Corn Free Skillet Corn Bread #BreadBakers

Having a corn sensitivity is a real bother when you grew up loving corn bread.  We're lucky that it's only a sensitivity and not an all out allergy like some suffer.  But since corn is the next largest allergen after the big eight, is in nearly everything, and is not required to be labeled, it definitely builds up if we get lax about avoiding the obvious and highly refined ingredients.  When my kids were little and hyper sensitive, I did a lot of experimenting and found that millet is a wonderful corn flavor substitute.  Millet meal even makes a good polenta stand-in.  This recipe was one I came up with in 2011 and I decided to see if it would skillet bake this time.  Yes indeedy, and very tasty too.  I couldn't dig far enough into the freezer to find my blanched almond flour, so I ended up using super fine natural almond flour this time, which adds some color specs from the almond skins, but yields the same result.  The buttery skillet method gives the bread a nice crunchy edge crust that is a wonderful complement to the tender crumb.  

Folks can be pretty opinionated about the sweetness of corn bread, especially Southerners.  We like a nice, sweet corn bread on the west coast, and indeed you could almost describe some restaurant offerings as closer to corn cake than corn bread.  This recipe is fairly neutral, easily made savory with some green chilies and cheddar, or made sweet with lashings of honey or golden syrup.

Corn Free Skillet Corn Bread
makes one 9" skillet, 10-12 servings

1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup melted ghee, or oil
3 tbsp golden syrup or honey
1 cup blanched almond flour, lightly packed (~120g) (Natural fine ground almond flour works too)
½ cup millet flour
½ cup flour
¼ - ½ cup cracked millet or millet meal (a medium grind, not too fine)
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt

1-2 tbsp butter for skillet

Place a 9 inch cast iron skillet in a cold oven and preheat to 400ºF.  Combine flours, cracked millet, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl.  Whisk together the buttermilk, melted ghee/oil, syrup/honey, and eggs in a 2 cup liquid measure.  Make a well in the dry mix, add liquids and mix thoroughly but briefly.  

Once the oven and pan are preheated, carefully take out the hot skillet and melt the 1-2 tbsp butter in the skillet, making sure to grease the sides.  (Enough to coat well, but not pool over the batter.)  Pour the batter into the skillet and bake for 25 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted near the center comes out clean.  

Let the bread cool for 5-7 minutes before slicing.  Drizzle with honey or golden syrup if desired, and enjoy!  Leftovers may be stored in an airtight container for a few days and reheated.

Of course it can be made in a regular baking dish too, and with blanched almond flour, (bake at 350ºF for 25-35 minutes in a greased baking pan.):

Be sure to check out some more corn bread creations:

• Corn Meal Batty Cakes Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Candied Ginger Cornbread (with crystallized ginger) Shockingly Delicious 
• Cornbread Cupcakes A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Vegetarian Cornbread Casserole Sneha's Recipe
• Easy Cowboy Cornbread Casserole (Vegetarian Dinner) The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Mom's Golden Cornbread Food Lust People Love 
• Corn Free Skillet Corn Bread A Messy Kitchen
• Gluten-Free Hush Puppies (Fried and Air Fryer) Cook with Renu 
• Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Cornbread Culinary Cam 
  

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.