At last, a more than reasonable approximation of good old corn bread. Without the corn. I don't know about the rest of the family, but I have missed cornbread. Well, the kids can't really miss it because they've never had it. At least not in the past three years. But when you make an awesome pot of chili, you really want a good, tender mealy corn bread to go with it. So at long last, I found a combination that gives good texture and even some "corny" flavor. I had tried a couple things before in the BBB yeasted corn bread challenge, but I wanted it even more corn like. This rendition yields a tender, cakey corn bread with good flavor that gets even better and more corny the next day. In fact, I may try this with a soaked method to see if I can get the most corn flavor the first time around. But the leftovers do reheat fabulously. I still hope that our DD will outgrow her corn allergy, but in the meantime this will do admirably. It can also easily be made gluten free by substituting your favorite GF flour or mix for the half cup of flour in the recipe. I might add a pinch of xanthan gum for that but I suspect it wouldn't need it. So if you need to have some corn bread, without corn, try this out and slather it in butter and honey. Or your favorite way to eat corn bread. ☺ This did have that corn bread grittiness the most around the edge pieces if that is your favorite part of cornbread. You can tweak the grind of the cracked millet to taste or you can try using farina instead, but it tends to make things heavier and I was happier with the millet outcome. Plus, the millet gives the best "corn" flavor.
Corn Free Corn Bread with gluten free option
makes 1 8x8" pan (9 generous or 16 conservative pieces)
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup melted butter (optional, it will still turn out good and moist without it if you forget it - ask me how I know)
3 tbsp maple syrup or honey
1 cup blanched almond flour, lightly packed
½ cup millet flour
½ cup white whole wheat flour (Or for gluten free, use sweet sorghum flour or your favorite GF flour or blend, plus an optional pinch of xanthan gum or a tsp of flax seed meal)
¼-½ cup cracked millet (I ran some whole millet in my spice grinder until roughly ground)
2 eggs farm fresh if you can get them
2 tsp baking powder (get a starch free brand or one that uses potato starch)
1 tsp sea salt
Preheat oven to 350º; grease or line with parchment and grease an 8x8" baking pan. Combine flours, cracked millet, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, syrup or honey, and eggs in a 2 cup liquid measure. Make a well in the dry mix, add liquids and mix thoroughly but briefly. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-35 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted near the center comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake if making this gluten free. Slather with butter, drizzle with honey and enjoy!
I loved your recipe! Thank you so much for this. We are corn free and dairy free. After my substitutions it still turned out even better than my old favorite real corn bread. THANK YOU THANK YOU! My son had 3 pieces for dinner and I am in heaven eating a piece drizzled with honey right now. :)
ReplyDelete@Anon - That is so fabulous to hear! I really missed cornbread too; so glad you enjoyed it and found a good sub for the buttermilk! (I'd probably use coconut oil for the butter since it is a good for you fat.)
ReplyDeletedo you think that might work for corn free corn fogs????
ReplyDeleteI've never made corn dogs so I can't tell you for certain, but the batter is nice and sticky just like regular corn bread batter and I know you could thin it out to the consistency you need for dipping. From what I have seen on food network and other recipes I have observed, I would say this should work perfectly well for corn dogs. I may even have to try it myself because my daughter has NEVER had one! And I used to love good old DQ corn dogs when I was very small. Do let us know if you decide to try it out. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi there! This looks amazing! I really would like to try making this for my daughter, she is allergic to corn as well as dairy. Do you have any idea what would be a good substitution for the buttermilk here?
ReplyDelete@aeonsies - I would suggest using 2 tbsp of lemon juice plus a non dairy milk to make 1 cup. Coconut milk would be nice and thick but you might get a little coconut flavor from it which might not be desirable to some people. Not too strong though, I use a can of coconut milk to make awesome gluten/dairy free waffles and the coconut flavor is not pronounced. Other options are almond milk, (I recommend homemade, it is much better than store bought.) Oat or rice milk would probably work as well. Can she handle goat milk? That would be an option too.
ReplyDelete