This tasty cornbread recipe is easily prepared and steamed in the slow cooker and is 100% vegan with no eggs or butter required.
The result is a cornbread that is full of flavour, the right amount of sweetness and moistness, and has a soft, light and airy crumb.
Baking cornbread in the slow cooker is wonderfully economical as it saves your valuable electric or gas. So if you are concerned with using your oven during this cost of living crisis, but love the aroma and taste of freshly baked bread then do give this recipe a go.
How to prepare slow cooker cornbread
Use fine cornmeal, otherwise known as fine polenta, for this tasty cornbread as it results in a tasty soft, light and airy crumb.
The cornbread can be easily sliced and spread with a pat of vegan butter or margarine for a delicious side or snack.
Switch the slow cooker on to the high setting to preheat, and pour in a few cups of cold water.
Grease the pudding basin with a good amount of vegetable oil.
Add the cornmeal, plain [all-purpose] flour, baking powder, sugar and salt [above I have used Himalayan pink salt hence the pinkness!] to a mixing bowl.
Stir the dry ingredients together. Pour in the vegetable oil and plant milk.
Stir well until combined.
Pour and scoop the batter into the pudding basin.
Use a piece of kitchen foil larger than the top of the pudding basin so that it can be bunched up at the top to allow the bread to rise.
Scrunch the foil tightly around the rim of the basin.
Place the bowl into the slow cooker and pour enough boiling water into the slow cooker so that the water level is at least half way up the pudding basin.
Add the slow cooker lid and cook for 4 hours.
Remove the bowl from the cooker and remove the kitchen foil.
Leave to cool in the basin for at least 10 minutes before removing.
Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Recipe notes and FAQs
Storage
Cornbread is at its best 1-2 days after baking but will keep for a few more days. Refresh older slices in a warm oven for a few minutes or toast each side within a dry non-stick fry pan/skillet.
Cornbread can be frozen for 2-3 months. Wrap up with a food safe wrap or place into a freezer-proof container.
A few suggestions:
* Boston baked beans [quick recipe]
* Baked beans in a tomato sauce
* British mushy peas
* Rice-a-roni
* Loaded taco bean soup
* Mexican noodle soup [with black beans and corn]
* Slow cooker black bean chilli sin carne [with fluffy quinoa]
My family enjoyed our steamed cornbread with a bowl of the easiest and cheapest home-made soup. It was simply a few diced carrots, a few diced potato's, a wedge of chopped cabbage, a diced onion and 4 minced garlic cloves, covered with vegetable stock and simmered until everything was soft.
Some ground rainbow peppercorns and sprinkle of pink salt was all the seasoning it needed. I love how simple and inexpensive this veggie soup is and how homely and comforting it tastes.
I added a splash of oat milk to my bowl of soup to give it a little creaminess, and with the warm cornbread to dunk in it was perfect.
Any veggies can be made into a delicious, wholesome and quick soup. Even floppy ones. I often add extremely bendy carrots and celery sticks. Its surprising how even the bendiest celery firms up when cooking!
And anyway if you have a stick/immersion blender any past-its-best but still edible veggie can be whizzed up to soup perfection and no one will know any different!
Want more vegan cornbread recipes?
These old fashioned cornbread muffins are a family favourite and are really delicious, as well as being pretty easy and quick to bake.
An easy method for gluten-free cornbread muffins is also included within the recipe notes and FAQ section.
The cornbread muffin recipe post also contains some interesting information on the origin of cornbread.
Slow Cooker Steamed Cornbread
Equipment
- 1 litre [1 quart] pudding basin/bowl [such as a Pyrex glass heat-proof bowl, ceramic pudding basin, plastic pudding basin, etc]
- sieve
- kitchen foil
Ingredients
- 170 grams fine cornmeal [may also state fine polenta on the package]
- 105 grams plain flour [all-purpose flour]
- 50 grams granulated sugar [or caster sugar]
- 125 mililitres vegetable oil [such as rapeseed/sunflower]
- 250 mililitres soya milk [or your usual milk]
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the slow cooker by switching it to the high setting and pouring a few cups of cold water into the cooker. Pop the lid over.
- Using some vegetable oil or margarine generously grease the inside of the pudding basin.
- Sieve the cornmeal, plain flour, and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Also add the salt and sugar, and give everything a good mix.170 grams fine cornmeal, 105 grams plain flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 50 grams granulated sugar
- Next pour in the vegetable oil and milk. Stir well.125 mililitres vegetable oil, 250 mililitres soya milk
- Pour and scrape the batter into the pudding basin.
- Use a piece of kitchen foil larger than the basin rim and cover the pudding basin by bunching up the top of the foil and pressing the foil firmly into the basin rim. This is to allow the bread room to rise and to prevent too much steam accessing the bread.
- Pop the covered basin into the slow cooker and pour in enough boiling water into the slow cooker so that the water level sits about half way or more up the basin.
- Place the slow cooker lid on and leave the bread to cook for 4 hours.
- The bread is ready when it has lightly browned on the top, risen, the edges of the bread will have shrunk a little away from the sides, and a skewer popped into the middle comes out clean. If you think the bread is not ready just cover with the foil lid and leave to cook for a further 30 minutes and then check again.[There may be a small patch on the surface of the bread that looks slightly moister than the rest but this is fine and is just caused by being steamed. As long as a skewer comes out clean and the rest of the surface is firm and cooked, the bread is ready.]
- Once the foil lid is removed, carefully lift the basin from the slow cooker. Leave the bread for at least 10 minutes before trying to remove from the basin.Use a knife to loosen the edges of the bread right down to the bottom of the basin. Using a small chopping board, or similar, place it on top of the basin and flip the basin over. Give the basin a few good firm pats and carefully shoogle the bread out. This may take a few attempts!
- Enjoy warm or at room temperature, spread with vegan butter or margarine.
Notes
- Nutritional data is provided for guidance only and is not intended as a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
- Store cornbread within a bread bag or food container, and keep somewhere cool and dry. Wrap the bread in an additional layer of greaseproof paper or kitchen foil if preferred.
- Cornbread is at its best 1-2 days after baking, but older slices can be refreshed by popping into a warm oven for a few minutes to warm through. Or toast slices over a non-stick hotplate or fry pan/skillet.
- Cornbread can be frozen for up to 2-3 months.
Nutrition
Prepared this tasty vegan slow cooker cornbread? We would love to know how you got on.
All comments very much appreciated!
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Take care, Jacq x
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