Gluten-Free Buttermilk Cornbread

When I found out I had gluten allergies, I cried. Oh yes I did. A lot. See, it wasn't just going to affect how I planned and prepared our meals, or limit what I could eat, this allergy was going to be messing with my heritage.

A few years ago, I found out that I have some Pennsylvania Dutch roots. It was the same time I found out that I wasn't really Irish like I was led to believe. (I'm Scottish, and we don't have our own special beer-drinking holiday. That's probably good since I'm newly allergic anyway.) What we (see how I assumed the role?) Pennsylvania Dutch people do is eat. And cook. And eat what we cook. And because I always immerse myself in whatever role I'm playing, I live to eat what I cook.☺ 

Oh. That explains a lot.

 

I'm assuming my love of cornbread stems from those Pennsylvania Dutch roots. Have you ever seen an Amish cookbook that didn't have at least 6 different cornbread recipes in it? Giving up cornbread was like losing a little piece of myself, so the hunt began for a gluten-free version. I found a recipe for a gf cornbread that called for jalapenos, sour cream, and frozen sweet corn that had to be whirled in the food processor before it could be added to the other 40 or so ingredients. I'd start putting it together at 4 and it would be ready to eat by 8. It was delicious, but after a 4-hour prep, I was too dang tired to eat it. So I searched some more. Then I tweaked other people's recipes until we had a winner.

It's a good thing too~I think my Pennsylvania Dutch membership was about to be revoked.

It's all about the cornbread.☺

 

 

~The Players~

 

2 cups yellow cornmeal (I use fresh-ground popcorn.)

1/4 cup tapioca starch

1 Tb. sucanat (or Rapadura)

1-1/2 t. baking powder

1 t. xanthan gum

1 t. sea salt

1/2 t. baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

 

Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease an 8 x 8 pan and set aside. In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, tapioca starch, sucanat, baking powder, xanthan gum, and sea salt. Whisk together.

 

In a separate small bowl, measure out the buttermilk. Add the baking soda and whisk together. Set aside. (Make sure that the bowl isn't too small~the buttermilk will "grow" with the baking soda.)

 

Make a well in the center of the cornmeal mixture. Add the eggs, then the buttermilk mixture. Pour the cooled butter over the mix and whisk until just mixed. Do not over mix or the cornbread will not be as fluffy.

 

 

Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Because there is no flour, the toothpick trick isn't very reliable, so make sure that the bread doesn't jiggle like jello before taking it out of the oven.

 

Slather with plenty of butter and raw honey.

 

 

Enjoy!