Get ready for the most moist, fluffy, and overall delicious cornbread ever. Am I being dramatic? Not at all. I am absolutely obsessed with this Gluten Free Cornbread Recipe and soon you will be too!
This cornbread has melt-in-your-mouth texture and is slightly sweetened with honey. It’s warm and cozy and perfect for this time of year. Top with butter, jam, or honey (oh my) or enjoy alongside your next meal. Whether it’s a hot bowl of chili, soup, a weeknight meal, or the big Thanksgiving dinner – this gluten free cornbread will not disappoint.
For more cornbread based deliciousness, check out my family famous Cornbread Stuffing. A healthier take on the holiday classic, this stuffing is incredibly moist from vegan butter and homemade cashew cream plus super flavorful from rosemary, sage, and fennel. Absolutely delicious!
Ingredients
Eggs – Add structure to keep this gluten free cornbread from crumbling apart.
Vegan Sour Cream – The key to moist cornbread! I used Forager vegan sour cream but feel free to use regular if you don’t need this to be dairy free.
Coconut Oil – Make sure to use refined coconut oil for the neutral flavor.
Honey – A refined sugar free sweetener that adds a subtle sweetness to this cornbread.
Gluten Free Flour – You’ll need a gluten free flour blend such as Bob’s Red Mill GF 1-to-1 Baking Mix. The pre-mixed flour blends make gluten free baking easy and always create the best texture.
Cornmeal – I used the Bobs’ Red Mill Gluten Free Cornmeal since it’s certified gluten free and has a medium grind to it. There are different varieties of cornmeal, some have a finer texture while others are more coarse. Truly up to your preference!
Nutritional Yeast – Adds a subtle savory flavor to the cornbread as a vegan ‘cheese’ substitution. Highly recommend it for a unique flavor twist!
Creamed Corn – A great add in for more moisture and a bit of sweetness. Creamed corn is simply corn, water, sugar, corn starch, and some salt all mixed up to create creamy corn.
How to Make Gluten Free Cornbread
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9” x 9” square pan with parchment paper or grease with dairy-free butter or coconut oil.
- In a medium-size bowl, beat eggs. Follow by whisking in the sour cream, melted coconut oil, and honey.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, corn meal, nutritional yeast, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk dry ingredients until well blended and there are no lumps.
- Blend dry ingredients into wet ingredients until combined. Do not over mix.
- Stir in the entire can of corn.
- Pour batter into a parchment paper lined 9” x 9” square pan and bake at 350F for 45 minutes. Slice and enjoy!
Is Cornbread Gluten Free?
The ‘corn’ aspect of cornbread has fooled many into thinking it’s a naturally occurring gluten free bread. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Most conventional cornbread mixes or recipes call for regular wheat flour. Which is perfectly fine and tasty if you’re not required/trying to eat gluten free.
If you do need a gluten free cornbread though, I’ve got you covered! This recipe uses a gluten free flour blend instead of traditional wheat flour. Then it’s as simple as making sure your cornmeal blend is certified gluten free and you’re all set.
How to Make Cornbread Moist
Nobody wants a dry and crumbly cornbread, that’s just sad. To ensure that doesn’t happen and to keep your cornbread extra moist and delicious, you’ll need two key ingredients.
Sour cream, whether vegan or not, makes the batter extra creamy and adds lasting moisture while the cornbread bakes. The result is an ideal cornbread texture with no dry and crumbly bites in sight! As an alternative to sour cream, you could experiment with an unsweetened yogurt although it might not be quite as thick. Please comment below if you try any alternatives!
The second key ingredient is creamed corn. I used to use regular sweet corn kernels and while that was tasty enough, something was missing. That’s when I realized the secret of canned creamed corn. The ‘cream’ aspect of the corn adds moisture to the batter and results in fluffy and moist cornbread. An easy swap to make!
Healthy Cornbread Inspired Recipes
It’s the time of year for soups and all the cozy comfort foods. These recipes are warming and soothing, perfect to enjoy alongside some delicious cornbread. After all, it’s meals like this that always inspire me to make cornbread once I get thinking “damn I wish I had cornbread with this!”
This Vegan Cream of Mushroom is oh so creamy, full of flavor, and has subtle bites of mushroom throughout. I love how the garlic and sweet onion compliment the mushroom flavor and the cashew base creates the best creamy texture. A light yet heart soup!
Another lightened up classic, this Vegan Broccoli “Cheese” Soup is easy and delicious. It has a ‘cheesy’ flavor from nutritional yeast and is extra thick and creamy from homemade cashew cream. And the best news? It only uses 7 ingredients and takes less than 30 minutes start to finish!
And if you try this recipe, please let me know by leaving a comment and rating in the boxes below! I always love to hear from you and it helps other people find this recipe when they search online for the BEST Gluten Free Cornbread Recipe 🙂
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegan sour cream*
- ½ cup refined coconut oil melted
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 cup gluten free flour
- 1 cup yellow corn meal
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 8.25oz can cream style corn (a little over 1 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9” x 9” square pan with parchment paper or grease with dairy-free butter or coconut oil.
- In a medium-size bowl, beat eggs. Follow by whisking in the sour cream, melted coconut oil, and honey.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, corn meal, nutritional yeast, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk dry ingredients until well blended and there are no lumps.
- Blend dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined.
- Stir in the entire can of creamed corn until evenly distributed- do not over mix!
- Pour batter into the parchment-lined 9” x 9” square pan and spread in an even layer using a spatula.
- Move to the oven and bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out crumb-free.
Notes
- *I have found the best texture for this gluten free cornbread when you use homemade vegan sour cream. For this, blend together 2 cups soaked cashews (soaked overnight or bring to a boil and simmer for approx. 20 min), 1 cup water, ¾ cup lemon juice, ½ tsp salt and 1 tbsp nutritional yeast in a high-powered blender until completely smooth. This will make more than 1 cup so make sure to measure before adding to the batter!
- To make this cornbread more savory, try adding in chopped scallions or cheddar cheese.
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The flavor of this cornbread was delicious!
That said, it turned out super oily. So much that it never seemed to bake completely. We ate only the edges. And our fingers were left greasy. Ultimately, disappointed.
Hi Jess, I’m so sorry this happened!! I’ve made this recipe probably 7-10x at this point and that has never been an issue. Did you make any substitutions? The only thing I can think of that would effect this is the brand of vegan sour cream you used. I usually do a homemade version using cashews and wondering if there can be difference, especially as I know some brands of vegan sour cream are coconut based! – Casey
Made this cornbread last night and it is the best damn cornbread I’ve ever made and I have made tons or cornbread recipes always searching for the perfect one because we eat a lot of Mexican food. Super moist and fluffy and lots of flavor! My husband and three teenagers loved it too.
Jenny, thank you for leaving such a wonderful comment. I am SO glad to hear that you and your family loved this recipe and have found your new go-to cornbread!!!! – Casey 🙂
Why do you say .5 Cup Nutritional Yeast? I am assuming it is still 1/2 Cup?
Correct, it is still 1/2 cup! Yay for math!
is it possible to make this without the cream style corn? it is hard to find organic/non-GMO corn
Hmm, I haven’t tried this before! It does add liquid because it’s cream style, so it might be a little dry without this added in. If you do try, I’d love to know how it turns out!