Gluten Free Southern Cornbread
Dec 6th, 2007 by Mary Frances
Hi everyone! I’m reposting this recipe as I have updated it with a picture of the batter immediately after being poured into the hot skillet. One of the advantages of learning to cook with someone in person is being able to see how things look. Hopefully, this picture will be a step in that direction =) If you’re having trouble with the crust or anything else, email me at maryfrances@glutenfreecookingschool.com and I’ll be glad to help you figure it out.
Cornbread is one of John’s favorite foods. He has been known to eat an entire pan all by himself, and yet somehow he is still a slim, trim hunk (I’m waiting to see how long it takes him to edit this!). We make when we’re having soups, stews, and any food that has yummy juices that we want to soak up. It is also the main ingredient in the Cornbread Dressing recipe that I’ll be posting in the lead-up to Thanksgiving.
If you’re wondering why this recipe is titled “Southern” cornbread, it is because it does not contain any sugar. Cornbread should not have any sugar! It is blasphemous! I know Jiffy puts sugar in their mix, but they are just wrong. This may offend some people who were raised on sweet cornbread, but please don’t hurt your cornbread by adding sugar. Now that I’ve finished that rant, on to the cornbread.
I used to think that cornbread was the best bread recipe ever for a gluten free diet because you don’t need any special ingredients. (I do add some brown rice flour to mine, but you can just as easily use 1 3/4 c. cornmeal, if you want.) However, I’ve been having trouble finding a non-contaminated cornmeal at our grocery store, so I’ll probably order from Kinnikinnick next time. We’ve never noticed a problem with the cornmeal we’ve purchased at the local grocery, but we’re not as sensitive as some of you, so I don’t want to recommend it. Update John found gluten free cornmeal by Arrowhead Mills at Whole Foods so that’s what we will be using in the future.
If you do look for cornmeal at your grocery store be careful because most grocery stores carry cornmeal and cornmeal mix. The cornmeal mix contains cornmeal and wheat flour along with leaving agents. Read your labels and make sure you’re just getting cornmeal. I’ve also had friends tell me that their cornbread was gluten free only to find out that they didn’t realize that cornbread mix had flour in it (or they didn’t realize that “flour” is made of wheat!).
Gluten Free, Casein Free Southern Cornbread
(Yield: 8 slices)
Cornbread should really be made in a cast-iron skillet, but you can use a glass casserole dish in a pinch. The crust won’t be as crispy, but that’s the only difference.
1 Tbsp shortening or oil
1 1/4 c. white cornmeal
1/2 c. brown rice flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp cider vinegar AND enough soy milk to equal two cups
2 eggs
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Add the shortening or oil to a 10″ cast iron skillet and put the skillet in the oven to heat up.
2. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Measure out 2 Tbsp. of cider vinegar into a 2 c. measure, and then add soy milk until you get to the 2 c. mark. The vinegar will curdle the soy milk, and give you a casein free buttermilk. Pour the milk and vinegar into a mixing bowl. Add the eggs to the milk and vinegar and whisk thoroughly.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well-mixed.
5. Check the skillet and see if the oil/shortening has started to smoke a bit. Once it has, pull the oven rack out (with the skillet on it) and pour the cornbread batter into the skillet. It will sizzle and some of the oil will come up around the sides and onto the top of the batter. This is supposed to happen and is what makes the crispy crust. Here’s what it will look like.
6. Cook the cornbread for 20 - 25 minutes. When it is done the top will be golden and the middle will be firm but slightly springy to the touch. If you like, rub some butter over the top of the crust at this point. After the bread has cooled for a few minutes, you can cut it into 8 wedges and then remove it from the skillet.
: Nov 24th - Dec 1st.
That looks positively light and fluffy!
Oh it was! We covered it in “butter” and it was so yummy.
i tried the cornbread, which was mar-vel-ous except that somehow a lot of the egg sunk to the bottom for me…so the top half was perfect but the bottom half had most of the egg in it. Any idea what I did wrong? I’d love to make this again.
I could blame my 2 1/2 yr old sous chief’s stirring technique, but that would be unfair of me.
Hi Cris! This must have been the week for cornbread goofs. I made some Wednesday night and added corn starch instead of brown rice flour. The results were. . .lets just say interesting =)
If you think the egg was the problem then I would suggest whisking the eggs really well and then adding the rest of the liquid ingredients. From observation of other cooks I realize that there a range of egg-beating methods. You’re going to really need to go to town on these eggs. They should be frothy! If you’re using a whisk this shouldn’t be too hard. If you’re using a fork, beat the stew out of the eggs and buy a whisk soon =)
Just to be on the safe side you can always use a full 1 3/4 c. of corn meal since the brown rice tends to make the crumb finer and might lend itself towards cakiness.
That’s all that I can think of at this point. I’ll be making two batches of corn bread tomorrow so I’ll double check the recipe again too =) Have a great weekend!
thanks! it must not have been too terrible because we’ve eaten it all. Usually we don’t quite make it through leftover cornbread, as much as we love it.
I love this cornbread. Unfortunately I’ve made it twice now and have had a soggy bottom both times. The middle is perfect, but the closer you get to the outer edges, the higher the sogginess goes. On the outside rim, it’s a good half an inch high. The top is devine. I made it with all cornbread, adding extra to make up for the missing rice flour, regular milk instead of soy and canola oil instead of shortening. Any suggestions?
Hi Kelly,
Given the pattern of the sogginess, I’m wondering if your pan got hot enough before you added the batter. Did the oil sizzle and rise up around the sides of the batter when you poured it in?
Thanks for an easy, quick & tasty cornbread recipe! My family prefers a sweet cornbread so next time I will add some honey…but for me…I like it with molasses & tea for a late night snack. Thanks for sharing your knowledge…and keep it coming.
Regards,
Sue Mac
Sue Mac, the recipe that I adapted this from called for an optional tablespoon of sugar. So if you’d like it sweet, that’s how much sweet to put in =)
[...] recipe Gluten Free Southern Cornbread 2 c. gluten free bread crumbs* 2 c. onion, diced 1 c. celery, diced 1 stick butter or [...]
This is almost exactly the same recipe we use for our cornbread here for my lil GF boy. We use maseca (corn flour) instead of the brown rice flour. It gives a nice springy texture.
We’ve also been known to make “tamale pie” with this recipe.
Once you have poured in the batter and given it a good stir, I pour a mix of one egg, browned ground beef, GF Salsa and chopped onions/tomatoes into the center and give a couple stirs to the middle.
Cook until set in the center and top with cheese as soon as it comes out. The cheese will be melty and great by the time it’s cool enough to eat.
We have a large family and the non-gf kids dig this one.
I love this site. Thanks for being here.
-Tracy
Hi Mary Frances:
We had your cornbread last night and IT WAS FABULOUS! It was light, moist, not gritty and not greasy at all. I was a little concerned about it either sticking and/or burning, but it didn’t! I added one diced onion to the oil first and 1 C of frozen corn (still frozen) to the batter. We like sweet corn bread, but in deference to Mary Frances, left it out. It turned out so well that it is going in the favourites file. For those of you living as Weight Watchers, 1/8 slice is worth 4 points- and worth every one!
Peggy, I’m so glad your family like the cornbread even without sugar. I’ll have to try adding the onion and corn to my next batch since my son will only eat cornbread if its available at supper.
I just made your Southern Cornbread recipe and I want you to know it’s wonderful. It’s everything a cornbread should be but without the gluten. Thank you. Has anyone tried adding corn kernels to the batter?
Thanks so much for this recipe! I followed the suggestion of Mama Grimtribe above and used corn flour in place of the brown rice flour. It turned out perfectly!