Corn Bread. Vegan, Oil-free and Gluten-free!

UPDATE: Since I posted this recipe for ya’ll I’ve been experimenting with different kinds of gluten-free flours and the use and omission of flax as a binder. The original was definitely good but I just wasn’t 100% satisfied with the texture. And when baking gluten-free it’s all about the texture isn’t it? So, below is an updated recipe. Turns out, no need for the “flax egg” and I changed the corn flour to sorghum. Of course, if you’re not gluten-free you can simply use whole wheat or spelt with the corn meal.

I had lost count on the number of times I tried to create an oil-free corn bread recipe. It just wasn’t happening. I literally gave up. The problem was, I was being too complex…

This bread comes together with the simplest of ingredients. Many thanks to the Happy Herbivore. I came across her recipe and was astonished at the minimal, whole food ingredients. But I wanted to take it a step further and make it gluten-free. I also used much less sweetener. Lindsay’s recipe uses “featherweight baking powder” which I haven’t gotten my dust-covered, baking hands on yet. I imagine it would make the result that much better. I’ll let you know… just ordered some!

UPDATE: I got my featherweight baking powder and tried it. Ugh. I don’t know. Maybe it works well with wheat flour but in this gluten-free version, I am sticking with my regular powder. The batter puffed up and got really thick when I combined the wet and dry ingredients. Usually, the batter is very thin and “pourable.” I scooped it into the baking pan and leveled it out. It never rose in the oven. So it was very dense. It still tasted okay and we ate it but I would not recommend using that other baking powder for this recipe!

Ingredients:

~ dry:

1 cup corn meal
½ cup sorghum flour
½ cup brown rice flour
1 TBS sifted baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt (optional)

~ wet:

1 cup unsweetened, plant-based milk (I used soy)
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup pure maple syrup or other liquid sweetener of your choice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F.
Mix all dry ingredients together.
Combine all wet ingredients and mix into the dry ingredients.
Pour into a lightly oiled 9″ square baking dish or other oven-proof dish. A pie plate will work, too.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.