This northern style cornbread is a sweet version of its southern counterpart . It is super moist, delicious and most importantly gluten and dairy free too. Cornbread that is made with a handful of ingredients and guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser.
If you are looking for some sweet cornbread that is free from gluten and contains no dairy, then I promise you that is cornbread will go down as a real treat this thanksgiving.
It’s so good that you don’t even have to wait until thanksgiving to whip up a batch for the entire family.
I remember my first time trying cornbread when I went to the southern states of America. I had some cornbread with some beans on the side.
Let me tell you that the food was truly delicious and finger licking good. To the point where you wanna head to the restaurant’s kitchen, find the chef and ask for the recipe so you can make it at home.
This the Northern style cornbread which is sweet in taste but still super moist and great to serve at a family gathering.
You can also serve this cornbread with some Candied Yams, Sweet Potato Pudding or even some Caribbean style Potato Stuffing.
What is cornbread?
Cornbread is a type of quick bread made with cornmeal. It is a bread that is commonly associated with American cuisines, more specifically the southern region.
Typically you will find that cornbread is made on a piping hot iron skillet sealed with bacon grease which is then baked in the oven.
However it can also be steamed albeit this is quite rare and a rather soft/mushy texture more like a pudding (pone).
Northern vs southern cornbread
There is a clear distinction between northern and southern cornbread. The former is lighter, sweet and relies on flour and sugar for sweetness and a more cake like texture.
Therefore is not unusual to see the northern cornbread being prepared to be baked in a rectangle or square baking tin and once baked cut into in squares.
The latter is crispy, crunchy and grainier while depending on a much more coarser type of cornmeal and omits the use of sweetener with little to no flour used at all. It is made in a cast iron skillet and cut into wedges upon serving.
I guess you could say that the northern is an imitation or a spin off of the original renown southern style cornbread.
Some people feel that sugar has no place in cornbread but I simply embrace both versions and make which I see fit for the occasion
Ingredients you will need
- Yellow cornmeal: I like to use the finest grain of cornmeal for my cornbread. It’s the stuff that is so powdery that it looks like flour. Some places refer to it is cornflour, but you can use the coarse/gritty texture cornmeal if you wish to.
- Gluten free flour: I use Bob Red Mills 1 to 1 ratio flour blend because it is pre-blended with an assortment of gluten free flours but I will discuss in more detail so other options to use.
- Oil: I like to use olive oil because it’s super quick, some people use coconut or even canola oil but I think a neutral oil works best.
- Eggs: I use large free range eggs.
- Baking powder: Regular old baking powder but if you are sensitive to trace be sure to use GF.
- Coconut sugar: This is a low GI version of dark sugar, it taste just like butterscotch and isn’t overly sugar like brown sugar which is great if you are after a subtle (not too overpowering) as of sweetness.
- Dairy free butter: I like to use vitalite but some people use another vegan butter called earth balance.
- Almond milk: Almond milk is fatty, it helps to create that balance out the moisture from the dry ingredients and doesn’t have a strong taste like coconut milk but you can use that if you want to.
- Lemon juice: Used for the acidity to make buttermilk
- Himalayan pink salt: Simply to enhance the taste.
Other gluten free flour options
Fortunately, for you guys I have been your guinea pig and made the recipe a few times now and played around a bit with some other variations of gluten free flour. I have come to the conclusion that it is best to use either buckwheat flour or rice flour.
Buckwheat flour: Contrary to the name buckwheat actually derives from the rhubarb family and contains absolutely no gluten. It’s quite a dense, nutty textured flour with a dark hue to it and due to it’s density you might want to add some tapioca starch to reduce it’s denseness and to act as a binder.
i.e. 1 cup of buckwheat flour with 3/4 cup of tapioca starch.
Although buckwheat yield nutritional value to your cornbread will be more dense in taste and texture.
Brown rice flour: There are a few rice flour but I personally love brown rice because it’s obviously whole grain and it’s overpowering in taste like some GF flours i.e millet/quinoa.
You can easily use brown flour alone but I would recommend adding 1 tsp of xantham gum so the cornbread isn’t crumbly.
How to make dairy free cornbread
- Preheat the oven at 180c/356F/gas mark 4
- Grease a square baking tin and set aside (picture 1)
- In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, gluten free flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, pink salt, stir and set aside. (picture 2-3)
- In a bowl or jug, whisk together the almond milk with the lemon juice to make buttermilk and wait for the milk to curdle slightly. This should take a few minutes to achieve.
- Once the buttermilk has formed add and whisk the melted butter, eggs yolks and oil together.
- Pour and whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (picture 4-5)
- Have the egg whites in a separate bowl and whisk preferably with an electric whisk starting at the lowest setting then gradually increase the speed until egg white peaks are formed (picture 6)
- Fold a small amount of egg whites at a time into the batter using a spoon, try not to over mix so the air doesn’t escape nor the volume. (picture 7)
- Pour the batter into the baking tin (picture 8)
- Bake for roughly 30 minutes until golden in colour and check the cornbread is cooked through by testing it with a toothpick/skewer.
- Once bake allow to cool down before transferring onto a cooling rack
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free yoghurt: If you don’t want to use almond milk or simply don’t have any to hand, you can see make this recipe successfully using some coconut yoghurt. I would recommend adding the lemon juice to the yoghurt to yield that acidic buttermilk.
Flax or chia eggs: I seen a lot of amazing vegan cornbread recipes online that call for chia or Flax Eggs. I personally haven’t tried making my cornbread with flax eggs so you’re going to have to do a bit of trial and error. I would advise using the flax eggs with something with more structure like apple sauce.
Apple sauce: Another vegan favourite that’s applesauce, this yields great moisture without the use of eggs.
Additional add ins
- Dairy free cheese
- Chilli
- Corn kernels
- Herbs – chives, thyme, parsley
- Onion
- Nuts or seeds
Frequently asked questions
How long will the cornbread last?
2-3 days, but make sure the cornbread is tightly wrapped or stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Can you make the recipe batch into muffins instead?
Yes, sure simply use a muffin tin instead of a baking square pan.
Can you freeze the cornbread?
Yes, simply store the cornbread in a freezer friendly bag or aluminium foil for 1-2 months. You can either store it whole or into small slices. Just make sure to thaw out completely either in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature.
Why did my cornbread come out crumbly?
If the cornbread is crumbly it could be because the egg whites were folded into the batter and the air was lost. Alternatively, it might be due to using too much flour so next time reduce the the flour by 1/4 cup.
Why is my cornbread heavy/wet?
If the cornbread is wet at the bottom, it needs to be baked some more. If it hasn’t baked in the given time simply cover the top of your cornbread with foil to stop it from burning and continue to bake until it’s done (skewer comes out clean). Check it’s readiness every 15 minutes or so.
How do I reheat the cornbread?
Wrap the cornbread in foil and heat in the oven until completely heated through.
Notes and tips
- I used a cake tin that was 8.5″ x 3 (21.5cm x 8cm)
- Use whatever grain of cornmeal you prefer. The more powdery cornmeal results in a fine fluffy cornbread while coarse cornmeal yield a grainier texture.
- Depending on the country cornmeal is known as cornflour or polenta.
- If you don’t want to use a gluten free flour blend then use either brown rice flour or buckwheat although buckwheat is quite dense so you may need to add more liquid
- To make this recipe flourless use almond meal instead
- Make sure to separate the egg whites and whip up the whites. This is crucial to achieving more volume and a soft, fluffy cornbread
- The amount of sweetness is dependent upon each person I used 1/2 cup coconut sugar which is a subtle amount of sweetness. Use 1/4 cup of less if you only want a hint of sweetness or more if you want it super sweet.
- To have the recipe more savoury simply omit the use of sugar and follow the steps
- Use a muffin tin to make cornbread muffins if you wish
What does cornbread go with?
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Sweet Dairy Free Cornbread
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 3/4 cups gluten free flour I use Bob Red Mills 1 to 1 baking flour
- 3/4 cup dairy free butter melted
- 1 cup almond milk or coconut milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 4 large eggs yolks and whites separated
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 -1/2 cup coconut sugar depending on how sweet you want yours
- 2 tbsp oil coconut or olive
- 1/4 tsp himalayan pink salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 180c/356F/gas mark 4
- Grease a square baking tin and set aside
- In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, gluten free flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, pink salt, stir and set aside.
- In a bowl or jug, whisk together the almond milk with the lemon juice to make buttermilk and wait for the milk to curdle slightly. This should take a few minutes to achieve.
- Once the buttermilk has formed add and whisk the melted butter, eggs yolks and oil together.
- Pour and whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients
- Have the egg whites in a separate bowl and whisk preferably with an electric whisk starting at the lowest setting then gradually increase the speed until egg white peaks are formed
- Fold a small amount of egg whites at a time into the batter using a spoon, try not to over mix so the air doesn't escape nor the volume.
- Pour the batter into the baking tin
- Bake for roughly 30 minutes until golden in colour and check the cornbread is cooked through by testing it with a toothpick/skewer.
- Once bake allow to cool down before transferring onto a cooling rack
Notes
- I used a cake tin that was 8.5" x 3 (21.5cm x 8cm)
- Use whatever grain of cornmeal you prefer. The more powdery cornmeal results in a fine fluffy cornbread while coarse cornmeal yield a grainier texture.
- Depending on the country cornmeal is known as cornflour or polenta.
- If you don't want to use a gluten free flour blend then use either brown rice flour or buckwheat although buckwheat is quite dense so you may need to add more liquid
- To make this recipe flourless use almond meal instead
- Make sure to separate the egg whites and whip up the whites. This is crucial to achieving more volume and a soft, fluffy cornbread
- The amount of sweetness is dependent upon each person I used 1/2 cup coconut sugar which is a subtle amount of sweetness. Use 1/4 cup of less if you only want a hint of sweetness or more if you want it super sweet.
- To have the recipe more savoury simply omit the use of sugar and follow the steps
- Use a muffin tin to make cornbread muffins if you wish
Such an amazing corn bread! I love that it uses gluten free flour, it will be perfect for my friend who is gluten intolerant.
That’s good to know Neha!!
I made this yesterday for my son’s birthday, it was excellent. The boys loved it and I was able to please my nephew who is allergic to milk. I will definetly do it again.
Thank you so much Laura
Very simple recipe, we love it and it always comes out so fluffy:)
Thank you Julia!!
I cannot believe I have all the ingredients on hand for this dairy free cornbread! Can’t wait to try it!
Enjoy Julia!!
I made this to go along with a big pot of chili and it was a hit! So delicious that we were fighting over who got the last piece.
Thanks for the feedback Jen. I’m so glad that you liked it!!
This looks so good. Can’t believe it’s dairy-free!
Thanks Nart!!