Gluten-free Cornbread (no flour)

A single piece of gluten-free cornbread on a white plate with silver fork with pieces stacked behind.

5 from 1 vote

Gluten-free Cornbread (no flour)

With a golden color and tender crumb, this gluten-free cornbread has big corn flavor and can be enjoyed by anyone following a GF diet as it is naturally gluten-free. Its nice with a bowl of soup, chili, or a cup of tea for a snack. It’s also wonderful in cornbread dressing for Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys or with roast chicken during the year.

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Total Time35

Course: Breakfast, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 169kcal

Author: Sally Cameron

Equipment

1 8x8 light colored metal baking pan
Parchment paper

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

1 ½ cups gluten-free cornmeal 8 ounces
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder 6 grams
1 teaspoon xanthan gum 4 grams
¾ teaspoon baking soda 2 grams
¾ teaspoon salt 5 grams

Wet ingredients

1 ¼ cups low fat buttermilk remember to shake it! Sub note below
2 large eggs beaten
2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
2 tablespoons honey

Instructions

Mix Dry Ingredients

Gather up your ingredients and pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, add the cornmeal, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to incorporate.

Mix Wet Ingredients

Whisk in the buttermilk (or dairy-free substitution) until smooth, then add the eggs, melted butter and honey. Whisk until the batter is well mixed.

Pout Batter, Bake and Cool

Cut a square of parchment to fit into the bottom of an 8″x8″ square light colored baking pan. Spray with nonstick spray. Pour batter into the pan. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes (I have a convection oven) on the center rack, or until the cornbread is golden and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. The cornbread will be pulling away from the sides of the pan slightly. Use your nose. When the cornbread is done you’ll really smell it. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a cooling rack.
To serve, cut into squares or to make the cornbread dressing, see the post for cornbread stuffing on how to cut and dry the cornbread.

Notes

For no-dairy cornbread, substitute almond milk for the buttermilk, mixed with 1 ½ tablespoons of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to give it the needed acidity to activate the leavening agents. Allow it to stand for 10 minutes until it curdles and turns lumpy (don't rush this step).

If you can't use xanthan gum, swap for an equal amount of guar gum or twice as much psyllium husk (not powder).

Buttermilk powder reconstituted with water works great as a buttermilk replacement and what I usually have on hand these days. Use 1 ¼ cups of water + ¼ cup powder and + 1 Tbsp. of the powder.

Nutrition