Confession: This is a health- and fitness-focused blog, but I don’t eat kale 24/7 or work out like crazy every.single.day.

It’s simply not practical — or, let’s face it — fun. 

After all, it’s all about balance. And, friends, sometimes that balance comes in the form of bacon grease and maple syrup…enjoy!

Bacon Maple Cornbread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups cornmeal
• 1 egg
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 6 tablespoons maple syrup
• ~1/2 cup bacon grease
• Butter and honey, for spreading

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix flour, cornmeal, egg, baking powder and 1 cup of the milk.
3. Stir in maple syrup and bacon grease.
4. Add in remainder of milk to get batter to the correct consistency — not runny, but not too thick.
5. Pour batter into cake pan and bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes.
6. Smother with butter and honey for a real treat 🙂

You can make individual muffins (bake for 15-20 minutes), but I prefer a larger pan to keep the cornbread from drying out.

It’s got a nice smoky flavor from the bacon and a natural sweetness from the maple syrup. The perfect accompaniment to some good BBQ…but that’s another post entirely!

How do you define balance when it comes to working out and eating healthy?