This sweet, cake-like vegan cornbread is also gluten-free, dairy-free and 100% whole grain and doesn’t contain any specialty ingredients.
I’m thrilled to be working with Bob’s Red Mill today to bring you this gluten-free and vegan cornbread! After every trip to the US, I come back with my suitcases stuffed with their flour and even had my friend, Rose, send me another 20 pounds after I had run out of my stash.
I brought the cornmeal I used in this recipe back with me because I had started to notice that most of the German brands I had been buying weren’t 100% whole grain. It’s no different in the US so make sure your cornmeal says whole grain or stone ground. If it says steel-milled, some or all of the hull and germ has been removed and then you might as well be using all-purpose flour!
This healthier cornbread has what is, in my opinion, the perfect ratio of cornmeal to flour. I don’t like my cornbread too coarse-grained but I still want the corn taste. It’s moist, not at all dry, slightly dense (but in a great way!) and sweet. And there’s vanilla! This Southern girl is all about northern-style cake-like cornbread.
This vegan cornbread is great in bread form or as muffins. The only thing is that if you choose to make it as bread, you need to let it sit for 2-3 hours or it’ll be extremely difficult to cut and hold. It’s so fluffy when it comes out of the oven and due to the lack of gluten, it’s just hard to handle. The muffins can be eaten straight from the oven. If you want to make this for Thanksgiving, I recommend making it Wednesday night or Thursday morning so that it’s as fresh as possible.
I used this gluten-free medium ground cornmeal and though I haven’t tried it, I’m assuming it’d come out well with finely or coarsely ground cornmeal. I did try whole spelt in place of oat flour and the muffins sunk in the middle and didn’t taste nearly as good as the oat flour version. So stick with oat flour! I also tried store bought buttermilk in place of the homemade dairy-free buttermilk and that worked perfectly.
When I post a vegan recipe, it’s usually just coincidentally vegan, meaning that there aren’t any eggs involved and I used coconut oil instead of butter. Because I’ve gotten a few nice comments recently thanking me for posting vegan recipes, I thought I’d make more of an effort to make vegan recipes. So here we have some vegan cornbread!
If you’re vegan or making this for a vegan friend, you’ll need to skip the honey and butter I used to dress up my cornbread. Use maple syrup instead! Or just eat it plain like I do. :) And if you’re not vegan or gluten-free, make this anyway! It’s the best cornbread I’ve ever had and it really doesn’t taste like it’s been made healthier.
For another delicious cornbread dish perfect for Thanksgiving, try this Southern Cornbread Dressing! And for sugar-free, check out this Keto Cornbread.
Vegan Cornbread (gluten-free, dairy-free, whole grain)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 16 pieces of bread or 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 ml) milk of choice, room temperature or warm (this is important so that the coconut oil doesn't harden once added)1
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup (75 g) coconut oil, melted2
- 1/2 cup (100 g) raw or granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2/3 cup (88 g) medium grind gluten-free cornmeal (non-GF cornmeal works, too)
- 1 1/3 cup (123 g) oat flour (use certified gluten-free, if necessary)3
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Wet ingredients:
Dry ingredients:
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line a muffin pan with 12 muffin liners or line an 8" x 8" pan with a piece of parchment paper.
- Pour the milk in a large mixing bowl, add the apple cider vinegar, and give it a few stirs. Let sit for 5 minutes while preparing the dry ingredients.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients. Set aside.
- To the milk mixture, add the melted coconut oil, sugar and vanilla and stir until well combined.
- Add the dry mixture and stir just until combined.
- Pour into the prepared pan. Bake muffins for 12 minutes and bread for 20 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
- Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. The bread can be eaten immediately but will be very difficult to cut – it's better to wait for 2-3 hours until it's firmed up just a little.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
- You can use store bought buttermilk in place of the milk + vinegar mixture for a dairy-containing, non-vegan version. To make the homemade dairy-free / vegan buttermilk, you can use soy milk, almond milk, etc. but I don't recommend canned coconut milk. If you can have dairy, you can also use regular cow's milk.
- I used refined coconut oil, which has no coconut taste. If you use unrefined, these may have a slight to mild coconut taste.
- If you don't have oat flour, you can grind quick or rolled oats in a food processor or coffee grinder until it resembles flour.
I was compensated by Bob’s Red Mill for the development of this recipe but, as always, all opinions expressed in this post are my own.
Join over 12,400 readers and sweeten up
your inbox with new posts for free!
This subscription is free of charge and can be canceled at any time.
135 comments on “Vegan Cornbread (gluten-free)” — Add one!
3 comments are awaiting moderation!
Oh, sweet cornbread, how do I love thee? These muffins look perfect! YUM.
Thanks, Sarah! :)
I love Bob’s Red Mill and these muffins look perfect!
Thanks a bunch, Miss! :)
This looks so great! I love love love cornbread and you version is amazing!
Thanks so much, Kim!
I would never have thought this was cornbread. I am a southern woman and I don’t like my cornbread sweet and not much flour at all. I used to just make it with without flour. To each its own taste. Glad we have choices. Ha!!!
Haha. It’s totally unrecognizable to you as cornbread? That’s so funny. :) Give me lots of flour, sugar and little cornmeal!
I love bobs red mill products! I use them all the time. I will have to try this!
Me too! I have a huge box of just BRM products that I bring over with me. :)
Who doesn’t love a good cornbread muffin ; )
Apparently Brandy (below) doesn’t. ;) Her and her southern-style cornbread. :D
Thank you, thank you! This cornbread looks so moist and just perfect! I love Bob’s Red Mill too. Their quality is the tops.
Thanks, Ginny! And I agree. Love Bob’s Red Mill! :)
I love finding true whole grain products for making–especially when they’re non-GMO. You’ve definitely got me craving corn muffins now!
Thanks so much, Kirsten! I was also happy to find out that Bob’s Red Mill’s stuff is all non-GMO. :)
I had no idea all of the Bob’s products were non-GMO! That’s great info; as though I needed another reason to love BRM.
Woohoo! I consider my job here done. ;)
Erin, these pics are KILLING ME. I’ve been in Spain for almost two weeks (eating nothing but fantastic food, of course — tough life…) but the simple, comforting and all-American spirit of these beauties has me SALIVATING. (Could also be that pat o’ buttah…) Definitely putting these on the list of things to get in my face ASAP when I get back! xo – Em
Haha. I love this comment. :D Thank you! I’m happy I haven’t lost my American spirit after 5 years abroad. ;) Have a great time in Spain and I hope you’ll like the muffins!
I love these in muffin form, perfectly portioned!
That didn’t stop me from eating half the batch in one day. Womp womp. :(
These seriously look like the perfect corn muffins! The texture is spot on!
Thanks, Stephanie!
Yep, this is exactly why I love Bob’s Red Mill products…non-GMO and whole grain. These muffins look fantastic!
Same here! And great prices, too. :)
I am going to share this with my GF friends
Thank you! I hope they’ll enjoy it. :)
I actually love the idea of these in muffin form – perfect for grabbing (and no waiting is always good). And I like my cornbread the same way you do, so I know I’d enjoy this recipe!
To be honest, I totally ate this straight from the pan but I used a spoon. I only said you have to wait so people didn’t complain about not being able to get a clean cut piece. ;)
These look completely scrumptious! My Mom is gluten-free, so perhaps I’ll surprise her with these!
That’d be a great surprise! I bet the rest of the family would enjoy them, too. :)
You northern girls and your sweet cornbread ;) I do love the addition of vanilla though. I bet this cornbread is super delicious! (Also, score for non-GMO cornmeal!)
What do you want to eat non-sweet cornbread for? :D Boooring. ;)
I’m doing a happy dance! These look wonderful. Pinned.
Thanks so much for the shares! :)
The perfect side dish to our Thanksgiving meal!
If there’s cornbread or dinner rolls at Thanksgiving, I rarely eat anything else. True fact. :D
Love these so much! Gorgeous photos!
Thanks so much, Liz! :)