, set aside.

Cream butter, honey and vanilla together. Add egg and stir well. In a separate bowl, combine blue cornmeal, flour and baking powder together and blend well. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add walnuts.

Pat out dough or use a rolling pin to create biscuits about 2-3 inches wide and 1/2-inch thick. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Allow to stand a few minutes until a soft blue comes through the dough. This is for appearance only; they make beautiful sky-blue mounds.

Bake 5-10 minutes. If preferred, substitute almonds for walnuts and almond extract for the vanilla. Makes 1 dozen biscuits.

The above recipe courtesy of Bob's Red Mill. 

Friday Night Fish Fry Breading Recipe from Trent Gaines in Odessa, TX

NOTE FROM TRENT: Where my wife and I lived before moving here to Odessa last year, every little town or community, even some bigger towns (100,000 people), every Friday w/out fail, was some variation of Friday Night Catfish. Even our little bodunk town of less than 300 people had a little cafe so everyone could have fried catfish at supper Friday evenings. This breading can be used on fish, shrimp - anything fried that you want a lemon-pepper breading on.

• Zest of 1 large lemon (approx. 1 Tbsp.)(reserve remainder of juice for later use)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1Tbsp. red or black cracked peppercorns
• 1 cup flour
• 1-1/4 cup blue cornmeal
• 2 Tbsp. mesquite flour

Combine juice of lemon, eggs and milk in a bowl, mixing well. In a seperate bowl, mix remaining ingredients until blended well.

Soak fish in liquid mixture while oil heats to 400-degrees F. Coat fish well in dry batter and carefully place in hot oil about 2-3 minutes on each side depending on how crispy you want your batter. If frying shrimp, batter will set quickly and shrimp only need about 1-1/2 minutes to cook thoroughly.

Recipe is enough for 12 average size filets or 2 pounds of large shrimp.

Sweet Cornbread Recipe from Trent Gaines in Odessa, TX

Trent's #1 rule above all others for making this cornbread a success - you need a 9-inch cast iron skillet with a little rust on the handle (OK, so the rust is a bit much, but you have to use the cast iron). 

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1-1/4 cup blue cornmeal
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 3 Tbsp. clover honey
• 2/3 cup turbinado sugar (substitute white sugar if preferred)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup oil (corn or canola) + 2 Tbsp. for coating skillet
• 1/2 can creamed corn (half of a 15 oz. can)
• 1/2 can Hatch green chilies (mild or hot, whichever you prefer)
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Set oven to 400-degrees F; if needed, make adjustments so that bread can be baked on middle rack. In a medium-size mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add all other ingredients except milk -- stir well to combine. Mix milk in slowly -- you should have a firm yet pliable batter; if too firm, add milk 1 Tbsp. at a time until batter is pliable again. Put 2 Tbsp. oil in iron skillet, make sure oil coats entire bottom.

Pour batter into skillet and scrape bowl to get all that you can in the skillet. Set skillet on middle rack and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven -- let cool in pan 5 minutes. Slice into 8 sections. Add unsalted butter if you like.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 25 minutes
Cooling Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Enjoy!

NOTE FROM TRENT: There will be more recipes to come; this is just a short and easy one for sweet cornbread that I know to the "T" by heart. It has been in my family -- Great Grandparents, Grandparents, Mother -- as long as I can remember. My Great Grandparents ran a farm in a little community called May, Texas (central part of the state SE of Dallas). I remember as a kid going to the farm and getting to eat freshly made biscuits with fresh honey, eggs from the coop, bacon that came from a pig that had been slaughtered somewhere along the way -- everything was homemade and raised on the farm. I don't know of too many items that were bought in a store. My Grandpa was one of the guys who helped build Hoover Dam and he and my MeeMaw lived out of a tent near the site while the project was on going.

(This is an account of what I remember MeeMaw telling me) MeeMaw said that Grandpa always complained about the salty taste of the bread that the concrete foreman's wife made for his crew, but it held him over until supper time when he got back to the tent. So MeeMaw decided she'd make Grandpa some sweetbread that was well formed and pliable and wouldn't crumble in his apron for Grandpa to snack on -- Grandpa was a huge fan of sugar and sweets. This recipe has been handed over the generations and the ingredients have changed or varied dependant on folks taste. My Mom died in a car crash in 2006 in Southeastern Utah and the thing I wanted most of hers were all her recipes which included all of her Mom's recipes, who died '05 and all of her Mom's recipe who died in '86 and even a few others that trickled down over the years by way of different places people worked or at home recipe clubs that housewives joined in their neighborhoods throughout the 50's, 60's, and early 70's. I remember my mom hosting several.

Peanut Butter Doozies Recipe (Dog Treats) from Trent Gaines in Odessa, TX

• 1/2 cup water a little (more later if needed)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (prefer organic/natural, but any will do)
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup blue cornmeal
• 1/2 cup oats (regular or quick)
• 1-to-2 Tbsp. mesquite flour

Optional: dried fruits such as apple, banana, pineapple. Note: Using dried fruits will allow for not needing to refrigerate the treats - fresh fruits may eventually spoil. Additional Note: If your dog is a nut lover, grind some nuts to nearly powder so there's no choking hazard.

Heat oven to 400-degrees F. Blend wet ingredients. Whisk together dry ingredients. Blend together the wet and dry. This will form an oily dough ball. Quarter the ball and roll out to 3/8 to 1/4 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to make shapes, or cut dough into strips. Place in oven on cookie trays for 20 minutes (25-30 if using fresh fruits). Let cool on cooling racks. Store in air-tight containers or in the fridge. Makes 8-10 dozen using small cookie cutters.

Note: dough can be frozen, it needs to be protected well from freezer burn.

Blue Cornmeal Dumplings Recipe from Trent Gaines in Odessa, TX

Here's another great recipe from Trent that can be prepared in advance and even stored frozen.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• 3/4 cup blue cornmeal
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 Tbsp. mesquite flour
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 cup milk (whole milk; if using 1% or 2% milk, add 1/8 cup milk)

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, leaving a well in the middle. Over low heat, bring butter and milk to a simmer --do NOT let it get frothy and scorch!

Combine the butter and milk mixture with a fork until it just comes together. Turn out to a lightly floured surface. Roll out to 1/8" thickness. Cut into 1 inch strips. Put on a baking sheet and cover with plastic. Refrigerate until ready to use.

When ready to use, drop dumplings into boiling soup or stew. Cover and cook about 10 to 15 minutes.

Red, White & Blue Chips Recipe from Trent Gaines in Odessa, TX

This recipe is for 4th of July festivities - it is fairly simple and can be prepared in advance.

To create these chips, three colors of cornmeal are needed: red, white & blue. Only one color of chip will be created at a time - all three colors will use the same recipe.

For each color, you will need two well greased cookie sheets and light sprinkling of cornmeal.

• 1 cup blue cornmeal
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 Tbsp. nonfat dry milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp. worchestershire sauce 
• Optional seasonings: garlic powder, chipotle powder, cheese sauce powder, tomato powder, onion/celery salt, oregano, chile powder, mesquite flour, make them desert type and use cinnamon/sugar.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and nonfat dry milk in a mixing bowl. In a glass measure, combine the water, oil and worcestershire sauce, mixing well. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour the liquid mixture into the well; stir mixture with a fork to mix well.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth, about 1 minute. Divide the dough in half and place each dough half on a prepared cookie sheet.

Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough directly onto the cookie sheets to spread very thinly, about 1/16-inch thickness. Sprinkle lightly with the desired seasonings and roll-over lightly with the rolling pin to press seasonings in. Using a pizza cutter (or very sharp knife), cut dough into squares, triangles or other desired shapes.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool completely on cookies sheets. Store tightly sealed to retain crispness. Makes approximately 12 ounces of chips.

Repeat for the red cornmeal, and the white cornmeal. Note: The colors will not be "rich" colors, but they come pretty close.

Enjoy!