Gluten-free Vegan Cornbread

I made these to go with some chili but they were all eaten before the chili was even ready. Now I know to make a double batch, and intend to do so later today. For now I thought I’d share the recipe which is an adaptation of Annalise Roberts’ recipe in her book, Gluten-Free Baking Classics. I changed a few things to make it vegan, and changed the flours slightly, and also eliminated the xanthan gum because I always try to eliminate the gums that gluten-free recipes call for, and most of the time I find they perform well without them. Xanthan gum and guar gum are often added to gluten-free recipes without thought, but they are one of those food-like items (not a real actual food) that I try to avoid in my own baking. Some people react to the gums adversely, and although neither my boys nor I seem to have immediate reactions to them, why eat them if they are not needed…? Xanthan gum sounds like an opening band for Metallica, not something that I want to ingest on a regular basis. So, here’s the recipe:

Cornbread (Gluten free and Vegan)

1 cup cornmeal

2/3 cup Brown rice flour

1/3 cup Tapioca Flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt (I use Real Salt)

1/4 cup oil (canola, sunflower, whatever is in your cabinet)

3/4 cup coconut milk or other milk alternative (or you can use regular old cow’s milk if you are from hearty Northern European stock and can digest the stuff)

1 Tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 Tablespoons of warm water (mix these together in a separate bowl and let them sit a moment)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the ingredients until just mixed, no need to overdo it. Pour into muffin pans that have been sprayed with oil, or oiled in the old-fashioned way because if you happen to be avoiding soy you shouldn’t be spraying your oils. (There seems to be soy lecithin in every oil spray I can find which doesn’t really surprise me.) I used small muffin pans in the shape of owls and they held together excellently, but I imagine if you try to make big muffins they might be crumbly, so keep them on the smaller side. Cook for 20-25 minutes. The above recipe made 12 small muffins and 3 happy bellies.