Blue Ribbon Vegan Cornbread?
I was skeptical that pareve cornbread could be moist at all, never mind an award winner. Imagine my surprise when Cook’s Illustrated reported a recipe for vegan cornbread that actually won the blue ribbon at the Iowa State Fair… and those folks know their corn.
DANA SLY’S BLUE RIBBON VEGAN CORNBREAD
Serves 9
2 Tbsp. ground flax seed
6 Tbsp. water
1 C all-purpose flour
1 C cornmeal
1/4 C sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. table salt
1 C soy milk
1/4 C canola oil
- Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 8-inch-square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the ground flax seed, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer the ground flax seed in the water for 3 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt until well-combined.
- Add the ground flax seed mixture, soy milk, and canola oil to the flour mixture. Beat just until smooth (do not overbeat.)
- Turn into prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Cool on wire rack 10 minutes; invert cornbread onto wire rack, then turn right side up and continue to cool until warm, about 10 minutes longer. Cut into pieces and serve.
UPDATE — 10-Mar-05
The “secret” to the recipe is a mysterious ingredient I’ve never worked with before: ground flaxseed, or “flaxseed meal”. When cooked briefly with hot water, it gets very thick and gummy and adds body to the cornbread that more fat or a dairy product otherwise would. Even better, a mere two tablespoons of ground flaxseed contains four grams of fiber and three grams of protein, plus other random healthful things that ward off cancer and decrease cholesterol. A wonder food, indeed, and it makes a very moist, pareve cornbread.
From recent personal experience, I’d say the vegan corn bread went well. If it improves my triglycerides though the omega-3 fatty acids, then Harei Ze Meshubach.
Tried this cornbread - it was delicious! I added a tbs of vinegar to the soymilk to make vegan “buttermilk”, and the flavor was awesome. Thanks for the recipe!
I tried this cornbread recipe for a family dinner party where only one person was vegan. It was EXCELLENT!! Everyone has raved about it, I had to print the recipe for all the guests to take home. Now I make it at home (I am not a vegan) because it’s as good or even better than regular cornbread. Now I have a bunch of ground up flaxseeds at home and I mix them into yogurt, cereal, pancakes, ect….
If you keep your flax seeds whole, and grind only as needed, they are better for you. You can grind them in an expensive coffee grinder that you keep just for flax (and spices and other things.)
Ground flax seeds go bad quickly, whole ones don’t. You can confirm this by googling flax, I’m sure.
As an added response to Bett, if you keep ground flax in your freezer they will not go bad or lose their nutritional benefits. As a non-vegan myself (but I live with a vegan) I have found that flax eggs make any recipe, from cookies to pancakes, better! Try using this fabulous substitute in any of your favorite baked goods recipes! You will be pleasantly surprised!
This is great cornbread. Now, I like “chunky” cornbread as well as a little spice. Here is what I did to add to this already incredible recipe.
I added 1 Tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar to the milk to make “buttermilk”. I used Rice milk btw.
I added 1/4 cup of corn kernals.
I added 1/3 cup of chopped green peppers.
I added some cayenne pepper, to taste
I added some garlic powder, to taste
I added ground black pepper, to taste
I would have added some fresh chopped onion, but I had none.
I had several folks RAVE about this receipe so I gave the the original with the attributions and then I added my changes.
OK, my turn to add on. I took 2 cans of veggie chili, and warmed them in an oven proof-skillet. I topped this with the cornbread and Kent’s additions, including onion and the rice milk. I baked it all at 425 degrees until it was golden, with chili bubbling up through the edges. Beautiful, and so yummy!
[...] CORNBREAD (this is based on the recipe here, but has been modified by me to be gluten free and not use white sugar, which I never have on hand. I used milk because I had no soy milk. The Lughansadh version will be done with soymilk) [...]
I have to add my voice to the chorus of praise. I made a pan of this tonight and it was *amazing*.
Absolutely incredible! Grew up on cast iron pans full of cornbread…recently went vegan and never expected to be able to eat good cornbread again. So proven wrong that I can’t even praise this recipe enough!! Thank you, Dana Sly!
I have all these ingredients in the house and can’t wait to make this but as I’m not American, I’m not sure what ‘cornmeal’ is. I think we call it ‘polenta’. Now is it the coarse ground one or the finely ground one? Also, will any oil do? I was going to use olive.
Finely ground polenta should be a fine substitute. I’d use a pure olive oil, rather than extra virgin, so that the flavor isn’t too overwhelming.
My husband found this recipe - he went vegan this year; he loves it so much he asked me to show him how to make it and now he bakes it up himself whenever he wants. We use whole wheat cake flour, 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 2 Tbsp splenda, and for the oil, 2 Tbsp oil and 2 Tbsp applesauce. He is trying to keep his fats down. We also found a recipe for egg substitute that you can make ahead and keep in the refrigerator for 5 days: 1/3 cup ground flaxseeds in blender and slowly add 1 cup water and blend until milkshake thick. 3 Tbsp = 1 egg. Very good in pancakes, muffins, and this bread. I am anxious to try the other additions. Thanks
I tried your vegan cornbread last night and it was so good. Thank you very much for posting it.
[...] The soup turned out great, served with surprisingly delicious vegan cornbread, courtesy of Kosher Blog. [...]
[...] I found this recipe of a vegan cornbread from The Kosher Blog. I never would have thought that ground flaxseed would provide such a nice flavor and bind so well in this moist bread! I absolutely love cornbread, so I was ecstatic to find one that didn’t require any eggs. Just awesomeness all around today. [...]
I hope that you don’t mind a posting from an occasional ‘goy’. I very much appreciate this thread because I, like Jenny (#10), thought that my days of good cornbread were over as I turned to the vegan diet. I have some whole flaxseed and a good mortar & pestle. It’s not a grinder, but it should work well enough for a first attempt.
In our 8 years of marriage, my wife and I have always paid close attention to our diets. Never have red meats or pork been a significant part of it.
We have meat-eating friends and have put those foods out for them … all the while introducing them to vegan dishes. (Sweetened hummus and black + pinto bean burritos seasoned with extra cilantro have gone over pretty well.) Up until recently, though, we have eaten freely of fish, poultry and dairy. Now, since last November, we have been (essentially) down to eggs and the dairy products. Yesterday, I finally came to like soy milk. So, not being a wastrel, the second-from-last egg made an egg sandwich for breakfast today. And I got earnest about searching for ‘vegan cornbread’.
There are humane ways to raise animals for food and humane ways to take their lives. They are not being followed.
For the record, I am one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I have turned to the vegan diet for reasons of 1)healthful nutrition (out of respect for the life Jehovah has granted me to live) 2)an appreciation that a vegetarian / vegan lifestyle can relieve world hunger (out of respect for the life Jehovah has given others) 3)repulsion at the lack of ethics in current animal husbandry (having the animals ‘in subjection’ does not mean subjecting them to misery … until Noah left the ark, men never found it necessary to eat animals and God gave them no permission to do so, no matter how humanely they had been treated) and 4)concern for the impact large numbers of animals have on our environment (Jehovah declared it ‘good’. Coming from Him, I’d consider that high praise. Perhaps we should try to keep the place up, eh?).