Kinda' Gluten free, Nut free Vegan Cornbread

Nut free & Gluten free Vegan Cornbread

Cornbread? Perfectionists may not think this should be called cornbread but then, my version did start out as rice pancakes and evolved! Sorry but I do tend to make these huge fantastical leaps of faith and and mostly end up in a muddle. But this time, perhaps I got it right. This recipe contains cooked rice, rice flour and cornmeal to which I added corn(obviously), peppers and herbs to liven things up and mask the obvious gluten-freeness of the recipe. The full recipe follows so have a look, a try and bring on the comments and suggestions, please!

Chockfull of delicious herbs and veg!

Gluten free vegan cornbread

The wet
1 cup tomato juice
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sunflower or coconut oil
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 tablespoon flax meal mixed with 3 tablespoon hot water (aka flax egg)
1/4 cup soft cooked rice

The dry
1 cup fine cornmeal
1 cup white or brown rice flour
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 tablespoon fine sugar

And the Wild
1 cup cooked corn kernels
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/4 cup finely diced red pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions

Method of madness: Place the dry and the wet in a food processor and blend till well mixed. Then add the interesting stuff and mix by hand till well combined. Pour into an 8"x5" rectangular pan or muffin cases and bake for about 25 minutes at 180 degrees (medium oven) for the pan and about 15 minutes for the muffins. Test with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before turning out and cutting into whatever shapes you like. I grilled the leftovers in a grill pan and they were great the next day.

As muffins.....

Btw, these can be baked in muffin cases as well, for great easy to grab-and-go corn muffins. Brekkie and lunch box friendly.

More trials.....half a loaf is better?

Yet another Gluten-free Bread attempt 

Here's the next episode in my on going gluten-free bread-making saga...lots of hyphens there and more to come! I'm trying to make a (here it comes!) gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, nut-free, yeast-free, corn-free  (no xantham gum), soy-free and gelatine-free bread using a gluten-free sour dough starter. Till now, my sour dough starters have been non-starters (sorry,couldn't resist). At last, in my latest attempt, the starter turned out the way I perceived it should. I was so excited! Then I got into the actual mixing and baking. For this loaf, I used a store bought gluten-free bread mix. It was a premix of rice, tapioca and potato flour with xantham gum added. I know I keep going on about xantham gum having corn in it but I figured I'll give the premix a go to see if I could actually make a reasonable tasting gluten-free bread. The bread flour with the sour dough starter mixed up fine. I kept it in my oven with just the light on to let the bread dough rise. Then when I carefully transferred the beautifully risen loaf to a heated pan, poof! My bubble burst......literally. The dough started sinking and I ended up where I started.......with a bookend! Back to the drawing board..........sigh. 

A note of caution about Xanthan Gum

Thought I would share something interesting about the use of Xanthan Gum in gluten-free vegan baking. Xanthan gum is a plant derivative commonly found in commercial foods. On the food packaging label, it can be listed as food additive E415, or simply as xanthan gum. Many gluten free vegan cake recipes include xanthan gum as a binder to thicken and hold the batter together. But take note - those sensitive to corn - xanthan gum is usually made from corn. 

Xantham Gum

In some of my gluten-free vegan recipes like my gooey, fudgey brownies, I replace xanthan gum with flaxseed meal (ground flaxseed). The bake turns out fine. Next time, I will have more about flaxseed. Until then, Happy Baking!

Brownies, with flaxseed meal