Vegan "Southern" Cornbread Muffins
nonstick spray
2 cups plain nondairy milk (I use soy)
2 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 1/4 cups plain yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 tablespoons vegan butter, optional
2 teaspoons turbinado sugar, optional
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray or line with paper liners. Pour and whisk milk and vinegar together in a small mixing bowl until blended. Let sit while you mix the other ingredients.
2. In a larger mixing bowl, mix the cornmeal, baking powder and salt together until well blended. Then pour oil into the milk mixture, and whisk until frothy.
3. Mix the liquid with the dry ingredients until you have a rather thin, almost soupy mixture. (do not worry, it will firm up just fine in the oven) At this point you can choose whether to add the vegan butter spread (highly recommended for the authentic taste) or the sugar (for those who prefer something a bit sweeter and less savory).
4. Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake for approximately 20 minutes. My muffins did not brown very much, so you may have to taste test occasionally through the baking process to get the consistency that you want.
This cornbread tastes exactly like the stuff I was brought up on as a kid...although that stuff was filled with buttermilk and animal fat.
For a truly Southern experience, you may always mix in some sliced jalapenos. (I haven't tried to do this for myself yet, so am not sure how much you should use)
Enjoy!
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I am going to try this tonight just because I need cornbread to go with a bean pot I'm making, and I am on a budget so I don't want to use up my expensive flour. I will report back how it turns out. I already know that I will be adding more sugar, though. I grew up on sweet cornbread.
My husband and I didn't really like this. It was super bland. Our 21 mth old loved it but, then again, he will eat anything. I will make it again because it was a great consistency but, I will add more sweetner to it. And maybe make a spread for it out of margarine and brown sugar or jam.
Where I come from, sweet cornbread is called cake. ;)
So to be true to my roots, as little sugar was added as possible.
Still, if you like it to be sweeter, please feel free to add more sugar. I would recommend about 3-4 tablespoons.
Allow me to warn everyone that this recipe is for very savory cornbread. This is the kind of cornbread that would normally be eaten with savory dishes such as chili (or traditionally, lots of meat and heavy southern food). They should be salty/buttery and slightly tangy from the buttermilk (substituted here with vinegar/soymilk mixture). Not sweet.
Perhaps I should've put that into the recipe title? :-\
My husband and I didn't really like this. It was super bland. Our 21 mth old loved it but, then again, he will eat anything. I will make it again because it was a great consistency but, I will add more sweetner to it. And maybe make a spread for it out of margarine and brown sugar or jam.
I thought this was..pretty good/ok. I did not add any applesauce, and added the EB and sugar (about 1 tbs Florida crystals). I think it could have used at least 1 tsp of salt. I had to add some water to my batter after mixing everything together b/c it was just too thick (seemed like it would be fluffy though). I poured mine into my cast iron skillet...and started it at 350, but then turned it up to 400 or so because I was also baking something else. I think it still took about 25 minutes. It tastes pretty good...it just seems too dry, I think. It was ok though......I think I'll have to think of something to put it in...since I'm pretty sure it will be even drier in the coming day(s).
So strange. When I make these at home, the batter is quite runny, almost like pancake batter. I will say though that this recipe should be a touch on the dry side (in a pleasant way) as I made this recipe to taste like the kind of cornbread I had as a child...which was always a little dry. I did not add salt to the recipe because of the vegan margarine I used which was quite salty.
You can also substitute white cornmeal which is actually a bit more traditional than the yellow variety...I just preferred it.
You want to also be careful not to over bake them. They will be done, but will not be brown.
If the cornbread becomes dry as leftovers (which is quite common) I would suggest eating it with something moist such as soup or chili. Also I used to know a lady who crumbled and froze her leftover cornbread in ziploc bags and would make cornbread stuffing/dressing out of it that was amazing.
My mother would half the cornbread and toast it for a bit with some margarine for breakfast.
Looking back on this recipe however, I think I would have made a small change and added the margarine (cold) first before adding the moist ingredients.
I missed this one, AC! I honestly forgot that I added applesauce to these the first time....I usually just make them now and follow the recipe exactly and it works fine.
I might keep adding the applesauce in the future to add moisture. Originally, I added the oil and applesauce and it worked great. These are still my faves and really the only kind I make. I make them in muffins tins and only bake about 16-18 mins.
I love the fact that these don't use flour. I didn't feel they needed extra salt. Did you add the EB?
Did you read my post??? JK!! haha, yeah I added the EB and a little sugar. I also like that there's no flour (although mine was EXTREMELY yellow!), but it just seemed too dry. I think the applesauce would have helped....making the muffins might also make a difference.....and I think we just have salty palates. ???
VS, did you add the applesauce in addition to the oil, or sub. it for the oil? I'm going to make this tonight..thought I might ask first!
I missed this one, AC! I honestly forgot that I added applesauce to these the first time....I usually just make them now and follow the recipe exactly and it works fine.
I might keep adding the applesauce in the future to add moisture. Originally, I added the oil and applesauce and it worked great. These are still my faves and really the only kind I make. I make them in muffins tins and only bake about 16-18 mins.
I love the fact that these don't use flour. I didn't feel they needed extra salt. Did you add the EB?
I thought this was..pretty good/ok. I did not add any applesauce, and added the EB and sugar (about 1 tbs Florida crystals). I think it could have used at least 1 tsp of salt. I had to add some water to my batter after mixing everything together b/c it was just too thick (seemed like it would be fluffy though). I poured mine into my cast iron skillet...and started it at 350, but then turned it up to 400 or so because I was also baking something else. I think it still took about 25 minutes. It tastes pretty good...it just seems too dry, I think. It was ok though......I think I'll have to think of something to put it in...since I'm pretty sure it will be even drier in the coming day(s).
VS, did you add the applesauce in addition to the oil, or sub. it for the oil? I'm going to make this tonight..thought I might ask first!
These came out perfect for me. I did add the sugar and 1/4 cup of applesauce because I was concerned about it binding. The batter was very soupy, but about baking 25 mins. it was perfect.
I really really loved the texture and flavor. It reminded of of good 'ol cornmeal mush you could get at a "country " style restaurant. It was very moist and flavorful. I had the leftover muffins for breakfast with some maple syrup. Mmmmm.
p.s. I did want to mention that they were a tad bit dry this morning even though I covered them tightly, so you will want to serve them right away for the best texture and flavor.
This recipe is divine! I was craving moist cornbread, and this turned out exactly what I was hoping for! I used 1 cup of polenta (cornmeal that is a thicker cut) and 1 1/4 cups regular cornmeal. Instead of canola oil I used corn oil. I did add the vegan butter which added delicious pockets of buttery goodness! : ) My body felt really great after eating these...I think becuz of the no flour, no gluten, etc. Thank you so much for this recipe!!
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