Do you ever feel bad for food. Like as if they had feelings or something?
No really! Sometimes I feel bad for those poor little foods that get a bad wrap. Half the time it’s not their fault, we just don’t know how to cook them right.
Well that’s how I feel about cornbread.
So much can go wrong with cornbread. It can be dense, heavy and dry.
But so much can go right with cornbread! It can be light, tender, sweet and moist. You can add a touch of honey to the batter to make it sweet. You can add cheese and jalapenos to the batter to make it savory and spicy.
Yes, cornbread can be really amazing if done right. And trust me, with the lack of bread in this house, there is nothing like a bit of cornbread to go with your meal.
Since gluten free goods can tend to be dry and crumbly, I chose to use buttermilk as my liquid in this recipe. The extra fat gave these muffins the richness they needed and seemed to hold the muffins together better than regular milk.
I also chose to use half cornmeal and half corn flour in my dough. The corn flour gives a more tender crumb than the traditional cornmeal and makes for a smoother outcome. If you have difficulty finding corn flour, you may be able to substitute all cornmeal, but I have not tried it myself.
I also decided to bake the muffins at 350 degrees instead of the typical 400 degrees for muffins. The gluten free flours need a lower temperature to rise adequately and shape nicely.
It only took an extra 2 minutes or so of baking time with a lower oven temperature.
These cornbread muffins were the perfect side to my Roasted Red Pepper and Jalapeno Cream Soup that I had made for dinner. Nothing can replace the fun of dunking something in soup, whether it be a warm roll or a freshly hot cornbread muffin. That’s some southern goodness right there!
How do you jazz up your cornbread recipes?
- ½ cup corn flour (or sorghum flour)
- ½ cup cornmeal
- ¼ cup almond flour
- ½ cup potato starch (not flour)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease around the tops of a 12 count standard muffin tin and fill holes with paper liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together corn flour (or sorghum flour), cornmeal. almond flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt.
- In a larger bowl beat eggs. Add sugar and milk and beat until sugar is dissolved. Add melted butter.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. MIx until combined. Beat an additional minute.
- Fill muffin liners ⅔ way full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden and tops bounce back with touch of a finger.
- Cool on cooling rack until ready to serve.*