Planning a vegan BBQ or cookout? Or looking for a delicious traditional side for your favourite veggie roasts, soups, stews or chilli's?
These vegan old-fashioned cornbread muffins are light and crumbly with delicious corn flavours and textures. The beautiful golden yellow colour of these tasty little muffins give them an almost warm sunny disposition.
Home-made cornbread muffins are so good enjoyed hot straight from the oven with a pat of vegan butter melted over.
Looking for gluten-free vegan cornbread muffins? There is an easy adapted recipe within the recipe notes so do have a look as they are really tasty.
Origin Of Cornbread
Corn was first cultivated by the Indigenous people of Mexico and Central America roughly about 5000-7000 BCE, possibly earlier.
In 1492 Spanish settlers in the Americas, discovered the corn crop and began to cultivate it, and soon after corn was being exported throughout Europe and the Far East.
Cornbread originated from Native American and indigenous cuisine and has now become a traditional bread of the Southern United States.
Native Americans would grind the corn kernels and prepare flatbreads or thin pancakes, as well as thicker cornbread's.
Early cornbread was likely less sweet than the relatively modern cornbread that is popular today.
In the US, cornbread is commonly enjoyed at BBQs, with roast dinners such as pot roast or meatloaf, chilli's, stews and soups.
Cornbread muffins are mostly identical to cornbread, and are simply baked within a muffin tray rather than a baking pan.
Vegan Old-Fashioned Cornbread Muffins
This vegan old-fashioned cornbread muffin recipe is adapted from an old recipe from the late 1800s.
Preparing this cornbread muffin recipe is simply a case of mixing the dry ingredients cornmeal, plain/all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and then stirring through the wet ingredients vegetable oil and plant milk.
The cornbread batter is divided between a 10 cup muffin tray or cupcake baking tray and baked for 15-20 minutes.
Once out of the oven the muffins are brushed with melted vegan butter or margarine, and can be enjoyed hot or at room temperature.
I have also adapted the recipe for gluten-free diets, so do have a look at the recipe notes for more information. The gluten-free cornbread muffins taste identical to the original recipe and are well worth a go.
If you would like to go even more vintage with this cornbread recipe, then replace the sugar with molasses for that old-school, retro flavour. The cornbread muffins baked with molasses transform into a rich dark golden brown colour and have a deeper, stronger sweet malty flavour. Also the molasses do add extra nutrition, compared to sugar, so if you love molasses these muffins are for you!
How To Prepare Vegan Old-Fashioned Corn Bread Muffins
Pour in the vegetable oil and plant milk and mix until combined.
Divide the mixture between a 10-12 muffin cup tray and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Brush each muffin with a little melted vegan butter or margarine as soon as they come out of the oven.
After a few minutes remove the muffins and cool on a wire rack.
Or enjoy the cornbread muffins hot from the oven. So tasty.
Recipe Notes And FAQS
Cornbread muffins are best enjoyed 1-2 days after baking.
But can be stored for a day or so longer within a bread, food bag, or food container, either in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
Older cornbread muffins can be refreshed by popping back into a hot oven for a few minutes to heat through.
Yes. Wrap well with food and freezer safe wrap or pop into a food bag or container and freeze for 3-4 months.
Defrost to room temperature and refresh in the oven if preferred.
Cornbread muffins can be served as a side for any of your favourite meals especially BBQs, cookouts, stews, soups, chilli's and veggie roasts such as vegan meatloaf.
Or simply enjoy a cornbread muffin as a quick snack, breakfast or light lunch along with some salad bits.
A few ideas:
* baked beans in tomato sauce
* vegan 'beef' stew
* American goulash [veggie mince and pasta]
* vegan 'chicken' stew [sub the dumplings and have a few cornbread muffins on the side instead]
* slow cooker black bean chilli
* chilli macaroni cheese
* curried parsnip soup
* easy home-made and budget-friendly tomato soup
The current recipe is not gluten-free but I have converted it to be fine for gluten-free diets, find the recipe below.
Gluten-free and vegan cornbread muffins:
* 170 grams [1 cup] cornmeal
* 85 grams [½ cup] gluten-free plain flour mix [such as the Doves Farm Freee brand which is what I use. Please note: The link is to Amazon UK just to show the flour used, but the same flour can be found in supermarkets and health stores much cheaper]
* 1 tablespoon gluten-free baking powder
* ¼ teaspoon xantham gum
* 3 tablespoons sugar [granulated/caster or alternative]
* 265 millilitres plant milk
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
Follow the method given within the main recipe, but bake for a few minutes longer 15-18 minutes. Check fan ovens at 15 minutes of baking as they tend to cook quicker. Using an electric oven at 180C our batch of gluten-free muffins was ready at 18 minutes.
Gluten-free cornbread muffins are best enjoyed on the day of baking as gluten-free baking has a tendency to dry out quicker, so if possible freeze left over muffins on the day of baking, or pop one or two day old muffins in the oven for a few minutes to refresh.
Dietary info per gluten-free muffin, roughly: 143 Kcal, 24g Carbs, 3g protein, 4g fat, 3g fiber, 6g sugar, 1mg iron, 115mg calcium, 68mg potassium, 55IU vitamin A.
Gluten-free vegan cornbread muffins:
Absolutely. Replace the three tablespoons of sugar with two-three tablespoons of molasses and your cornbread muffins will look like the batch in the image below.
[the flavour of these cornbread muffins are strongly of molasses so make sure you enjoy molasses before you bake! Although molasses does offer more useful nutrition compared to sugar. Black treacle can be used instead of molasses if preferred]
Vegan molasses cornbread muffins:
More vegan bread or similar recipes that are delicious as a side-dish or snack:
Quick Dinner Rolls [3 ingredients]
Old-fashioned buttermilk scones
📖 Recipe
Old Fashioned Corn Bread Muffins
Equipment
- 10 or 12 cup muffin tray or cupcake tray
- Mixing bowl
- sieve
- wire rack or a similar heat-proof surface
- Pastry brush optional, can just use a small spoon
Ingredients
- 170 grams cornmeal
- 85 grams plain flour all-purpose flour, sifted
- 3 tablespoon sugar granulated/caster or your usual alternative such as coconut/date sugar
- 250 mililitres plant milk especially oat or soya
- 1 tablespoon baking powder sifted
- 1 teaspoon salt [use less salt if preferred, perhaps ½-¾ teaspoon]
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil such as rapeseed, sunflower or olive oil
After baking:
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter or vegan margarine
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 160 Fan/ 356 Fahrenheit/ Gas 4.
- Grease the muffin tray with a little vegetable oil or vegan margarine.
- Add the cornmeal, plain/all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a mixing bowl.Mix well.
- Pour in the plant milk and vegetable oil.
- Stir until combined and smooth.
- Divide between the muffin tray. [I use a ¼ cup measurement to scoop and share the mixture between 10 muffin cups. For slightly smaller muffins divide the mixture between 12 of the muffin cups].
- Bake on the middle shelf, for 12-18 minutes or until the muffins have risen, are firm, and a skewer popped in comes out clean. The muffins won't be golden brown. [Some ovens bake faster so check after 12-13 minutes and see how they are going.]
- Melt the vegan butter or margarine in a small saucepan or within a microwave and have it ready for the muffins coming out of the oven.
- Place the muffin tray onto a wire rack or heat-proof surface.
- Using a pastry brush or a small spoon, brush the melted butter over each cornbread muffin. Leave the muffins for a few minutes before removing from the muffin tray and cooling on a wire rack or similar.
- Or enjoy the muffins hot from the oven.
Notes
- Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
- Store cornbread muffins within a bread or food bag and place in a bread/cake tin for 2-3 days.
- Or freeze for 3-4 months.
- For gluten-free cornbread muffins, adapted ingredients are: 170 grams [1 cup] cornmeal, 85 grams [½ cup] gluten-free plain flour mix [such as the Doves Farm Freee brand which is what I use], 1 tablespoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon xantham gum, 3 tablespoons sugar [granulated/caster or alternative], 265 millilitres plant milk, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon salt.
- Follow the method given within the main recipe, but the muffins may take a few minutes longer to bake. Check fan ovens at 15 minutes of baking as they tend to cook quicker. Using an electric oven at 180C our batch of gluten-free muffins was ready at 18 minutes.
- Gluten-free cornbread muffins can be stored at room temperature within a food/bread bag for 1-2 days, but it is advisable to freeze the muffins once cooled if they are not going to be eaten that day, as gluten-free bakes have a tendency to dry out quicker.
- Refresh cornbread muffins by placing in a hot oven for a few minutes.
- Or slice the cornbread muffin in half and toast the insides either using a panini machine hotplate, oven grill/broiler, or fry pan/skillet. Spread vegan butter or margarine over the toasted insides if liked.
- Cornbread muffins can be used as a dumpling replacement for soups and stews, simply pop a few in a cooked stew or soup and they will heat through and soak up the delicious flavours.
- For an even more vintage, retro flavour replace the sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of molasses.
Nutrition
Prepared these tasty old-fashioned cornbread muffins?
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So we can admire your good cooking!
Thanks so much Jacq x
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