Vegan Jalapeno Cornbread Recipe

I am lucky enough to have a family that tries to accommodate my Vegan lifestyle as much as possible. The other night we were having soup beans and cornbread for dinner, and my family planned in advance to make sure everything was vegan. For the Soup Beans, they replaced the ham broth with veggie broth. For the Cornbread, we veganized one of our favorite cornbread recipes.

I had never really made cornbread of any kind on my own, so my Step Mother (Amanda) was nice enough to help me with this. She makes some of the best baked goods I have EVER had. If we were being completely honest, she took the lead on this. I helped cut up Jalapenos and forgot to wash my hands before I touched my face. If you have ever done that, I do not need to tell you how uncomfortable it is! Needless to say, I was not much help during this process.

To make the perfect Cornbread, a cast iron skillet is a necessity! If you do not already have one, I recommend this one! Using a Cast Iron skillet is the perfect way to get the perfect crust on the Cornbread and it makes a world of difference! Amanda also mentioned that this recipe would make amazing Vegan Cornsticks! To make Cornsticks, you would follow the same recipe and instructions below but you would cook them in a pan like this one!

For this recipe, we had a few jalapenos laying around so decided to throw those in as well. I don't know about you, but I LOVE Jalapeno Cornbread!

For this recipe, you can use your favorite egg substitute. I prefer unsweetened applesauce you could also use a chia seed or flax seed slurry. Check out the graphic below for more plant-based egg substitute options. To make a Vegan buttermilk, we took almond milk with 1 1/2 tablespoons of white vinegar. After mixing the almond milk and vinegar you let it sit for 10-15 minutes. I have used this Vegan buttermilk hack on many different occasions and it always turns out well!

What are your favorite vegan recipe hacks? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy cooking!

~Stella~

Vegan Jalapeno Cornbread Recipe

Makes 1 12-inch Cast Iron Skillet

2 cups whole-grain cornmeal finely ground

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups vegan buttermilk (1 1/2 cups almond milk plus 1 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar let it sit for 10 minutes)

1/2 cup of applesauce (or 2 "eggs" worth of your favorite egg substitute)

5 tablespoons of coconut oil or vegan butter melted

2 jalapenos finely chopped.

1. Preheat a 9 inch (seasoned) cast iron skillet in a 450 degree F oven for at least 10 minutes

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

3. Make a well (hole) in the center of the mixture and drop in the vegan buttermilk, eggs, and melted coconut oil. Use a fork to mix the wet and dry ingredients together until thoroughly combined.

4. Pour the cornbread batter into the hot skillet, and bake until the cornbread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This will take about 23 minutes.