Corn bread for the win

One side benefit of making plant-based versions of classic dishes is this: The very fact that they’re veganized can sometimes — if you’re lucky — let you avoid taking sides in any dispute over tradition. When I developed a bean-based version of Texas chili (a dish that famously should never have beans, just meat), I seemed to get a pass from the very purists I used to join with in criticizing others who broke the code. A vegan chili is so unimaginable to them, anyhow, that who cares if it smashes any of the other rules?

Table of Contents

• My next Zoom cooking class!

• I break for animals: Schnootle

• Recipe: Classic Corn Bread

• More favorite corn bread recipes

Similarly, my work to make a great vegan corn bread has been able to completely sidestep the issue that usually dominates discussions of the dish: sugar or no sugar. (Otherwise known as cornbread or cake.) My favorite take on the divide is by one of the best food journalists around, the great Kathleen Purvis, who delved into the nuances of race and class in an analytical feature for the Charlotte Observer that deservedly won her prizes.

Besides, I like to use corn bread as a vehicle to talk about a topic arguably more important to plant-based cooks and their curious counterparts: the role of eggs in baking, and how to replace them.

When I was a newbie to the plant-based cooking world, I fell victim to the idea that the only way to make a vegan version of a baked good that includes eggs is to use a direct substitute, such as a flax or chia “egg” made from soaking the seed in water — and thereby inducing its mucilaginousness. (Or should it be mucilaginocity? OK, fine: sliminess.) Other options: commercial egg replacers, perhaps aquafaba.

It’s not that those options don’t work. But I’ve found that you often can find another, even easier way to reach your goal.

The thing is, eggs fulfill many functions in baking, including binding, leavening, enriching, and coloring. The flax “eggs” and their ilk are usually there to help only with the binding, which is a good thing, because we have so many sources of the other functions. Baking powder and/or soda help plenty of baked goods, such as biscuits, rise even without eggs. Oil and other fats make for beautifully rich and moist cakes, with or without butter. Sugar can help baked goods take on beautiful golden brown color.

And when it comes to binding, the ability to help a batter hold together as it gains structure and rises, what struck me when I was trying to come up with a great vegan corn bread is that the powerhouse binder is … gluten. When I stripped down an unnecessarily complicated corn bread recipe to consist of just cornmeal, AP flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, and butter, leaving out the eggs and making the dairy vegan, it tasted wonderfully clear and clean, and the texture would have been nice, too, except it crumbled too easily.

It needed a little more rise, so I added a little apple cider vinegar and baking soda to goose the baking powder. But the solution to the crumbling came when I swapped in bread flour, with a higher protein level (and therefore gluten-developing capability) than all-purpose. An extra 10 seconds of whisking helps develop that gluten even more, without making the corn bread tough. We were in business.

Corn bread will be on my Thanksgiving table this year, as it has for several years going now — ever since we welcomed The Teenager into our family. In another break from tradition, I’ll be stirring corn kernels and pickled jalapeños into my version right before baking, mostly because the former adds textural interest and the latter adds some spice.

I don’t know about your holiday table, but I think most could use a few sparks of heat.

Join my next Zoom cooking class!

The first one was such a success, we’re doing it again!

For my second Zoom cooking class, set for Sunday, Dec. 7 at noon, we’re going to make and decorate cookies! We’re using plant-based shortbread, so simple and delicious just plain — or if you want I’ll show you how to flavor several other ways. Then we’ve got fruit curd (lemon or lime) and royal icing for decorating. We’ll go over some of the easiest ways to make your cookies look special (think dipping in melted chocolate and then sprinkling with coconut, pearl sugar, or nonpareils), and we’ll also color the royal icing and pull out the cookie cutters and piping bags for some very basic festive strategies!

As always, you get 25 percent off a ticket to the class as a subscriber to this newsletter; just use the promo code “eatatjoes”! And don’t worry; if you just want to watch and not cook (or pipe) along, you’re welcome to do that. And if you can’t make it live but want to watch later, your ticket gets you access to a recording. (We had a snafu with our attempts to record the first one, but we’ve learned, I promise!)

I break for animals:
Schnootle

Recipe: Classic Corn Bread

This light, fluffy corn bread doesn’t require any flaxseeds or other egg substitutes. The key is pairing the cornmeal with bread flour, whose extra protein and gluten give it structure. This corn bread uses a small amount of sugar, a tradition that developed at least in part because modern supermarket cornmeal doesn’t have the sweet, vibrant flavor of those old Southern brands. If you have access to great stone-ground cornmeal, feel free to eliminate the sugar here. Either way, the most challenging thing about this recipe is resisting the urge to eat most of the slab while it’s still warm, so I don’t blame you one bit if you give in. If you’d like, make this into muffins instead, and try one or more of the optional additions listed at the bottom of the recipe.

Makes 12 servings // Time: Weekday // Storage: Room temperature, wrapped in beeswax wrap, for up to 2 days, refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.

• 2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil, for the pan

• 1¼ cups (190g) yellow cornmeal, preferably medium grind

• 1 cup (135g) bread flour

• ¼ cup (50g) sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

• 1¼ cups (300ml) unsweetened plant-based milk

• ¼ cup (56g) vegan butter, melted

• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

• Optional additions (below)

Grease an 8- or 9-inch (20cm or 23cm) square baking pan with the oil. Position a rack in the middle of the oven, place the pan on the rack, and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, bread flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a liquid measuring cup, stir together the milk or buttermilk, melted butter, and vinegar.

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until smooth, then whisk for another 10 seconds or so (to help develop the flour’s gluten). Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and scrape the batter into the pan, using a spatula to spread it evenly.

Bake until the corn bread is dark brown around the edges and a tester inserted in the center comes out mostly clean (with maybe a few crumbs), 15 to 20 minutes. (It will take a little longer in the smaller pan.)

Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes. Use a knife to loosen the edges if needed, turn out, and cut into squares. (If it feels like it’s sticking on the bottom — or going to stick — just cut the squares out of the pan, 9 for big pieces and 12 for more modest ones.) Serve warm or at room temperature.

Optional additions

Stir one or more of these into the batter right before transferring to the pan to bake:

• 1 cup (140g) fresh or frozen corn kernels (thawed if frozen)

• 1 cup (130g) fresh or frozen blueberries

• ½ cup (45g) sliced pickled jalapeños, drained

• ½ cup (25g) chopped fresh parsley or cilantro leaves

Recipe from “Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking” (Ten Speed Press, 2024), copyright Joe Yonan.

More favorite corn bread recipes

These are gift links to the recipes at the Post. Note that they require you to register but not subscribe. Gift links are free to access for 2 weeks, so if you want to come back to any of these recipes but don’t subscribe or want to subscribe, I suggest you find a way to save them!

Buttermilk and Scallion Jiffy Cornbread

Cracklin’ Cornbread

Buttermilk Cornbread