Brand New Vegan

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Country Vegan Cornbread

By 102 Comments

There’s just nothing more comforting on a chilly, rainy day than curling up with a nice warm bowl of soup and a big ole hunk of fresh, hot out of the oven, Country Vegan Cornbread.

Just like mama used to make.

 

vegan cornbread

Well…..almost.

You see, mama wasn’t vegan, so I know her traditional cornbread used a few unhealthy ingredients, like full-fat buttermilk and lots of oil.

Not to mention the whole thing was usually slathered down with butter too…. 

But NOW we’re watching our health a little more closely, and we don’t use dairy or oil anymore, do we?….

Does that mean giving up cornbread forever?  Not a chance.

We can duplicate that same, good ole southern flavor without using any of those artery clogging ingredients…..and it tastes just as good if not better.

Yes mom, there is a way to make down-home cornbread without the dairy, without the butter, and without the oil.  And it’s just as moist, and crunchy, and – well – corny – as you used to make.

 

Country Vegan Cornbread

country vegan cornbread

Country Vegan Cornbread | Brand New Vegan

 

First we’re going to make Vegan Buttermilk by whisking Unsweetened Almond Milk and Apple Cider Vinegar together.  Set it aside for now and allow it to ‘curdle’ while we mix the dry ingredients.

Thoroughly mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, and with a large spoon or rubber spatula, slowly stir in the applesauce and maple syrup.  The creamed corn is optional but does add a nice bit of texture.

Now, add the buttermilk and stir just long enough to combine.  Don’t overdo it.

Now that the batter is done you can pour it into the pan of your choice.  I like to use my seasoned iron skillet.  You could also use a cake pan or muffin tin.  Line whatever you’re using with parchment paper to prevent sticking.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean

Perfect, southern style cornbread.

Now I know some people don’t like sweet cornbread like I do….so feel free to adjust the amount of sweetener ( Sugar and Maple Syrup) to your own individual taste.

_______________

This recipe reminds me so much of my mom who sadly passed away in 2009.

My mom was born and raised in the backwoods of Kentucky and I can still remember visiting my grandma who still lived in the exact same area.  The same area I was born as well.

All you could see from my grandma’s front porch was miles and miles of knobs, corn fields, and tobacco fields.   There were cows, pigs, and chickens too, and I can still remember my Uncle’s mangy blue tick hounds who for whatever reason all had one syllable names…

For all you yanks – a knob is a small, rolling hill.

Mom loved cornbread and would always crumble it up into her big glass of buttermilk and eat it with a spoon, along with her Soup Beans of course.

Looking back I can see how her southern influence rubbed off on me as I still use many of the same recipes…just tweaked of course for my healthier lifestyle.

Ah the memories of country living…..miss you mom, and thanks.

brandnewvegan

 

 

 

5 from 2 votes
country vegan cornbread
Print
Country Vegan Cornbread
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
40 mins
 
A moist, fat-free, vegan cornbread, perfect for dunking in a hot bowl of soup on a cold, blustery day. It's corntastic!
Course: Side
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Author: Brand New Vegan
Ingredients
  • 1 cup Cornmeal
  • 1 cup Bread flour
  • 2 Tbs Sugar (or sweetener of choice)
  • 1 Tbs Baking Powder
  • 1 cup Almond Milk (unsweetened)
  • 2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Applesauce (unsweetened)
  • 2 Tbs Maple Syrup
  • 1 can Creamed Corn (8oz - optional)
  • 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
  1. Whisk the milk and vinegar together and set aside
  2. Sift the dry ingredients together into a large bowl and mix thoroughly
  3. With a large spoon or rubber spatula, slowly stir in the applesauce,maple syrup, and corn

  4. Add the almond milk and stir just long enough to combine

  5. Pour batter into a parchment lined pan, seasoned iron skillet, or muffin pan.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean

 

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. It looks delicious and I will make it but do you mean white bread flour or whole wheat bread flour? Is there such a thing as just bread flour? I obviously don’t make bread from scratch. Thanks. I am learning…

    Reply

  2. Looks great, but FYI, buttermilk is traditionally what’s left after you make butter, so it’s actually very low in fat.

    Reply

  4. These look great, love your website. Thanks for spending so much time working on this blog. I’m happy to have found you.

    Reply

  8. We had your BBQ
    beans and vegan cornbread for dinner this evening, with a side salad. Very delicious, thanks!

    Reply

  11. This post made me cry! I miss my grandparents so much. They were from Breathitt & Morgan counties. I’ve had my share of cornbread & soup beans. This is a great cornbread recipe!

    Reply

  12. Is this a sweet cornbread or a savory one? I live in the south and we just do not do sweet cornbread where I’m from!!

    Reply

    • Yep. I’m from the south, too, and I am NOT a sweet cornbread eater! So you leave out the sugar, but what about the applesauce? I’m with you, sister.

      Reply

    • I’m with you ladies. Savory cornbread, not sweet. Actually, only cornmeal, no flour. Cornmeal, buttermilk, egg, salt, baking soda. And oil. Chuck left out the eggs as one of the bad things. Sigh. I often had meals of cornbread, cooked cabbage, and pork and beans. Yum. Good stuff. Still haven’t found the right substitute. Though I was just thinking that the creamed corn could substitute for the applesauce as a substitute for the oil. Which leaves the egg substitute. I don’t so much like chia seeds in things. And flaxseed meal makes ’em look sort of dirty. I need to go look at a chart of egg replacements….
      Here are some possibilities:
      – 4 Tbsp chickpea flour + 4 Tbsp water
      – 3 Tbsp aquafaba (bean water)
      – 2 Tbsp arrowroot or potato starch or cornstarch + 2 Tbsp water
      – 1/4 C mashed avocado (which would add some fat, but seems like would discolor product)
      – 1/4 C pureed pumpkin or sweet potato or squash (well, the pumpkin and squash – prolly butternut – woldn’t be sweet.
      Have never used any of these as egg replacements. Maybe I’ll get a round tuit. I’m not much of an experimenter.

      Reply

    • You can’t worry about everything without ruining your QUALITY of life. I say choose your battles carefully. Salt is a natural food that has been with us for thousands of years and I just don’t believe it is that bad for us in moderation. I’ve had high blood pressure and did not find salt had anything to do with it.

      Reply

  14. I too love to eat my cornbread in milk! Thanks for the recipe, I’ve been wondering how to get my cornbread fix vegan style.

    Reply

  15. My dad used to eat cornbread in buttermilk – he called it “soaks” and while the rest of the family had dessert, he would have his soaks. Our table was not complete without cornbread, and we had a lot of meals of red beans, cornbread and mashed potatoes. Thanks for the recipe. It’s one of the things I’ve missed since being WFPB.

    Reply

  16. This was the best, moistest vegan no-oil cornbread I have ever tried. I used whole wheat bread flour, less sugar and maple syrup, and a 14-oz can of creamed corn. I made my own applesauce with 2 cored, peeled apples, cut up and microwaved for 2 minutes. Perfection!!! Thank you.

    Reply

  18. Tennessee girl here, and grew up on not sweet cornbread. I know, leave out the sugar and the syrup, but…does the applesauce sweeten it? Or is there something else to sub for the applesauce?

    Reply

    • I am in the same boat, from Tennessee and we don’t put sugar or flour in cornbread, and don’t like sweet cake like cornbread. Looking for a regular cornbread recipe. Did you come up with a recipe?? Or try this one with applesauce?
      My old recipe was so simple, cornmeal, eggs,oil, milk. I am looking for a vegan version.

      Reply

    • In baking, one can use any other fruit sauce and substitute in same amounts. You can use pear, prune, apricot, etc. The apple sauce actually substitutes for oil. Again, in same amounts.
      If you don’t like the sweet cornbread, leave out the syrups that make it sweet. And use plain old unsweetened apple sauce. I don’t think you’ll taste it in the recipe when its done. Try it and see what works for you. Another thought is, if you’re afraid of tasting a little sweetness from the apple sauce in the recipe, just bump up the vinegar ever so slightly to balance the potential sweetness of the apple sauce. Remember, corn has natural sweetness in it.
      I, personally, enjoy the mixture of sweet and hot. So another option would be to chop in a few jalapenos into the cornbread for an interesting variation. Isn’t cooking fun?

      Reply

  19. What did I do wrong? I followed the directions to the letter minus the corn and there was no pouring the batter it was thick and the corn bread it very dry

    Reply

    • Hard to tell from this end of the keyboard. What kind of non-dairy milk did you use? What kind of flour did you use? Cornmeal? What’s your elevation? There are so many variables. I lnow many others have made it with great success…..

      Reply

    • You need the creamed corn. That adds another layer of liquids to the batter. Made it for the first time today and they are baking now. They’ve got 10 mins to go and are looking yummy!

      Reply

  21. THANK YOU for posting this recipe. I’ve been looking for a good oil-free vegan corn bread recipe for a long time. Thank you!
    Now, . . I’m also looking for a way to keep herbs stuck to roasted potatoes without using oil. Anybody have any suggestions?

    Reply

  22. Kentucky poster here. I’m getting ready to make this for tonight’s dinner of fresh green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and corn. Then looking forward to having the leftovers with soup beans. I know they will be good because I’ve made your bolognese, which was delicious, and read all of the positive comments on a great deal of your recipes. Looking forward to trying out the “sausage” gravy soon. Biscuits and gravy are my ultimate comfort food and I never imagined I would be able to eat them again. Thank you so much for all that you put into perfecting wholesome, healthy foods. Btw, what part of the KY back woods are your folks from?

    Reply

  23. I just made these and stirred a cup of blueberries in them first. I also made them sweeter, using 1/3 c. of sugar. They’re in the oven now, 10 more minutes to go and they smell like heaven! Thanks for the great recipe, Chuck!

    Reply

  25. These were really yummy, especially for something that’s oil free.. The only thing I did differently was omit the maple syrup. I made these into muffins and baked them in my toaster oven for 15 minutes. Definitely a keeper. 🙂

    Reply

  26. I rated this a 4 star recipe yesterday, but I have to say that after it was in the fridge overnight, it’s definitely a 5 star for me. I reheated the muffins in the microwave just until warm enough to melt my earth balance. Sooooooo good!

    Reply

  27. I subbed monkfruit for the sugar, and all purpose gluten free flour for the wheat flour (girlfriend needs gluten free). These came out fantastic.

    Reply

  28. Thank you so much for this recipe and for the beautiful words you use to describe your Mama as it could have just as well been me talking about mine. She grew up on buttermilk and cornbread too. . I can’t wait to make these!

    Reply

  29. I’m in cornbread heaven! Thank you for sharing this recipe. It’s super moist with just a hint of sweetness. I’ll definitely be making this again.

    Reply

  30. Came out kind of gooey, not a cornbread texture. reasons may have been too much creamed corn, blended too much, or the applesauce…. regardless, I was disappointed.

    Reply

  31. Lunch today is this cornbread plus WFPB two-bean chili. Like many commenting, I’m from the Deep South, and we don’t tend to do sweet cornbread. However, I like this, especially since we tend to make our chili super hot here. The sweetness is a good foil for the heat in the chili. I unfortunately had to sub a couple of things since i couldn’t get to the grocery store this morning: unbleached flour for the bread flour and soy milk for the almond milk. .I’m sure the substitution of the flours made my version a little denser than your recipe would have produced, but it was all I had at hand. I did have the medium grind cornmeal, which is grainier than I’ve often used, and I liked that, particularly with the added corn. Thanks for producing an oil-free version.

    Reply

  32. This is the first recipe I have made from Brand New Vegan, and it was really a winner! I made this as muffins, without the creamed corn, and made them gluten-free by substituting the 1 cup of bread flour with 1/2 cup gluten-free 1 to 1 flour (Bob’s Red Mill), 1/4 cup almond flour, and 1/4 cup oat flour.. It feels like such a luxury to enjoy something like this!! THANK YOU!!!!!!

    Reply

  33. I just made your cornbread recipe. I didn’t have any creamed corn, but added a cup of drained corn and about 2 T of chopped mild jalapeños. This recipe is a WINNER! Just FYI, I used whole wheat flour instead of bread flour and baked it in a seasoned 8 inch iron skillet. My non-vegan husband said, “Put this one on the list! It’s delicious.”

    Reply

  36. Great recipe! I made the following changes:
    The first time I made it, I accidentally put two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar instead of 2 teaspoons. Still came out great.
    I repeated that mistake, used EnerG egg replacement, 2 tablespoons of baking powder, and cooked frozen corn. It came out moist and delicious. Wish I could leave a picture of it. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

    Reply

  37. Made some tonight — subbed out the flour with oat flour and no corn or applesauce (none in the house, not opposed to them or anything)–still came out great! Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

  38. This is so, so good. I grew up in Tx and cornbread is such a staple that I had my Mom’s recipe memorized by the time I was 12. I used GF floor and the Trader Joe’s roasted corn I had in the freezer. Your recipes rock!

    Reply

  39. This was great! I’d been trying to find a good wfpb cornbread and now I have! I used regular whole wheat flour instead of the bread flour and frozen corn instead of creamed corn. I also didn’t use the sugar but kept the maple syrup. Everything came out great!

    Reply

  41. Chuck! I have been looking high and low for a cornbread recipe with down home taste (savory and a bit sour) since I moved out of Southwest VA & now live in PNW. My family never used sugar in cornbread and I finally just figured it must be the buttermilk around here. I even tried buying it raw from a farm. Still bleh. It is so weird because I was actually the one who made the cornbread every day, but it seems I just can’t get it right. And, now being vegan, and stumbling onto your site I am so excited to try again. Can’t wait to try your soup beans, and your chicken and dumplings and gravy and biscuits (do you know what they taste like in every restaurant? Just a rhetorical question…) I will definitely be getting your book, too, for all the other delicious looking recipes. Thank you so much 😊

    Reply

  42. I adore your recipes – and this one looks perfect, too. I grew up in Kentucky and corn bread isn’t supposed to be sweet. So many recipes use WAY too much sweetener.

    Your recipes are always perfect. THANKS!

    Reply

  44. Hi Chuck, this is the first recipe from your site that hasn’t turned out perfect for me the first time. I was wondering if you might be able to tell me what I’m doing wrong with vegan cornbread? I’ve tried at least 6 different recipes of all types (with beans, sweet potato, creamed corn, aquafaba, etc. etc.), and every one is either WAY too dry or WAY too wet, so the consistency isn’t at all like cornbread baked in a cast iron skillet or a glass dish. This one came out too wet for me, too, even though I baked it 10-15 minutes longer than called for. I followed the recipe exactly (using both the applesauce and the creamed corn) except that I left out the sugar and syrup since my Alabama/Oklahoma family doesn’t do sweet cornbread. The only thing I can think is that I live in Germany and the flours are different. I used the standard one here (which I always used for cornbread before going WFPB), and it’s probably closer to pastry flour. Would finding a proper bread flour solve my (many) vegan cornbread problems? Or do you think it’s something else? Thanks in advance for any tips you can provide!

    Reply

  45. Made this first time took extra 10” and could have used 5-10” more. Kinda gummy but hubs had 3 pieces right away. May be size of pan? Used bread flour and corn meal from Red Barn. Seemed corn meal not softened well. Used parchment paper. Used the sugar , maple syrup, unsweetened applesauce, and half can creamed corn. Will make again in a 9×13 next time. Love your site. Print out most recipes and put in binder. Thanks for your time.

    Reply

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