This sweet dairy-free cornbread is another longtime staple in our home. It’s an easy and delicious recipe for cornbread without milk. My son loves it so much that I made it almost weekly as my kids grew up, to go with meals or for a snack (and he doesn’t have any issues with dairy …). If any was left, we’d slice a piece in half and toast it for breakfast the next morning (YU-UM!) Get the recipe for this easy sweet dairy-free cornbread (and watch the recipe video) below!
Sweet Dairy-Free Cornbread: Just What the Dr. Ordered
While I was pregnant with my daughter (20+ years ago), I had a lot of sinus problems and, after she was born, I suffered from a severe sinus infection for 6 months. Antibiotic after antibiotic was prescribed, and the sinus infection not only held on, but it intensified. After x-rays and a cat-scan offered no clues as to the root cause, my doctor finally referred me to an allergy specialist.
A skin prick allergy test resulted in several raised bumps, but none so significant as one …
The kind allergy doctor delivered the bad news: I was really allergic to cow’s milk. And then he handed me a long list of everything I had to avoid. What the heck was casein, whey, nonfat dry milk? And what was it doing in every darn cookie, cracker and even hamburger bun I may ever want to eat!? Not to mention no more milk, cheese, sour cream, ice cream or every dessert, appetizer or casserole dish I ever made.
I was a half a gallon of milk per day kind of kid, cheesecake was my favorite dessert and the only thing better than cheese was MORE cheese.
I had to, basically, throw most of my favorite recipes (and half my pantry and refrigerator contents) out the window. Grocery shopping suddenly took 3 hours, thanks to my new hobby: reading food product labels! During the next Christmas shopping season at the mall, hunger drove me to the food court. As I looked around, I couldn’t find anything I could eat. I sat down and cried. The only upside? I had no problem losing my pregnancy weight.
The Internet was in its early stages, so recipes and substitution suggestions were not easily accessible. Neither were the products we have readily available today. Rice milk (which I could only find at the health food store at the time), oil or margarine were my main substitution options.
Can You Make Cornbread Without Milk?
YES!
Somewhere (I can’t remember where), I found a recipe 20+ years ago that I scribbled onto a note card for cornbread that just happened to be dairy-free. It was like manna from heaven! Something warm and delicious and typically full of milk that I could eat!! And my family loved it too.
Over the years, I changed it up, experimenting with more of this … less of that, and the result is the sweet dairy-free cornbread recipe below (which is also soy-free). I have made it, quite literally, hundreds of times at this point in my life.
Only my daughter and I have issues with milk (no one else in my family does), and they all prefer this sweet dairy-free cornbread over the traditional buttermilk or other dry kind of cornbread. It’s moist, sweet and cake-like (more like cornbread from Boston Market, if you’ve ever had that). It’s best enjoyed fresh out of the oven with a little butter (vegan butter, in my case). We also like to eat it with vegetable turkey chili or for breakfast, cutting a piece in half and then toasting it in our toaster oven, topping it with blackberry jelly or my homemade jalapeno cinnamon plum jam.
An important thing to note: you can use any kind of corn meal for this recipe, but organic yellow corn meal really makes it taste the best. I have experimented with all kinds of variations with the corn meal, sugar, flour, etc. and what matters most is the corn meal. The organic corn meal is coarser and gives the cornbread a slightly nutty texture. Give it a try!
Make Cornbread Muffins and/or Jalapeno Cornbread
Sometimes, I want cornbread in muffin form. There isn’t much difference – except baking them in a muffin pan takes a little less time (about 15 minutes), and they’re little easier to transport when you’re on the go.
You can also add some finely chopped jalapenos to your batter to make jalapeno cornbread. And there’s nothing better than a piece of cornbread or a cornbread muffin toasted the next day for breakfast!
Watch how easy it is to make this homemade dairy-free cornbread! 🙂
Pin it/save it and make it! And let me know if you have any questions or comments. If you make it, please let me know and tag Kitchen Gone Rogue (you’ll make my day!!)
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| Prep Time | 5 |
| Cook Time | 25 |
| Servings |
pieces
|
- 2 Tbsp canola oil (plus a little to grease the bottom of pan)
- 3/4 cup organic yellow corn meal
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 eggs
Ingredients
|
|
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and lightly grease the bottom of a 9x9 glass baking dish
- Mix all of the dry ingredients
- Add the water, oil and eggs; mix well
- Add to the baking dish and bake for 25 minutes (15 minutes if you're making muffins)
- Let it cool a little, cut and enjoy!
Looking or other bread recipes? Check out these other favorite Kitchen Gone Rogue Recipes:
© Kitchen Gone Rogue. www.kitchengonerogue.com
Used your recipe for dinner tonight and my opinionated 5 year old told me I had just made the best cornbread on the planet…Thank you for such a great recipe!
Thank you so much for your feedback! 5 year-old approved is the best compliment of all! 🙂 It was my son’s favorite growing up!! Thank you again. 🙂
Wondering if the oil is just for the pans? There is no mention of adding it to the mix…
It is delicious!
Great question! It’s for the mix, and now I see that it’s in the video (and in my brain, because I have made this a thousand times), but I somehow didn’t include it in the written instructions! YIKES! I just added it to the instructions. THANK YOU!!
Hi there! Do you think a gluten free flour would work for this recipe?
Hi Jenny – great question! I have been wanting to create a gluten-free version, but I haven’t yet. It may be as simple as substituting a good g-f flour blend one-for-one with the regular flour … BUT that hasn’t always worked out the way I hoped with other recipes. If you try it, please let me know. If I do and find a version I really like, I will post it on my blog, for sure!
Would this work in a cast iron skillet?
Stephanie- yes! I have made it in both a 10 inch and 12 inch cast iron skillet. I like it better in the 10 inch (it comes out thicker). It bakes a little faster so check it at 18-20 minutes … Let me know what you think! – Kelly
My son is allergic to egg and but has passed his baked egg challenge. As long as eggs are cooked at 350 for at least 30 minutes he can eat them. Can I decrease the temperature to get to 30 minutes?
Hi Heather, thank you for reaching out. I have never tried baking this at a lower temperature, but I think you could try it, and if the center is too mushy (my only concern), you could probably bump up the temp for a few minutes at the end. I have been working on a vegan/egg-free version of this recipe, but I don’t love it yet … so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, if this works (or doesn’t), please let me know! I would love to share this as an option for others in your son’s boat if it works and you like it. Thank you! Kelly
Hi Kelly, I ended up cooking for 45 minutes at 350 and it turned out great! I actually was searching for a recipe with egg. Once a kid with food allergies passes a food challenge (baked egg) we have to be sure he has 3 servings a week to keep the resistance up. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Hi Heather – Oh, I’m so glad it worked and turned out great! And that’s good to know about the food challenge. Thank you for letting me know. You made my day! 🙂
Can you sub butter for oil ? 🤔
I added 1 cup cooked crumbled bacon and 1/4 tbsp. Vanilla extract. …. I got a small taste. The other’s ate it up before it could properly cool and set.
Sounds delicious. Glad you all enjoyed it!! Thank you for letting me know. 🙂
Has anyone tried using whole wheat flour?
Hi Sarah – I did years ago. It didn’t turn out as light and fluffy. If you want to use whole wheat flour, I’d suggest trying half whole wheat flour/half regular first. If you do, let me know what you think … Thank you! Kelly
Hi I just tried this recipe for dairy free cornbread and loved it and came out great will definitely make again
Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know that, Kim! I really appreciate it. So glad you loved it!! 🙂
Hi! I’m excited to try this recipe…was wondering if I omit the oil, would it still work? Would butter be ok? It’s definitely not a lot of oil but was just trying to think of an alternative.
Thank you! 🙂
Hi Meena – I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you with an answer to your question! Yes, I think butter would be ok, as long as you aren’t making this recipe because it’s dairy-free (in which case, you could substitute with a dairy-free “butter”). Thank you … and let me know how it turns out! Thank you 🙂 – Kelly
My wife is not allowed dairy due to testing if my newborn son is allergic or not, so I looked up your recipe, and my 3y/o daughter who is going through the everything is gross stage said it was very yummy and thanked me for making it, which surprised me because if its not chicken or plain pasta, she doesnt like it usually. Great recipe, very delicious, Thank you!
Hi Robbie – thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to let me know. That is the best compliment ever!!! 🙂
Hi, my daughter has several food allergies, milk, eggs, peanuts and oats. I wanted to try this recipe but need to sub out the eggs. Have you tried making it milk/egg free?
I’m so sorry for the delay in responding – I’ve been in the midst of moving! I HAVE tried making it egg-free. I don’t like it quite as much, but it does work to substitute 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar for the 2 eggs. That’s what I use in my vegan lemon poppyseed cornbread muffin recipe — https://www.kitchengonerogue.com/recipe/vegan-lemon-poppy-seed-cornbread-muffins/ I like the regular cornbread more, but the lemon cornbread is nice for a change of pace (you can leave out the poppyseeds). Thank you, and please let me know how it turns out for you if you make the cornbread with the substitutions.
I made the muffins and they turned out great!
April – I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for letting me know. 🙂 You made my day. ENJOY!
If I don’t have baking powder, can I substitute anything for it?
You can make your own — mix ¼ teaspoon of baking soda with ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar. This will give you the equivalent of 1 teaspoon of baking powder. It doesn’t keep well, so I wouldn’t make it and then store it — make it when you need it if you don’t have baking powder on hand.
Can you make this in a cast iron skillet?
Hi Amy – yes, you can make this cornbread in a cast iron pan. I have made it in my 10-inch cast iron skillet and my 12-inch. It is thinner in the 12-inch (and takes less time to bake). I prefer it in my 10-inch cast iron skillet. Even there, I shave a few minutes off the bake time and check it often toward the end.
Hi Kelly! Is this recipe only good for fresh out of the oven cornbread, or do you think i can prepare it the night before to serve the next day?
Thank you!
Hi Helena – great question! You can definitely make this the night before and serve the next morning. Because it is fresh with no preservatives, this cornbread recipe is best served/eaten within the first 2 days after it is made. I find that when made as muffins they stay fresh a tad longer than when made in a pan. Enjoy!
I’ve been looking for a good dairy free cornbread for 6 years. I found your recipe last week and I’ve already made it 2 times. It is a family favorite already. Thank you so much! I cannot wait to try more of your recipes.
Came out Great ❣️
Found your recipe yesterday and made half of it. There are only 2 of us, and the half recipe made 6 muffins. We enjoyed them. They stayed yellow, so I let them bake a little longer. I think that’s why they were a little less moist than I would have preferred. But we both enjoyed the taste and texture and felt it was the perfect “dessert” for our 2 person Thanksgiving meal. We’ll eat 2 more tonight and freeze the other 2 for a while.
I especially appreciated that there was not much oil and not too much sugar and yet it was plenty sweet.
Thank you for this recipe.
I am so glad to hear that! Thank you so much for letting me know. You made my day. 🙂
Trying a variation of this with limited ingredients since I’m out of milk apparently. Used veggie oil instead of canola. Out of sugar as well so I used the last of brown sugar I had (There wasn’t much so I added powdered sugar also). All other ingredients match recipe. Since I’m making this on Easter I mixed in food coloring. It looks cool baking, just not sure how it’s going to turn out taste wise. Used bread flour.