I was making a pot of my Easy Chili and wanted to have some cornbread to go with it.
Of course, that was a bit of problem since corn is on the no list. When I hit Google to look for recipe brainstorms, I came up with almost nothing!
While I am sure my 5 minute search was not exhaustive…it did prove to me one thing: there are NOT a lot of corn-free cornbreads out there…and since it is a bit an oxymoron, it’s really no surprise!
Cornbread without corn isn’t really cornbread!?
But I love a culinary challenge! So I decided to do my own thing, and this time, it worked out beautifully!
Why should I try corn free cornbread?
Corn is one of those ingredients that eating massive amounts may not be a good idea for you or your family.
We discovered it was likely the Round Up residue on the genetically modified corn that was the real culprit to the adverse reactions.
So being able to use a different grains not only provided variety in our diets, it helps us avoid those traditionally GMO crops: soy, corn, cotton, rapeseed (canola oil), and wheat are the largest US GMO crops.
What is millet?
Millet is a pseudo grain (kind of like quinoa) that is naturally gluten free and delicious.
Most often, you will find the yellow variety in the grocery store. It is inexpensive and nutritious!
Some nutritional highlights of millet:
- high in fiber
- high in essential nutrients like copper, phosphorous, and manganese, and magnesium.
- has 6g of protein per serving
- good source of B vitamins
What to serve with corn free cornbread:
- With beans and sweet potatoes, this White Chicken Chili is wholesome and satisfying.
- I have lots of great soups to serve with this bread if you’re interested.
- And if you are in more of biscuit mode, I have a Flaky Paleo Biscuit recipe to check out!
- This gluten free quinoa soup looks delicious!
In fact, I liked this gluten free cornbread so much, even if we could do corn again, I would choose this recipe. It is just as delicious as any cornbread I’ve ever made, but it has a nutritional upper-hand with the millet. You may also want to try these gluten free crescent rolls! Or for a different twist, gluten free Irish soda bread is a fun option!
To all my corn-free compadres and those looking to expand their wholesome grain exposure: enjoy!
Corn Free Cornbread – Gluten Free Recipe:
If you try this nutritious bread, be sure to come back and leave a comment!
Corn-Free Millet 'Cornbread'
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour or millet flour
- 1/4 cup potato starch or any starch
- 1/4 cup sweet rice flour
- 1/4 cup sugar or stevia equivalent
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon guar gum
- ΒΎ teaspoon salt
- ΒΌ cup allowed butter coconut oil, or palm shortening
- 2 eggs or 2 eggs worth egg replacer, or 1/4 cup hot water w/ 1 tablespoon gelatin
- 1 cup any milk
- 1 cup coarse ground millet you make this yourself from whole millet and a spice/coffee grinder or millet grits
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine all the ingredients through the guar gum and whisk together.
- Cut in the coconut oil or palm shortening using a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, much like scones or pie crusts.
- Make a well in the center of the ingredients and put the eggs (or egg replacer) and milk in the center. Whisk until well incorporated.
- Coarsely grind whole millet in a coffee grinder until it resembles cornmeal. I did this in two batches. You don't want to do it too long to make more of a flour, you want some texture to mimic the corn texture in cornbread.
- Whisk in the millet grits . I have also used raw buckwheat groats for a different flavor but similar texture. The mixture will seem thin at first, and then will thicken quickly as the millet absorbs the liquid.
- Place batter in a greased 9" pan. I used my Demarle Flower Mold which requires no greasing.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Nutrition
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A perfect recipe. Thank you very much! The only change I made was to use thin yogurt gone bad as my milk – you know, kind of like buttermilk. It worked great. We also had regular cornbread for the meal, so I got to try them side by side, and the millet bread didn’t taste the same as the cornbread (no surprise), but it was just as good for the purpose. The person I made it for was hoping to be asked if she wanted to take home the leftovers, so it’s a good thing I did ask. π She was a very happy camper.
Nice Karis, glad you enjoyed it!
Hello Tessa, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. I am allergic to corn, dairy, soy, gluten. The list goes on. This noncorn bread is absolutely A-maz-ing! I just made it for dinner tonight to have with my chili. My husband loved it. I use to make a boxed brand (Jiffy)which is a little sweet like yours. What a wonderful replacement.
By the way a milled all of the flours in this recipe with my milling machine except for the millet. I tried to mill it on a course selection but was still to flour like. So I used my coffee grinder like you suggested and voila.
Again Thank You
I am so glad you enjoyed it Lisa! Millet is totally underrated in my book, and I love the texture it provides here! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and leave feedback!
WOW! Just made this tonight and it is out of this world! I had to sub Tapicoa Flour for the sweet rice flour since we were out, but it turned out perfectly. Thank you so much for sharing this!! My husband loves cornbread and I’m allergic — so we are so happy to have this perfect corn free version!! π
Thanks Lisa…I glad you guys are enjoying cornbread together again!!
THANK YOU!! I too was struggling to find a corn-free corn bread! thank you!
Hi Dava! Hope you love it too!
Better that real cornbread.
I made some substitutes as I did not have some ingredients
I replaced potato starch for tapioca,
sweet rice for almond flour and
shortening for coconut oil
Thank you, I will be making this often.
Thanks Rosa!
If you can’t get ahold of sorghum flour, can you just substitute one of the others? Thank you in advance for answering.
Hi caryle! Sure you can, sorghum is a medium weight flour, so try more millet, brown rice, oat…refer to my gf flour/baking tips page for more….I list them by protein weights…so look thought the list of medium weight ones!
Hi there, thanks so much for the recipe!
I was wondering if you think tapioca starch would be an acceptable substitution for the potato starch here. Any thoughts/suggestions?
most definitely madi!
What corn free GF flour could I sub the millet with? I don't have any. I have oat flour, brown rice, white rice, quinoa (yuck), tapioca starch, GF oats, buckwheat and Namaste GF Perfect Flour Blend.
I don't know that I'll remember to check back for an answer, could you email it to me? a.snail.lover@gmail.com thanks π
-Ashley
So glad you enjoyed it France!
Thanks Tessa for sharing this recipe over at Beyond The Peel. Your recipe has gathered a lot of interest! Such a lovely recipe.
@ Mary – I have always had great luck with Enger-G! I would bet a flax/chia meal and water mixture would work too!! Let us know!
Do you think egg replacer would work in this recipe? I'm going to give it a try π Thank you for sharing.
I Love millet. How lovely to add it in bread. I have yet to try it in baking. Maybe I was a little intimidated, but this looks so lovely and light!
I'm hosting the Wholesome Whole food Event. This month's theme is millet for lunch. If you have any millet recipes you'd like to share, we would love to have you over at Beyond The Peel. For more info see http://www.beyondthepeel.net/2011/09/wholesome-whole-grain-cooking-event-millet.html
Yum! We're having chili tonight. My husband is corn & gluten free (among other allergies) and I think he would love this. I have millet on hand (yay!), but no sorghum flour. I'll have to figure out a good sub for that.
Thanks for sharing!
I for one have watched too many documentaries…I joke with my friends that I sometimes wish I could unlearn things…it would make my life easier. But of course, I power on, because it is what is right to do! Thanks for stopping by!
After watching King Corn, I will definitely be giving this one a try! Looks absolutely delicious!