You don’t need fancy equipment or fancy ingredients to make good cornbread. This recipe is pantry friendly and will be ready before you know it! Even with the baking time! You can think of this as a base recipe if you’d like. You can add corn if you’d like, jalapeños, or even some vegan cheddar. But I usually enjoy it in its unadulterated form, because I’m honestly not even sure if it gets better!
How to make vegan cornbread:
Cornbread is basically a savory cake. Well I suppose some people like it rather sweet, but I’m not one of those people. But sweet or savory, it’s texture is more reminiscent to cake than it is to a bread roll. And my approach to making cornbread is more similar to my approach to cake than it is to baking bread. This means it’s non-fussy. The non vegan ingredients in cornbread are typically: butter, milk, and eggs. The first two are easy to swap out–use a vegan butter and a plant based milk. Eggs are theoretically trickier, lending both leavening and binding to the cornbread. But in practice it’s no big deal to remove them. My recipe uses cornstarch for added binding (and the gluten in the wheat flour also acts as a binder) and baking powder and baking soda for leavening. This cornbread recipe uses a “buttermilk” to help get that tender crumb. To make a vegan buttermilk we add vinegar to plant milk (soy, almond, and oat work best) and this clabbers the milk. The vinegar also provides the acid that baking soda needs to activate and do it’s leavening job!
The method:
So that’s the why of the ingredients but let’s go over the how. And you’re in luck because this stuff is easy. Like 4 steps to the recipe easy. First turn on your oven and give it time to preheat. Also, prepare your baking pan by spraying it with oil or lightly greasing it. You can use a cake pan or a cast iron skillet for this recipe! While you’re waiting for the oven to preheat, prep your vegan buttermilk. Add the vinegar to the plant milk and set it aside to curdle, this takes about 5-10 minutes. Now measure out your dry ingredients and whisk them together in a large mixing bowl. Add the vegan buttermilk and melted vegan butter. And whisk to make a fairly smooth batter–as in it should be pretty smooth but don’t over mix to get rid of a stubborn remaining lump or two. I love weights for baking, but if you’re going to measure by volume you should follow my method which is to whisk the flour to undo any settling, then scoop with the measuring cup and level. Pour that batter into the pan and bake the cornbread until a tester comes out clean! Let your cornbread cool for a few minutes cutting up and serving! Enjoy with a pat of vegan butter, dipped into chili or other stews, for snacks or alongside any meal! If you make this easy vegan cornbread, leave a comment below and rate the recipe on the recipe card. And please share your photos with me on Instagram, tag @thecuriouschickpea and #thecuriouschickpea. I love seeing your recreations! To properly measure your flour, whisk it to undo any settling, then scoop with a measuring cup and level with the back of a knife. Leftovers can be stored tightly sealed at room temperature for about a week. Recipe adapted from Paula Deen.
Wilton 2105-956 Recipe Right Non-Stick 8 Inch Square Pan, 8" x 8" x 2" (1-Unit) OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale with Pull-Out Display, 11-Pound Arrowhead Mills Organic Gluten Free Yellow Corn Meal, 22 oz. Bag (Pack of 6)
