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| Need a gluten-free cornbread recipe that won't dry out? This cornbread is incredibly moist and still soft even after sitting on the counter for several days. |
You can serve it along side of a steaming bowl of spicy chili, pour the batter on top of a casserole to make a nice cornbread topping, or crumble it up and use it as stuffing for the Thanksgiving turkey, once it dries out.
None of these traditions have to stop just because you're extra sensitive to gluten.
Due to its texture, cornbread is one of the easiest breads to convert to gluten free or gluten-free casein-free (GFCF).
However, not all recipes -- and that includes gluten-free recipes -- will give you a pan of cornbread that will last until tomorrow without drying out.
On the day you bake it, gluten-free bread is typically soft and yummy, but come morning, you'll need to use it for stuffing or a corny bread pudding. Stale gluten-free cornbread also makes a surprisingly delicious French Toast, by the way.
If you have a large family that goes through the entire pan of cornbread in a single sitting, gluten-free bread's tendency to dry out won't be a problem for you.
But if your family is smaller like mine is, or if family members don't typically reach for seconds, you need a gluten-free cornbread recipe that's incredibly soft the next day, and perhaps, even the next day after that.
In addition to being able to make it dairy free with a few adaptions, what I particularly like about this recipe is that you don't have to put up with the pressure that comes from having to eat it up quickly.
You can take your own, sweet time about it because it'll last sitting out on the counter for several days.
And yes, I said several days.
In fact, it's more likely to mold before it dries out.
So, if you're looking for a gluten-free cornbread recipe that's even better than the old one you used to make, this is the one you want.
This Recipe is More Like a Sweet Corn Cake
I can't remember ever eating cornbread growing up.
I think the first time I had it was when I made a trip to Georgia one summer with my aunt and her fiancé to visit his parents. I was about 12, or so, and the hot, steaming cornbread was served up along side of a hefty bowl of Southern fried chicken.
I don't remember it being sweet at all. It was a fairly heavy bread, made with bacon grease, as so many Southern varieties are said to be.
Where the average cornbread recipe is made with a mixture of 50 percent flour to 50 percent cornmeal, I've found that the more flour you add to the recipe, the smoother and less grainy (gritty) the final texture will be.
We prefer a very sweet, cake-like, cornbread. Something similar to what you'll find at Marie Callender's, so that's how I designed this gluten-free cornbread recipe to be.
The following recipe is gluten free with substitutions to make it dairy-light. If you need a dairy-free cornbread, scroll down to find the gluten-free dairy-free sweet cornbread recipe below.
Since there is just two of us, I normally make this in a metal loaf pan, which feeds us two meals, but instructions for making it in a square baking pan are also included.
Gluten-Free Flour Mix I Used
- 2-3/4 cups white-rice flour
- 1 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
- 1 cup tapioca flour or starch
- 1/4 cup Argo cornstarch
Combine all ingredients, mixing thoroughly.
Is Cornmeal Really Gluten Free?
I only use Argo brand cornstarch. Here's why!
Sweet and Light Gluten-Free Cornbread
Ingredients for a 9x5 metal loaf pan:
In a medium bowl, combine the corn meal, gluten-free flour mix, sugar, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Stir the dry ingredients very well.
In another bowl, whisk together milk or milk substitute and sour cream. It will still be a bit lumpy after whisking. Add the eggs, vanilla, and oil.
When well mixed, slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir just enough to moisten. If you over beat the batter, the cornbread will come out sort of spongy.
Expect the batter to be quite thin. Pour the batter into your prepared pan, and bake in the center of the oven.
A loaf pan will take 40 minutes, and the square baking pan should take at least 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing.
Don't double the ingredients for the square bake dish and try to bake it in a 9x13 metal baking pan. This particular recipe doesn't have enough structure to turn it into a sheet cake.
I did that once when I was working at the boys home, and it didn't cook all the way through. Perhaps, it just needed to bake a little bit longer, but I just never tried it that way again.
If you need more than a single square pan of cornbread, make the square-pan recipe twice, baking it in two separate square baking pans instead of a single 9x13 pan. That way, it's sure to come out perfect for you.
When I went gluten-free dairy-free a few years ago, I had to rework the above gluten-free recipe.
At that time, we lived in San Pete county, Utah, where dairy-free products were scarce. Our grocery shopping options were a Super Walmart and a couple of small, local grocery stores. One tiny health-food store.
That's it.
At that time, there was no dairy-free margarine or dairy-free sour cream available, so I had to use something else.
When I was younger, my sister used to have a recipe for a mayonnaise chocolate cake that was pretty tasty. You couldn't detect that there was mayonnaise in the cake at all, so I decided to use mayo to replace the sour cream.
It worked reasonably well.
This gluten-free dairy-free cornbread is light, fluffy, and just as delicious as the above recipe with dairy. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the two if they were sitting side-by-side of each other.
Ingredients for a 9x5 metal loaf pan:
In a medium bowl, combine the corn meal, gluten-free flour mix, sugar, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Stir the mixture pretty well.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, mayonnaise, oil, milk substitute, and vanilla. It is okay if the mixture is slightly lumpy. Just smooth it out the best you can.
Add the dry ingredients, and stir just enough to moisten. You don't want to over-beat the batter or the bread will come out spongy.
Expect the batter to be quite thin. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven.
A loaf pan will take 40 minutes and a square baking pan will take at least 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing.
Cornbread batter is easy to convert into muffins.
Just ladle any of the above batters into paper-lined muffin cups, filling the cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin pan for at least 5 minutes before trying to remove them. The muffins will continue to cook as they sit in the pan, so don't walk off and forget them. Set the timer, if you need to.
Unless you're making holiday stuffing out of them, you don't want a dry muffin.
Although the recipe has long-lasting staying-power, you still need to store your gluten-free cornbread properly. Gluten-free bread always needs to be stored in some sort of air-tight container.
However, unlike other gluten-free bread recipes, you won't need to rush the uneaten bread straight into the freezer. Covering it tightly in plastic wrap or slipping any leftover muffins into a zip-lock bag will do the trick. You can also wrap the extra cornbread slices tightly in foil.
Once air tight, they can sit on your counter for several days without drying out.
- 1/4 cup gluten-free corn meal (I use Argo)
- 3/4 cup gluten-free flour mix
- 1/3 cup pure cane sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/2 cup milk, almond milk, coconut milk, or apple juice
- 1/4 cup pure sour cream
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1/2 cup gluten-free corn meal (I use Argo)
- 1-1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix
- 2/3 cup pure cane sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1 cup milk, almond milk, coconut milk, or apple juice
- 1/2 cup pure sour cream
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla
- 1/4 cup oil
In a medium bowl, combine the corn meal, gluten-free flour mix, sugar, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Stir the dry ingredients very well.
In another bowl, whisk together milk or milk substitute and sour cream. It will still be a bit lumpy after whisking. Add the eggs, vanilla, and oil.
When well mixed, slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir just enough to moisten. If you over beat the batter, the cornbread will come out sort of spongy.
Expect the batter to be quite thin. Pour the batter into your prepared pan, and bake in the center of the oven.
A loaf pan will take 40 minutes, and the square baking pan should take at least 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing.
Don't double the ingredients for the square bake dish and try to bake it in a 9x13 metal baking pan. This particular recipe doesn't have enough structure to turn it into a sheet cake.
I did that once when I was working at the boys home, and it didn't cook all the way through. Perhaps, it just needed to bake a little bit longer, but I just never tried it that way again.
If you need more than a single square pan of cornbread, make the square-pan recipe twice, baking it in two separate square baking pans instead of a single 9x13 pan. That way, it's sure to come out perfect for you.
Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Sweet Cornbread Recipe
When I went gluten-free dairy-free a few years ago, I had to rework the above gluten-free recipe.
At that time, we lived in San Pete county, Utah, where dairy-free products were scarce. Our grocery shopping options were a Super Walmart and a couple of small, local grocery stores. One tiny health-food store.
That's it.
At that time, there was no dairy-free margarine or dairy-free sour cream available, so I had to use something else.
When I was younger, my sister used to have a recipe for a mayonnaise chocolate cake that was pretty tasty. You couldn't detect that there was mayonnaise in the cake at all, so I decided to use mayo to replace the sour cream.
It worked reasonably well.
This gluten-free dairy-free cornbread is light, fluffy, and just as delicious as the above recipe with dairy. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the two if they were sitting side-by-side of each other.
Ingredients for a 9x5 metal loaf pan:
- 1/4 cup gluten-free cornmeal (I use Argo)
- 3/4 cup gluten-free flour mix
- 1/3 cup pure cane sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (I use Clabber Girl)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (I use NOW Foods)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise (I use Hellman's or Best Foods)
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/2 cup almond milk, coconut milk, or apple juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla (I make my own)
- 1/2 cup gluten-free cornmeal (I use Argo)
- 1-1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum (I use NOW Foods)
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 cup almond milk, coconut milk, or apple juice
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla
In a medium bowl, combine the corn meal, gluten-free flour mix, sugar, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Stir the mixture pretty well.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, mayonnaise, oil, milk substitute, and vanilla. It is okay if the mixture is slightly lumpy. Just smooth it out the best you can.
Add the dry ingredients, and stir just enough to moisten. You don't want to over-beat the batter or the bread will come out spongy.
Expect the batter to be quite thin. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven.
A loaf pan will take 40 minutes and a square baking pan will take at least 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing.
Basic Gluten-Free or Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Corn Muffins
Just ladle any of the above batters into paper-lined muffin cups, filling the cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin pan for at least 5 minutes before trying to remove them. The muffins will continue to cook as they sit in the pan, so don't walk off and forget them. Set the timer, if you need to.
Unless you're making holiday stuffing out of them, you don't want a dry muffin.
To Store Gluten-Free Cornbread Properly
Although the recipe has long-lasting staying-power, you still need to store your gluten-free cornbread properly. Gluten-free bread always needs to be stored in some sort of air-tight container.
However, unlike other gluten-free bread recipes, you won't need to rush the uneaten bread straight into the freezer. Covering it tightly in plastic wrap or slipping any leftover muffins into a zip-lock bag will do the trick. You can also wrap the extra cornbread slices tightly in foil.
Once air tight, they can sit on your counter for several days without drying out.
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