The Best Vegan Buttermilk Gluten-Free Cornbread Recipe

Just the Best Vegan Buttermilk Gluten-Free Cornbread recipe out here, perfect for teatime or serving with Vegan Chili. Super easy to make, one bowl and one baking pan. It's moist and has just the right balance of sweetness and savory notes.

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We have found that this recipe can be stretched to the sweeter side, simply adding some extra sugar, and to the savory side, just adding some extra salt, without risking the texture or rising of the dough.

Every time we have our Vegan chili, we either pair it with some avocado and a bowl of brown rice or with this delicious vegan buttermilk cornbread. Of course, the cornbread pairing is the winner, so we go for this gluten-free cornbread when we don't mind waiting 25 minutes.

Why you will love it

1. Gluten-free. It's safe to eat for people with celiac disease or simply avoiding gluten.
2. Dairy-free. Lactose intolerant or vegan, you have come to the righ place.
3. Egg-free. Egg allergies or vegan? We have you covered!
4. Adjustable and easily scalable. It's easily adjustable to the sweet or savory side. The proposal is a little sweet, but not overly so. It's not a savory Gluten-Free Cornbread, though, but I have turned it into savory cornbread just playing with the sugar/salt ratios with excellent results.
5. Moisture. It's very moist, with the perfect amount of puffy cornbread texture, without too much "grit" in them
6. Easily made buttermilk. It's made with 2-ingredient vegan buttermilk in 5 minutes while you measure your dry ingredients.
7. Hassle-free. You just need one bowl and a baking pan, making it super simple: dump, mix and bake! Perfect every time.
8. Oil-free option. Easily make an oil-free version replacing vegan buttr with apple sauce.
9. No waiting. You can eat it stright out of the oven, no waiting or setting time.
10. Last but not least... it always come out perfectly! Really, the only way to mess it up is to burn it, just set your oven to 25 minutes and you are garanteed getting it right 100% of the time.

Serve this Dairy-free Cornbread with this Vegan Chili and fresh avocado for optimal results!

Ingredients

• Gluten-free flour (or all-purpose, if you don't mind gluten)
• Yellow cornmeal
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Vegan butter or margarine, or neutral oil
• Sugar
• Salt
• Unsweetened and unflavored plant-milk
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

See quantities and full instructions in the recipe card.

Instructions

Preheat oven. et it to 400ºF (200 ºC).

Make the buttermilk. Mix the plant milk and lemon juice and reserve for 5 minutes.

Mix the dry ingredients followed by the wet ingredients, including the melted vegan butter. Now, you have your gluten-free cornbread mix ready.

Pour the batter into a baking pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Variations

Flour – if you don't mind the gluten in your flour, you can use either all-purpose flour or bread flour (strong). The Gluten-Free flour we are using is a mixture of garbanzo bean, sorghum, fava bean flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour. It works perfectly.

Cornmeal – if you don't like any grittiness in your cornbread at all, make sure to use fine cornmeal. we are using Bob's Mill medium grind cornmeal.

Vegan butter – any vegan butter or margarine will work. We have also used canola, grapeseed, and avocado oils (all neutral oils), in the same proportions. It will work. You will miss some of the buttery flavor, but it is barely noticeable. If you are vegetarian and don't mind using regular butter, go ahead. The same applies to milk.

Oil-free – you can make a vegan cornbread with applesauce instead of using any kind of oil if you prefer to prepare a healthier version.

Sweetness – if you like your cornbread sweeter, use an extra ¼ cup of sugar. We do this when we plan to have cornbread for breakfast with our coffee or teatime. You can also simply add a little bit of maple syrup on top before serving.

Savory – if you prefer your gluten-free cornbread to be savory, add ½ teaspoon of salt and use ⅓ cup of sugar. This is the recipe I use when aiming to remove most of the sweet notes but keep the cornbread essence.

Baking powder – if where you live, you can't find baking powder (yes, it happens! Here in Italy, baking powder is not used, but you can easily make your own in seconds!). Check how below.

Buttermilk – if you don't mind the buttermilk, which I strongly recommend, just use the same amount of plant milk, skip the lemon (or vinegar) and add ¼ teaspoon of baking powder.

How to Make Vegan Buttermilk

Homemade Vegan Buttermilk is easy to make and only takes 5 minutes and 2 ingredients. You need any kind of plant milk, such as soymilk and almond milk and you need something to make it curdle. You can use either one tablespoon of lemon or lime juice or one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.

Let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes until you see it looks thicker and you can see curdles.

It will only slightly curdle because the regular milk solids separate from the whey but in this case, plant milk doesn't have as much fat content as regular cows' milk, but it is ready to use.

How to make baking powder at home

To make this DIY baking powder, simply mix

• 2 parts of baking soda
• 2 parts of cream of tartar
• 1 part of cornstarch (also known as Maizena).

This homemade baking powder can be kept in a closed Tupperware and use in the future. It keeps well in the fridge.

How to Serve

This delicious Gluten-Free Cornbread pairs very well with hearty dishes such as this Vegan Chili or these Creamy Red Lentils.

We love also having it for breakfast, during the weekend with freshly made coffee or Vegan Golden Milk.

Last but not least, of course, Cornbread is a staple in our Thanksgiving table, especially paired with our favorite Spiced Cranberry Sauce, Applesauce, and the never-ever missing pumpkin pie.

Storing

You can store this easy vegan cornbread covered at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.

You can also freeze this egg-free cornbread for up to 1 month.

More Easy Baking Vegan Ideas

• The Best Vegan Pumpkin Pie
• Pangiallo Romano
• Healthier Pangiallo romano version
• Easy Vegan Bread Loaf

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!

Recipe: The Best Vegan Buttermilk Gluten-Free Cornbread

Gus

Just the Best Vegan Buttermilk Gluten-Free Cornbread recipe out here, perfect for teatime or serving with Vegan Chili. Super easy to make, one bowl and one baking pan. It's moist and has just the right balance of sweetness and savory notes.

5 from 17 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Sides

Cuisine American, Mexican

Servings 12 servings

Calories 166 kcal

Equipment

• Rectangle Baking Pan
• Bowl

Ingredients

 

CupsMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 1 ¼ cups gluten-free flour or all-purpose, or strong flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal medium grind
• ½ cup organic sugar cane or white granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ⅓ cup vegan butter melted, margarine, canola, and avocado oil
• 1 ¼ cup unsweetened soy milk or almond milk recipe, soymilk recipe
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

FOR SERVING optional

• Vegan butter
• Maple syrup
• Vegan Chili recipe

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 400ºF and lightly grease an 8 x 10" pan (20 x 25 cm), 8 x 8" (20 x 20 cm), or a 9-inch (23 cm) round cake pan.
• Make the buttermilk. Measure out soy milk and add lemon juice. Set aside.
  1 ¼ cup unsweetened soy milk, 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Mix the dry ingredients.
  1 ¼ cups gluten-free flour, 1 cup yellow cornmeal, ½ cup organic sugar cane, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
• Add the wet ingredients. Stir until well combined.
  1 ¼ cup unsweetened soy milk, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ⅓ cup vegan butter
• Pour in a pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top, looks golden and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Video

Notes

You may use all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour in place of if you wish.To make it oil-free, you can choose to replace the vegan butter with applesauce.

Storing
You can store this easy vegan cornbread covered at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.

You can also freeze this egg-free cornbread for up to 1 month.

You may want to substitute organic cane sugar for a natural sweetener. I wouldn't suggest you do so. The cornbread's flavor and texture are compromised when using sweeteners like maple, agave syrup, and even coconut sugar. Yes, we have tried that.

Notes: This is an adapted recipe from allrecipes.

Nutrition

Calories: 166kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 3gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 246mgPotassium: 79mgFiber: 3gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 292IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 70mgIron: 1mg

Keyword cornbread, egg-free corbread, gluten-free cornbread, homemade baking powder, vegan baking, vegan buttermilk, vegan cornbread

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Food safety

We sometimes take for granted that we have years (or decades) of cooking experience that the average visitor may not. Add to, or remove from, the list below with health and safety tips.

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full Nutritional Disclosure here.

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