This corn-free cornbread is sugar-free, gluten-free, and it's made more nutritious with the addition of sweet potato.
If I do say so myself, this cornbread recipe is AMAZING.
In lieu of cornmeal or corn flour, it's made with millet flour, which is a phenomenal substitute! You truly won't believe this isn't corn.
I've included sweet potato puree for both sweetness and texture, and the best part is there's NO added sugar!
This recipe has given our family a symptom-free way to enjoy a classic.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Millet flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Sea salt
- Buttermilk - See Recipe Notes below on how to make your own!
- Sweet potato
- Egg
- Coconut oil - Grapeseed oil will work too; it's best to have a high smoke point oil.
How to make corn-free cornbread
Begin by adding two tablespoons of coconut oil to a 6 to 8-inch cast iron skillet. Put the skillet in the oven for five minutes while you prepare the batter.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and soda, and sea salt.
Separately, whisk together the buttermilk with the sweet potato, and egg. I usually use a small pint measuring pitcher for this.
Mix everything together just until the flour mix is moistened.
Pour the batter into the hot cast iron skillet, and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden around the perimeter.
We like to serve ours with butter and honey!
FAQs
I peel a potato, cube it, then add the cubes to a steamer basket. Steam the potato until soft and fork tender, then mash it until it resembles applesauce in consistency and use in the recipe.
Pumpkin puree will work, though it add the sweetness that sweet potato does.
I personally have only used millet, but a couple of readers have had luck with a combination of 3/4 cup sorghum flour and 1/4 cup buckwheat flour.
Again, I don't do well with flax or chia, so I haven't tried. I have had at least one comment that said a chia egg worked well.
In short, yes! Check out this in-depth post for more detail.
Recipe notes
Make this recipe totally corn-free with this baking powder recipe.
To make your own buttermilk, mix one cup of milk of your choice with one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
I use this 6.5-inch cast-iron skillet for this recipe, so it takes about 18 minutes to bake. If you use a 7 or 8-inch pan, it will be thinner and thus be done a minute or so sooner.
I can't emphasize enough how absolutely delicious this cornbread is! Our entire family gobbles it up, and my husband and I both agree we can't tell the difference between this and the real deal.
Corn-Free Cornbread
Ingredients
- 1 cup millet flour (I just grind mine from the whole grain)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup buttermilk (see Recipe Notes for how I make my own)
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup sweet potato puree
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil melted; for the pan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Heat the oil in a 6 to 8-inch cast iron skillet in the oven for five minutes
- Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, sweet potato, and egg together. For the sweet potato, I steam peeled cubes in a steamer basket until fork tender, then mash and add.
- Make a well in the center of the dry mix.
- Pour in the wet ingredients in and stir just until the flour is moistened.
- Pour the batter into the hot skillet.
- Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden. If the top begins to brown too fast, you can cover it lightly with a tented piece of tin foil.
- Allow 5-10 minutes cooling time, as this helps the bread set and hold together.
- Serve with butter and honey.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have a chance to try this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below letting me know how you liked it!
Sophie
Hi Lauren,
I have all of the ingredients on hand to make this recipe; however, I do not have a cast iron skillet. Could this be made in a square or circle cake pan? Or even individual muffins? If so, do I still need to preheat the pan in the oven?
Thank you in advance!
Anna
Hi Sophie!
I don’t have a cast iron but this recipe looked easy so I went ahead and made it using an 8x8 white baking/casserole dish. I made my own buttermilk (oatmilk plus lemon juice) and I added extra sweet potato instead of an egg.
I did preheat the casserole dish but cooked the cornbread at 350 for about 30 minutes or so (I kept checking every 5-10 minutes when it cooked for 15 minutes and I lost track of how long it was in the oven - most likely 30-40 minutes).
I may use an flegg (flax + water) or make a chia egg next time, but I really don’t need to. I may consider using a bit of maple syrup to add an extra touch of sweetness.
I would definitely recommend making this dish. I will be making this for Thanksgiving!
Ashley J
I am so thrilled I found this recipe! It is so perfect! To make it vegan, I subbed a chia egg and made the buttermilk with plain unsweet soy milk + rice vinegar. Went perfect with my black eyed peas soup for New Year’s.
shannon
I hate the internet but I am old. Used 3/4 cup sorghum, 1/4 cup buckwheat, cooked in 7" cast iron & it is definitely VERY close to cornbread. I refuse to do millet because of hypothroid. This is really good cornbread substitute & I am southern & love my cornbread but I am not the cornbread allergic in this family. Tasty stuff even with my subs.
Michael Martin
I was wondering if this would work in making thanksgiving dressing
Lauren
I haven't tried that, so I can't say, sorry!
shannon
you would need to double the recipe to get enough for cornbread. let the flours sit a little bit to absorb the moisture & you could probably make dressing with this. it is very close to cornbread taste.
Christina R
I just discovered your site and I'm so glad I did. Your millet "cornbread" is DELICIOUS! I haven't eaten bread in years, but this is my new go to recipe. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Can you advise me about the best way to store this bread. I want to maintain its wonderful flavor.
Lauren
Thank you, Christina! I would keep it in the fridge in an air-tight container to help maintain the moisture level.
Hilary
We can’t do millet. Is there another substitute? Almond flour, coconut, tapioca,?
Lauren
I developed this specifically for millet, as it mimics the cornbread taste, so I would guess not. You might google the flour you're interested in using and see what comes up!
shannon
i subbed 3/4 sorghum, 1/4 buckwheat & it worked pretty good since I kinda didn't measure real close with the rest of it//i do not like cooking gf, corn free, nut free but had to by life.
Jeune
Greetings Lauren, thank you for such a wonderful recipe! I first made this for Thanksgiving (bold, eh!), it was a hit. I have made it twice since then and have a pan in the oven right now. I have also shared it friends. Since being diagnosed with "frutose intolerance and leaky gut syndrome " I have to be cautious about what I eat. This is my go to for that "sweet" craving....and. it freezes well. Many thanks.
Lauren
Oh, yay! I know all about food intolerences, so I'm very happy that this recipe works for you. Thanks for your comment!
Liz Cooper
Thank you for this recipe Lauren! My husband and I have sensitivities to corn . We have been missing cornbread for the longest time. On a whim I searched for a recipe for corn free cornbread. To my surprise your website came up. I have made your millet bread a couple of times now and really love it! Our cornless cornbread is a hit and a new staple in the recipe file. 🙂
Liz
Lauren
That's great, Liz! We are in a similar boat over here with corn, though we eat it anyway on occasion. 🙂 So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
jool
should i puree the sweet potatoes with or without the skin on?
Lauren
I don't use the skin 🙂
Pamela
Has anyone tried freezing this? How does it do? Any special tips?
Ariana Postlethwait
Cornbread is in the oven! So glad to find your recipe!
One clarification you might want to add for newbie cornbread makers: the 2 T of oil (or delicious butter in my case) goes in the pan BEFORE batter.
Also, just to be clear—unless I’m mistaken—store bought baking powder generally includes corn. Still, The Google has tips for baking powder substitutes.
Thanks again for this recipe. I’ve really missed cornbread!
Lauren
Thanks for your comment Ariana, I didn't even consider the baking powder! I hope you ended up liking the recipe, and I'll amend it as you said. 🙂
Soma
Is it possible to use a flax egg substitute for the “egg”? I am trying to cut back using eggs, even though I do eat them occasionally.
Kissys
Have you tried it with almond or coconut flour? Millet is one grain we seem to never have it handy
Lauren
No, sorry, this recipe is specific to millet flour.
Jane B.
This truly blew my mind! I LOVE this recipe!! Tastes like real cornbread!
monika
Can we used canned pumpkin instead of the potato? Thanks love!
Lauren
I've not tried, but it seems like it would work!
Amy
I tried it with pumpkin puree, and it worked just fine! I'm sure it wasn't as sweet as the sweet potato puree would have made it, but I was so impressed with the similarity it had to cornbread that I didn't even miss the sweet! I've been trying to keep corn out of our diets due to my son's leaky gut, and this was such a nice alternative! It will definitely be added to our regular rotation.
Lauren
Oh, good to know it works with pumpkin. Thanks for the feedback Amy, I'm so happy you and your son enjoyed it!
Danae
As someone who struggles with hypothyroidism, I thought I'd interject here and say this looks like a delicious recipe! Definitely yummy every now and then, but thought I'd mention there is a definite danger in consuming too much millet. Here's a great article on the topic: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/beware-of-millet/
Lauren
Thanks for the info Danae. I too have hypothyroidism and don't get symptoms from eating this. 🙂
Nancy
Allergic to eggs. Would this work with an egg sub like aquafaba or flax egg?
Lauren
I haven't tried, but my guess would be yes. 🙂
monika
try the gelatin "egg"!...
It's so easy. In general, to replace 1 egg, use 1 tablespoon of gelatin with 3 tablespoons of filtered water (room temperature). You can easily double, triple, even quadruple this recipe to replace 2-4 eggs. I've used it to replace 5-6 eggs before, too, but sometimes it doesn't work very well to use it for that many eggs (the texture can turn out strange). Use caution when replacing more than 4 eggs with gelatin.
Sometimes it works better to use 4 tablespoons of water per 1 tablespoon of gelatin. My kitchen experiments have taught me this general rule: use 4 Tbsp of water for each Tbsp of gelatin if replacing 3 or 4 eggs, but use 3 Tbsp of water for each 1 Tbsp of gelatin if replacing 1 or 2 eggs.
The above differs slightly from the Cook's Thesaurus instructions:
1.Add water to a small pot on the stove, but don't turn on the heat yet.
2.Sprinkle or "rain" the gelatin on top of the water slowly to "bloom" it (wet it). You'll see it swell up and absorb the water. Try not to let it clump together. I usually slowly sprinkle 1/2 Tbsp at a time to prevent any clumping.
3.After sprinkling all of the gelatin, use a whisk if necessary to ensure that all the gelatin has been wetted. Let gelatin sit for about 1-2 minutes after being wetted.
4.Turn the heat on medium low to melt the gelatin. Use the whisk to stir it until it melts completely.
5.Once the gelatin is completely melted, use the whisk vigorously it until it becomes frothy. Use immediately in your recipe.