Vegan cornbread muffins

I decided to make a batch of cornbread the other week. I had a bag of Indian Head old fashion stone ground yellow cornmeal in my pantry. The recipe for cornbread was conveniently posted on the back of the packaging. I looked through the ingredients: yellow corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, shortening, milk, and egg. I realized I didn’t have any shortening, milk, or eggs. I decided to make a few substitutes in the ingredients and make a dairy-free, egg-free cornbread.

No egg?

I read that flax seed meal can be used to make an egg substitute for baking. I conveniently have a bag of flax seed meal in my fridge. I like to add a scoop of flax seed meal to my cereals, oatmeal, smoothies, pancakes, and such. It’s a great source of extra fiber. It also adds a light nutty flavor. The writing on the package says that 1 tbsp of flax seed meal can be combined with 3 tbsps of hot water to make one egg replacer.

No shortening?

Fruit puree makes a good shortening or butter substitute for baked goods. I usually like to use either bananas, applesauce, prunes. I had a ripe banana laying around the counter and it was the perfect candidate. Fruit puree will add a hint of flavor to the baked product, so we should make sure that the fruit will complement the product well. Bananas and cornbread works.

No milk?

This one was easy. I rarely ever have cow’s milk in the fridge since I’m lactose intolerant. I like to alternate between soy milk, almond milk, and rice milk. This week was soy milk and so, I substitute the regular milk with the soy milk.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 tbsp ground flaxseed meal
6 tbsp hot water
1 cup wheat flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if want sweeter)
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk
1 medium size banana, mushed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Spray muffin pan/baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Bring some water to boil. In a small bowl, add the ground flax seed. Pour 6 tbsps of hot water into the bowl. Stir until the mixture thickens. Set it aside to rest for a few minutes. (You’ve just made an egg substitute.)
In a large bowl, mix the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Add the ground flax seed mixture, soy milk, and mushed banana to the flour mixture. Beat until smooth.
Pour mixture into muffin pan/baking dish.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle

comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.
Serve warm.

This recipe created a very savory cornbread. The cornbread smelled amazing and tasted great as well. It would be perfect for soups and stews, or dipped in some gravy sauce.

For a sweet cornbread, you can add more sugar into the recipe instead. You can also add some honey or maple syrup to give it extra sweetness.

The cornbread freezes very well too. I wrapped them up individually in plastic wrap, placed them in a ziplock bag and tossed the bag into the freezer. The cornbread can be reheated in a microwave or toaster oven and it tastes just as great.

Happy eating!