Gluten Free Cornbread

Gluten free cornbread is one of those basic recipes gluten free cooks need. Cornmeal, not the same as corn flour, gives a distinct texture that people love and it's essential here. This is a year-round recipe with sweet and savoury variations from muffins to turkey stuffing and more.

Cornbread, served warm with syrup on it, is my comfort food. I don't recall my mom making any variation of this recipe but I love doing that. From savoury versions to turkey stuffing to raspberry cornmeal muffins in summer, I love it all.

🌽 Ingredients

Cornmeal is essential here and the use of corn flour makes this original recipe naturally gluten free and rice-free too. However, gluten free corn flour can be hard to find (or you might not want to add it to your growing collection of flour), so I've got substitution suggestions below the instructions. Keep scrolling.

• Gluten free cornmeal - The current recommendations from Celiac Canada say you should only buy certified gluten free cornmeal. This is because of the way corn is grown as well as the harvesting and packaging processes.

• Gluten free corn flour or my EGFG gluten free flour blend - See more on substitutions below.

• Tapioca starch - Wheat flour is 75% starch and gluten free flours are trying to mimic the magic of wheat flour in all the different ways we used to use it. Adding more starch to an any combination of flours is a common addition to lighten up gluten free baking.

• Baking powder - Some gluten free recipes use two leaveners, often baking powder and baking soda. In this recipe I only used one but this is another way you can experiment to perfect this recipe to your liking.

• Xanthan gum - This is the glue that adds structure to gluten free baking. It seems expensive but is used in tiny amounts so just buy it. If you can't tolerate binders or want to bake without them you will want to learn about the options for substitutions.

• Eggs provide structure in baking. There is a powdered egg replacer available if you cannot use them.

• Vegetable oil - Compared to butter, oil helps make baked goods more moist and tender.

• Buttermilk helps make baked goods moist and tender, while also helping it rise to a lighter crumb.

See recipe card for complete ingredient list and exact amounts.

Instructions

If you've done a bit of baking you're probably familiar with the common steps of mixing a bowl of dry ingredients with a bowl of wet ingredients. That works in some recipes but here's what I do in my cornbread recipes and why.

• Gluten free flours don't absorb liquid or fat like wheat flour.
• Use a stand mixer to beat air into the wet ingredients and again into the whole mixture to give it a light, airy crumb.

Substitutions

Gluten free corn flour - I substitute my EGFG gluten free flour blend when I'm out of corn flour and I just can't find it. Try this recipe with your everyday flour blend. That's the only way to know if your blend will give you the results you want, in your kitchen. If you're not satisfied, keep another blend.

Tapioca starch - I have substituted the tapioca starch with more of my EGFG flour blend. I think my flour blend works in 80% of the baking I do, not yeast breads but quick breads, pancakes, biscuits and 100 other recipes. If you're trying to improve the texture of your gluten free baking, make sure you've got two different starches in your recipe.

Xanthan gum - The best substitute for xanthan is guar gum. Use it in equal amounts in any recipe calling for xanthan gum.

Buttermilk - You can always sour regular milk by putting 1 tablespoon of white vinegar in a cup and filling it to 1 cup. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes then use as directed. It never makes your baking as nice and fluffy as commercial buttermilk, but it's a substitute cooks need.

9 Variations for Gluten Free Cornbread

To me, a basic recipe must meet these two criteria:

1. I can find the recipe and confirm I have the ingredients (or know what to buy) in less than a minute.
2. It works in my kitchen every time and I'm confident making tweaks and variations.

Make it sweet or savoury and cook it in any shape of pan you have. Here are nine different ways I make this basic recipe.

1. Baked in an 8-inch square cake pan, cut into squares and served warm with corn syrup for breakfast.
2. Portioned into a regular or mini size muffin pan, usually with berries as Cornmeal Raspberry Muffins. I add a little more sugar to make them a treat.
3. Baked as cute little corn sticks in a cast iron molded corn-stick pan because there was a time when I bought every unique pan to make every recipe I saw in a glossy, food magazine.
4. A cheesy version with shredded cheddar cheese in the batter baked anyway you like.
5. Bacon lovers add crumbled, cooked bacon (and maybe bacon grease to replace some of the oil) and need no tips on how to do that.
6. We used to cook cornbread in a cast iron pan over a campfire.
7. Make a cornbread loaf in regular or mini loaf pans. Fill a loaf pan half way with the batter and top with blobs of jalapeño jelly. Draw swirls through the batter with a knife. Top with the remaining batter and bake. This is also excellent with cheddar cheese in the batter and finely chopped jalapeños if you like it hot!
8. As Cornbread Chorizo Stuffing for my traditional turkey dinner with ancho gravy.
9. Cornbread Sausage Stuffing Balls because everyone needs more ways to eat stuffing.

Related Recipes with Corn Flour and Cornmeal

Once you've bought cornmeal, corn flour or masa harina (to make corn tortillas) you'll need more ways to use them all. Here you go!