The Best Dairy Free Cornbread (With a Vegan-Friendly Option)

This simple, sweet dairy free cornbread recipe without milk is moist, and full of that rustic cornbread flavor we all love. It's great to enjoy warm with a little drizzle of honey or maple syrup or eaten with a bowl of hearty chili. Any leftovers are perfect for use in cornbread stuffing!

My wife and son are both lactose intolerant. So when I wanted to make cornbread to go along with our supper, I was disappointed to see that most cornbread recipes call for milk or butter. I understand that they add richness to the cornbread, but what about those of us who can't eat dairy!? So I decided to do a little testing and come up with a recipe my whole family could eat and enjoy. The result: this super easy cornbread recipe, virtually anyone can make!

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What Is Cornbread?

Cornbread first originated in the United States as an alternative to flour-based breads, after European settlers learned to use corn from Native American tribes who had been using cornmeal in traditional cooking for thousands of years.

Cornbread, as we know it today, is a quick bread that uses a chemical leavening agent, most commonly baking powder or baking soda (and sometimes even a combo of the two) to leaven or 'rise' the bread as opposed to a yeast bread (such as our white sandwich bread or sourdough boule) which would use an organic yeast to leaven the bread. Most modern recipes also call for the addition of a little wheat flour and eggs, which helps lighten the cornbread.

The benefit of quick breads is that they are just that: quick to make! The dough does not require any proofing or keeping at a warm room temperature to allow yeasts to do their work and can be baked right away.

A Short Overview Of Quick Bread Mixing Methods

Quick breads generally require fewer steps to prepare than yeast breads and there are three basic methods you can use to make a quick bread depending on the recipe.

• The stirring method (sometimes also called the muffin method), in its simplest form simply requires the wet and dry ingredients to be mixed and then baked.
• The cake or creaming method, which calls for creaming the sugar and fat ingredients before adding the dry and liquid ingredients, is most often used to make cakes.
• Finally the shortening method, most often used when baking scones and biscuits, calls for cutting cold fat into flour and other dry ingredients, before being mixed with the wet ingredients.

Can You Just Use Water Instead Of Milk For Most Recipes?

My first thought was naturally "Can I simply use water instead of the milk most traditional cornbread recipes call for"? My gut told me yes, but I didn't want the recipe to turn out dense and crumbly. Milk contains fat which helps add richness to most cornbread recipes.

After doing some reading into Hot Water Cornbread (which is often prepared with a slightly liquid batter like pancakes in a frying pan), I figured I could safely substitute water, or at the very least a milk alternative, and slightly increase the amount of fat in the recipe to make up for the missing richness of the milk.

I ended up settling on using oat milk in the recipe because I have found oat milk to be a great dairy alternative in baking without imparting any of its flavor to the end product.

Any dairy alternative can be used in theory (such as almond milk, or soy milk), though the resulting cornbread will slightly differ in taste and texture due to varying quantities of fat. I would caution against using coconut milk to make cornbread as it has a very dominant flavor and may overpower the subtle flavor of the cornmeal.

What Can You Use as an Egg Substitute?

If you really want to, you can also make this recipe vegan-friendly by omitting the eggs and substituting ⅓ cup apple sauce in the recipe below. Note that it may change the texture and flavor of the cornbread, and you may need to tinker with the amounts until you find a combo that suits your personal tastes.

Ingredients for Our Basic Cornbread Recipe Without Milk

As mentioned above, homemade cornbread is actually incredibly easy to make since there are no special steps or skills you need to learn. It's also a great recipe to make with kids as it is simply a "mix the dry and wet ingredients and bake" kind of situation. In a pinch, you can substitute yellow cornmeal for white cornmeal, though yellow cornmeal is naturally sweeter in flavor and has a stronger 'corn' flavor.

To make this recipe you'll need:

• 1 ¼ cups yellow cornmeal
• ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 4 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup oat milk, or another dairy alternative
• ⅓ cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs (or ⅓ cup of apple sauce for a vegan-friendly option)

You'll also need a 9x9 inch baking pan or cast iron skillet to bake your cornbread in. We used our cast iron pan, because it heats very evenly in the oven, and creates a nice dark brown crust on the bottom of the cornbread. Plus It looks super cool!

Instructions

1. Begin by preheating the oven to 375F and measuring out all the ingredients. If using a cast iron skillet, you can place the skillet in the oven now to pre-heat it as well. Measure out the dry in ingredients and add them all to a large bowl.

For best results, I would suggest sifting the dry ingredients, which simply means passing all the dry items through a fine mesh sieve, or sifter. This helps break up any clumps, especially in the flour, brown sugar, and baking powder.

2. Next measure out your wet ingredients in a separate bowl. I like lightly whisking my eggs before adding the remaining wet ingredients to ensure everything is well-mixed.

Before mixing the wet and dry ingredients together, grease whatever baking dish or skillet you plan on baking the cornbread in with a high heat vegetable oil. Canola oil works well for this. Be careful with a cast iron skillet if you pre-heated it in the oven as it will be blazing hot! Always place hot pans on a dry dishtowel instead of directly on the counter or stovetop to prevent damaging any kitchen surfaces.

3. Once you've greased the baking dish, pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix until just incorporated. You want to avoid over mixing the batter as it can result in a dense cornbread. Working quickly, pour the cornbread batter into the baking pan and place the pan into the hot oven. drop the temperature to 350F and bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes check the cornbread with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, and the cornbread is firm in the center it is finished baking! Serve the cornbread while warm for the best results!

Tips For Making The Best Cornbread

• Make sure you are using fresh cornmeal! Old cornmeal will smell stale and musty, while a fresh product will have a noticeably sweeter corn-like smell.
• Sugar is an optional ingredient! You can use any sugar available, including white sugar, castor sugar, honey, or maple syrup. Note that southern cornbread recipes traditionally have no sugar in the recipe at all!
• Play around with various flavor variations, adding chopped bacon, jalapenos, onions, or herbs to the cornbread!
• Avoid overmixing the dough. Just as when making muffins, overmixing can result in a dense cornbread.
• For an extra crispy crust, use a dark baking pan or pre-heated cast iron skillet. For extra flavor you can also grease the baking dish with bacon grease prior to baking!
• If your cornbread cracks during baking, that's ok! it simply indicates the oven temperature was a little too high. This can happen since all ovens heat slightly differently. Reduce the oven temperature by 15 to 20 degrees the next time around.
• Once baked, cornbread has a tendency to dry out very quickly. Tightly wrap and store leftover cornbread in airtight containers. Cornbread can also be frozen and kept for up to 3 to 4 weeks without loss of flavor. Alternatively, use leftover cornbread to make a delicious cornbread stuffing!

What To Serve With Your Cornbread

This hearty cornbread is great served with our:

• Instant Pot Chili
• Pulled Pork

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