Recipe for Mango Spoon Bread (Gluten Free)

This past week I embarked on a new kitchen adventure--making spoon bread. After two rounds of experimenting, I came up with the fruited version below, which is based on the More With Less basic spoon bread recipe.   Here's my take on a Southern classic:

Since it is so flavorful and nutrient-rich, I like to add molasses to any bread recipe that I can manage.  And in this case, molasses complements the cornmeal flavor beautifully.   The mango and pecans add fruitiness and a rich flavor that allow the spoon bread to be served as either a side dish or a dessert.

As a bonus, I discovered that making spoon bread is a great way to use up fresh milk!  We don't drink dairy milk, so I am always looking for recipes that can help me use up milk before it sours.  This recipe calls for 2 cups of milk altogether, but if you like, the ingredients can be doubled (or tripled) to serve more people.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk, divided
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 Tbsp. molasses
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 mango, diced
• chopped pecans, optional
• whipped cream, optional

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.  Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat 1 and 1/2 cups milk with cornmeal, stirring constantly until thickened.
2. Remove cornmeal from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cold milk.  Add eggs, molasses, sugar, and salt.
3. Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until center of spoon bread is set.
4. Remove spoon bread from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Then use a spoon to break up the spoon bread and mix in mango pieces.  Place individual servings in ramekins, if desired, and top with chopped pecans and/or whipped cream.