What you will learn from this recipe is how to make corn bread that needs only seven ingredients (that’s including baking powder, baking soda, salt, and oil), is completely gluten-free, and entirely vegan! It is also simple, yet delicious, without extra sugar and other funky stuff that many recipes include.

I grew up eating plenty of corn bread, especially during winter months. I’ve also shared a recipe or two, providing different variations on the theme. Here, I wanted to share a recipe that strips away all the complexity and uses corn meal, corn starch and oil, together with leavening agents and carbonated (sparkling) water to create a nutty and mealy corn bread.

The bread is a bit on a crumbly side and it is best used with hearty stews, chilis and soups, those types of dishes that need a bit of bread to mix it in. For example, it would pair well with a cabbage and bean stew, or a bean soup with chorizo, or 15 bean chili!

The down side of this corn bread is that it does not store well, and it is really at its prime when it is fresh from the oven. So, if you feel that you may not need this much corn bread, make a smaller batch. It is so easy to make that you can whisk it all together as needed. If you are bothered by crumbliness, you can add some flax egg to the batter or chia egg.

Easy Gluten-free and Vegan Corn Bread

What you’ll need:

• 3 cups of yellow corn meal
• 1 cup of corn starch
• 1/3 cup canola (or other vegetable or olive) oil
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sparkling (carbonated) water
• Cooking spray

What you’ll do:

1. Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine cron meal, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well, then add oil and combine. Batter will be soft (see picture above).
3. Let the batter stand for 10 minutes or so.
4. Spray the bottom and the sides of the 8 in x 8 in (20 cm x 20 cm) baking dish. Pour the batter in, smooth the top, then place in the preheated oven to bake at high temperature for 10 minutes.
5. Lower the temperature to 350 F (175 C) and continue baking for another 20 minutes.
6. Let the corn bread cool for 15 minutes or so, then cut and serve. Please note that this bread will not be asa great the next day so I suggest that you enjoy it fresh!

Copyright © Eat the Vegan Rainbow, 2019