Sweet & Savory Cornless Bread (sugar-free, Plant Paradox friendly, gluten-free, & vegan)

I’m aware that it seems silly to make a food item based around something that I choose not to eat – i.e. cornbread – but, if I crave something, I make it work. Simple as ‘dat.

A couple of weeks ago, Kim and I were testing out sugar cookies made from sorghum flour, through which we discovered that sorghum flour lends a mealy texture that’s almost identical to fine cornmeal. While, for various reasons, the cookies haven’t made their way onto the blog yet, we unintentionally discovered the key ingredient to make righteous Cornless Cornbread.

I’ve to realize that replacing corn with sorghum actually makes a good bit of sense, given that they’re both grains, they can both be popped, and they both have a subtle, nutty flavor. Given these similarities, they have similar effects in baking. Sorghum flour, like cornmeal, has a gritty texture, which, when combined with cassava flour – this bread’s replacement for the all purpose flour – creates a quick-bread with a moist, pleasantly gritty, and fluffy consistency.

A quick bread, by the way, is a bread that’s made with baking soda & baking powder in place of yeast. Because they don’t have to rise before baking, people deemed them “quick-breads.” Such breads also happen to be assembled via the muffin method, where all of the dry ingredients are mixed together, all of the wet ingredients mixed together, then they’re combined until the batter just comes together, which is thick but pourable, as if it just crossed the line from being dough into being batter.

While this baked delight is delicious without any added flavors, the addition of garlic powder and fresh sage elevates its indulgence levels to new heights. To lend sweetness, we went with a quarter cup of xylitol; because it has crystals (as discussed in our previous post), it works like a wet ingredient in baked goods, just like sugar, and lends a more authentic sweet flavor than stevia does.

However, if you can’t get your hands on xylitol or erythritol, you can attempt to replace it with 1/4 tsp liquid stevia extract. Albeit, the texture will likely be dryer without the xylitol, so you may need to thin it out with additional coconut milk to achieve the right consistency.

All in all, this Cornless Bread is a beautiful pairing with cranberry jelly, mushroom gravy, and alongside your favorite Thanksgiving sides. Alas, you can welcome sweet & savory cornbread back into your life, this time without any of the lectins, sugar, gluten, dairy, or corn.

If you like what your taste buds are tellin’ ya, leave behind a nice rating, share your thoughts with us in the comments, or show us your creations by tagging @noeggsorham on Instagram.

All the best,
Ryan & Kim