Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Cornbread That Won't Kill Me! :D

I pondered several different cornbread recipes, before patch-working my own gluten-free version to try.

Here's what I did:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Lightly grease a nine-inch glass pie dish. I used a bit of Spectrum for this.

Combine:
   *  1  1/4 cups *milk* 
              [I used So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk]
    * 1 Tbsp. vinegar    
             [I used distilled white- it's what I had. I prefer apple cider vinegar.]
   Stir together and let sit. It will get all clumpy. This takes the place of buttermilk very nicely.

Combine:
    * 1  1/2 cups cornmeal
    * 1/2 cup *flour*  
                [I used 1/4 cup millet flour, then on the second 1/4 cup I filled the cup halfway with potato starch and topped it off with more millet flour. So, the exact measurements would be 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons millet flour and 2 Tablespoons potato starch, or 3/8 cup millet flour & 1/8 cup potato starch. It would probably also work well with a basic gluten-free flour mix.]
     * (2 tsp.) baking powder- this was too much. Next time, I'll try 1 or 1  1/2 teaspoons.
     * 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
     * 1/2 tsp. baking soda
     * 1 tsp. salt
     * 1 or 2 Tbsp. sugar
 [I think I used one Tbsp.  of sugar. I knew we would put honey on it, so kept it less sweet.]
   Stir all the dry ingredients together well. I usually use a wire whisk for this- it works well.

Cut into dry ingredients:
     * 1/4 cup shortening [I used Spectrum non-hydrogenated shortening]
   Cut in well with a pastry blender, until there are no big clumps left.

Combine:
    * 1 1/2 tsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer powder
    * 2 Tbsp. *milk*  [I used So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk]
[Make sure this is really well combined, with no clumps. I had a few clumps, even after whisking it well, so I think I'll put it through a wire strainer next time.]

Add soured milk mixture and egg replacer mixture to dry ingredients. Mix until combined, but don't overmix.  Pour into prepared dish. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until baked through in the center.

I loved this, cut open and spread with more Spectrum shortening and topped with honey. Agave nectar would also be really good on it, in place of honey.

Enjoy!