In June I bought a cast-iron skillet. I was ecstatic when I saw the $16 US price tag because in Canada, the same skillet by the same brand would have cost somewhere between $30-50. All this for an 8″ skillet. I started to dream of all the things I would make in it, and because it would just be me cooking, my skillet would totally be meat-free! I started dreaming of potato hash skillets, perfectly fried eggs, dutch baby pancakes, and then cornbread. VEGAN SKILLET CORNBREAD. You don’t know how excited I am about this skillet unless you’re a food blogger. Or an avid cook/chef. But I started to dream about cornbread.
Is that weird? Dreaming about food? Because I totally do it all the time. Heck, even during the day, all I think of is food. My friends tell me that every time they look at my laptop screen, they always see some sort of food there, be it Pinterest, Foodgawker, or my blog, there’s usually some sort of food photography or recipe on screen. I live, breathe, eat, sleep, and obsess over food. I would say it’s unhealthy but I make pretty healthy food so I guess that makes it…healthy? (#logic)
But you know what the advantage of vegan SKILLET cornbread is? The crispy crust. And it looks impressive and beautiful when you pull it out of the oven and set on the table. One of my readers told me that they preheat a well seasoned and greased skillet in the oven, and when you pour in the batter, you’ll hear a beautiful sizzle and then pop it in the oven to bake. You’ll have a wonderfully crispy crust when it comes out all thanks to the amazing cast iron skillet.
And this corn bread is a little bit on the sweeter side. It’d be perfect alongside chili, salad, or just plain with butter, but next Monday I’m going to share the amazing sauce that is absolutely delicious on top of this corn bread. Hint, the main ingredient’s season is just about ending! (That’s a huge hint. You should totally know what it is by now.)
But I am beyond excited to dream up other things to cook in my skillet. For those who are wondering how I seasoned my skillet after I bought it, here’s what I did.
- Wash it really well with soap. Strip it of any dirt, bacteria, or any other residue from people’s fingers while handling it.
- Use about 1/4 cup coconut oil (or other oil with a high smoke point) to grease the pan with a little extra in the bottom
- Set oven to 350F, stick pan in and let sit in there for a good hour or so.
- Take it out, let it cool on the stove or on a wire rack, let the oil just sit in there.
- Once room temperature, pour out any remaining oil and discard.
- Use skillet for cooking with a generous amount of oil, clean with hot water and steel wool and let air dry.
- Once air dried, take about a tsp of coconut oil and just rub it in for good measure.
So far so good! Feel free to share any other cast-iron care tips!
Vegan Skillet Cornbread
Ingredients
- - 1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp warm water mixed and set aside for 2 minutes
- - 1/2 cup sugar
- - 1/2 cup coconut oil or other veg oil
- - 1 tsp baking powder
- - 1/2 tsp salt
- - 1/2 cup corn meal
- - 1 1/2 cup flour
- - 1 cup rice milk or other milk alternative
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350. Grease your cast-iron skillet really well, and pop it while the oven is still cold. This will preheat the pan and give your cornbread and extra crispy crust. =)
- To make the cornbread, mix together the flax meal mixture, sugar, coconut oil together in a large mixing bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, corn meal, salt, and baking powder until they're all one mixture.
- Alternate adding the flour mixture and the rice milk until you have a fairly dense corn bread batter. (If you find it's so thick that it's hard to mix, add a bit more milk).
- Remove the preheated skillet from the oven and add the batter. It'll have a nice sizzle when it hits the pan. Spread the mixture evenly and pop it back in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the edges and the outer parts are a light, golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
- Enjoy with soup, chili, or covered in blueberry sauce
veganmiam.com says
looks delicious. i love flax seed meal, it helps combine ingredients well including my vegan nanaimo bars. have you entered the giveaway- it’s international-hope you can win,too!?
Jorge says
Hi,
I have a question (recipe) and one suggestion (cast-iron care tips).
Question:
I have a 12 inch cast-iron skillet (by the way I paid US$18.00 for it, I love this skillet, I can do anything and everything). I am wondering if I can double the recipe and if so, would this be too much for my skillet. Does the batter has to fill half, 3/4 or more of the skillet?
Suggestion:
I did exactly the same you did to seasoned the skillet, when cleaning/rinse/wash it after use, I don’t let it air dry, water is the enemy of cast-iron, I dry it with a paper towel and to make sure it is dry I put it on the stove on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes to completely dry it, after it is dry, I add a thin coat of oil with a paper towel all over it, top, bottom, sides and handle, it would be hot so be careful, then I put it back on the stove on low heat for a bit more, and then let it cool off and it would be ready to store and use again. I know it seems like a lot of work, but I do this before washing the rest of the dishes and when I am done the skillet is done, I use it daily, after using expensive skillets that lasted a couple of years if lucky, I am sold on cast-iron skillets!
By the way if air drying works for you, keep on doing it. Also I don’t use a steel wool to scrub, I use a grill pan scraper, these are made of hard plastic.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Cheers from, Altadena, CA
-jc.
Lisa Mai says
Hmm, well from a mathematical POV, you should increase the recipe by a third because a 12 inch skillet is 1/3 larger than an 8 inch. I don’t think the original recipe is enough for the 12 inch, but doubling it might make a fairly thick cornbread. My batter only filled maybe 1/3 of my skillet, and when it baked it rose to about 1/2 the skillet.
I think I will follow your suggestion for reheating to dry it, because I read that in other places too. I’ve just usually been a bit pressed for time when it comes to cleaning/re-seasoning it in the past. Thanks for sharing your tips, JC!
Jorge says
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for your response.
Yes, from 8in to 12in it’s 1/3 larger; however assuming your 8in skillet is 2in high as mine, the volume ratio of 8 to 12in skillets is twice as much. 8in volume is 100.5 and 12in is 226 cubic inches. So I guess I’ll be OK by doubling the recipe. I asked because for some reason when I double some recipes it does not taste the same to me and I don’t have much experience with flax meal and water mix, I’ll go ahead and do this recipe.
Thanks!
-jc.
Kari says
I have a 12″ or 13″ inch skillet. I doubled the recipe. My skillet is already seasoned from a couple years of use. I made sure the coconut oil was melted while combining the flax mixture and coconut oil.
I am at 7600 ft and didn’t change the recipe besides doubling it.
It was the BEST corn bread I’ve ever had. My local vegetarian restaurant where my husband works makes a vegan jalapeño cornbread(delicious) and he asked me for the recipe so he can improve theirs! They’ve had that recipe for almost at least lest five years!!! Nailed it.
Lisa Le says
:) Glad to spread the delicious vegan vibes!
Bea says
Hi Lisa found you when I searched “Vegan Blueberry Jam”.
I hit the jackpot! Looking forward to explore your site!
Your Blueberry / Cornbread combo makes my mouth water.
I am going to add blueberries and corn meal to the grocery list!
Can I use gluten-free flour instead of wheat based flour for this recipe?
Stay Safe!
Thanks Bea in Florida
Lisa Le says
Hi Bea! Sorry for the two month late response haha, but I’ve never made GF cornbread before, but you could probably try one of those premade GF blends 1:1 ?