Sometimes, you just need a thick slice of cornbread.
Not too much – not a whole pan.
Just enough to enjoy alongside your favorite soup or chili.
This, my friends, is that cornbread. Vegan cornbread for two!
I was very much raised in a cornbread-loving family. My mom made cornbread all the time, especially with chili, and we always had it with butter and maple syrup. Does it get more American than that?
Not much has changed. I still enjoy a hearty bowl of chili with a fat slice of cornbread smothered in the good stuff. Crumbly, sweet, a little sticky from the maple syrup. That’s what dreams are made of.
The problem is, I don’t like making a whole pan because someone in this house (hand raised) will eat the whole pan.
Solution? Carve it down to just two servings perfect for John and me to enjoy on chili night.
Also? Vegan. Also? 10 ingredients. Also? EASY. Party on.
Now, this cornbread is not health food. I’ve tried to make cornbread healthy and it comes out tasting like tar. Nope.
Cornbread should be crumbly.
It should be sweet.
It should be buttery.
It should make your mother proud.
This is that cornbread.
I’m happy to report that this cornbread is the one of my dreams. It’s:
Perfect
Crumbly
Tender
Moist with crisp edges
Sweet
Buttery
Satisfying
And delicious slathered in butter and maple syrup (or honey).
Friends, it was love at first bite. I know you guys are going to love it, too. If you do, share it, leave a comment, or take a picture and tag it #minimalistbaker on Instagram! It’s our favorite way to see what you guys are cooking up. Cheers and happy baking!
- 1 small flax egg (1/2 Tbsp flax seed meal + 1 1/2 Tbsp water)
- 1/4 cup + 3 Tbsp plain unsweetened almond milk + 1 tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 Tbsp vegan butter, melted
- 1/4 cup cane or granulated sugar (sub other sugars with varied results)
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce (or sub 1 more Tbsp melted butter)
- pinch sea salt
- 1/4 cup + 3 Tbsp fine yellow cornmeal
- 1/4 cup + 3 Tbsp unbleached all purpose flour (I haven't tried using GF flours yet, so test away!)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease two small ramekins or two muffin tins.
- Prepare flax egg in a small bowl and let set for a few minutes to achieve an "eggy" texture. Measure out almond milk and add lemon juice and let curdle for a few minutes. Then add baking soda and stir once more. Set aside.
- To a mixing bowl, add melted butter and sugar and whisk vigorously to combine. Then add applesauce, flax egg, and whisk once more. Next add almond buttermilk mixture and whisk vigorously again to combine.
- Next add salt, cornmeal, flour and stir with a spoon until just incorporated. It will look thin and somewhat lumpy. That's what you're going for.
- Divide batter between greased ramekins or muffin tins (it may take up to three muffin tins, but my ramekins were large enough to fit just 2).
- Bake for 28-35 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into a center comes out clean.
- Let rest in the cooking dish for a few minutes before serving. I highly recommend serving these with just a touch of non-dairy butter and maple syrup or honey if not vegan.
- Will keep in an airtight container for up to a couple days. Store in the freezer to keep longer. These would go excellent with my 5 ingredient Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili.
*To make a full size version of this recipe, check out my Perfect Vegan Cornbread.
I needed this recipe two days ago! Seriously, I was looking at vegan cornbread recipes on Thursday afternoon! {Pinning this recipe so I’ll have it next time I want to make cornbread.}
I’m not strictly vegan, but I like this ingredient list so much better than other’s I’ve seen on the net. In fact, every ingredient on this list is splendid to me. Might substitute the granulated sugar for xylitol which I have become a huge fan of. Really appreciate how it’s cornbread for 2 ~ at the end of the day, no matter what I bake, I don’t want to much of it, small doses of my favorite foods does the trick. Made a 3 tiered cake last week for my daughters 3rd birthday but felt so guilty pitching most of it, but still that was easier than trying to work out to burn all those unnecessary calories. Didn’t freeze because it wasn’t that good and short on freezer space, hard to give away cake when it’s too cold to leave your house and gets stale fast. Love recipes that are just small portions, I guess that’s what I’m trying to say!
This is so perfect!
One to enjoy with dinner and one for leftovers the next day.
Mmmmm!
You guys just read our minds! We made a huge batch of chili this week and were craving it. The kiddos aren’t so much fans of cornbread so we always end up with half a stale batch! And I’m pledging right now : I’ll be trying them GF tonight. I’ll report back. :-)
How’d it go?
Okay, sorry, we ended up making them tonight instead. :-) We wanted to make it with your GF flour b;end so had to get the ingredients to mix it up. Delicious! Moist, perfectly crumbly, raised really well (we were surprised). The only thing I would say is maybe adjust the time by about 5 minutes for baking (a full 40 minutes) because they were a tad under cooked in the middle. Still delicious, but a bit “wet”.
Now, I’m gonna make the recipe again, but next time with wheat flour and that way I can see the difference. But I would very much recommend it for people that are GF. Substitution works really well.
Thanks for sharing!
i would just like to say THANK YOU so much from the bottom of my heart. you are making my life a whole lot easier, across the pond in London, England. :))))))))
Thanks for the kind words!
I love this so much. I’m always shrinking recipes to just “for two” sized around here, pocketing this one for the future! <3
Cornbread it up for 2 in the future, yo. I like the way you think ;D
Yumm!! Since I discovered your blog all the recipes I need to try has increased <3
https://aspoonfulofnature.wordpress.com/
Yummy!
OMG, I love cornbread! Would this work with brown rice flour or any GF flour?
I’ll actually be testing that soon! I’ll let you know what I come up with.
I did, it was delicious! I tested it with the flour blend here on this blog. I would just cook it a bit longer (40 instead of 35 minutes).
So cute! I love using mini ramekins for personal portions.
Just had these with chili and they were awesome! The batter was actually enough for 6 small muffins; I’ll be eating them all week! Thank you for making it so easy to be vegan!
Yay! Thanks for sharing!!
Nice! I plan to make these today because I made a lovely vegan chili last night that ate with pumpkin chips while whining about having some cornbread! I am happy Hannah that you posted the batter was enough for six small cornbread servings. I do not have the ramekin containers so the cupcake pan will have to do! I luv cornbread!
I’ve attempted “healthy” cornbread before too – doesn’t work – ha! And I love that this is “for two.” It’s all that is needed sometimes :)
Thanks for this! My cornbread-loving husband would love these. :)
I’m not vegan, but used your recipe to make a non-vegan version tonight because I happened to have most of the ingredients on hand. I didn’t have any lemon juice to activate the baking soda, so used 3/4 tsp of baking soda instead and also used a gluten free flour blend. Turned out delish! Can see it becoming a staple in my repertoire. Thanks!
Oops, meant baking powder.
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Josie!
This is such a cute idea and they look super delicious!
This looks really good!I love that you used applesauce.I needed a new cornbread recipe because my old one involved whole pastry flour which is not too cheap around here.Can’t wait to try this one!
OMG! This cornbread, Dana! It looks amazing. So soft and buttery… yummm!
Also… LOVE that it makes just two servings. <3
Thanks Abby! Hope you give it a try!
Cornbread is a staple for us, too! Goes so well with chili :)
Simple, easy and quick cornbread… what a dream. I am also a fan of of finishing the whole pan… oops. It has never occurred to me to just make enough for two, this is fantastic. Thank you for sharing. Looks amazing.
You can’t get better than vegan southern-style cornbread as the side to a nice chilli! This recipe looks fantastic!
These were perfect! I substituted coconut sugar for the regular sugar and it turned out great! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for sharing, Jessica! Coconut sugar is a newish to me ingredient, so I’m happy to know it works in this recipe!
Wonderful to hear! Thanks for sharing, Jessica!
Would coconut oil work instead of the butter?
Should! Check other comments because I think a couple other people have had success with that.
I made this last night with fine grain spelt flour and I substituted demarara auger for the white sugar and 3 tbsp coconut cream for the wet ingredients, it came out fabulously! The coconut added a subtle nutty-sweet flavour that I can’t get enough of!
Wonderful! thanks for sharing Ana!
Can this recipe be made using a small round cake pan? I have a tiered cake pan set; the smallest pan is 6.” Thanks.
It should work well in a 6 inch pan! Just no larger or it will be too thin. Adjust cook time as necessary. Let me know how it goes!
I tried the cornbread using my 6″ cake pan, and it came out great! Will use this recipe in the future, as it goes very well with beans or vegan chili.
I just made this to go with my black bean chili…it was SO GOOD! Seriously the best cornbread I have ever had. I love that vegan food can taste just as good if not better than traditonal recipes!
I didn’t have ramekins, so I doubled the recipe and cooked it in a 12″ cast iron pan. I used egg replacer and I only had medium grind cornmeal on hand so it’s a bit crunchy. But even so, this recipe is going to be a regular around here! SO YUMMY!
Great! Thanks for sharing, Andrew! I’ll have to try it that way next time :D
I just made these for dinner today for my family and they were delicious! My mother said these were so good and to definitely save this recipe. They were perfectly crispy on the outside and so moist and wonderful on the inside. I will totally make these again!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Katie!
Made these for dinner. I cut back on the sugar, added corn kernels and used coconut oil. The texture is very nice. I prefer my corn bread less sweet but my daughter is a fan.
Very delicious, though sweeter than I expected. I used avocado instead of applesauce and it turned out just perfectly. Thanks, Dana!
Ohh I couldn’t restrain myself from eating ONE, STILL HOT cornbread muffin, so I don’t know how they taste cooled. (sadness).
To be honest… it was my first cornbread in life .
I made oat milk at home and used it insead of almond milk… and instead of vegan butter I used just an oil…
That’s funny cause I made 3 BIG muffins not 2 … Is it okay ?? ( I mean I don’t complain that of course, but I just wonder if it is not bad :) )
I hope I will make it one more time :D
Delicious! Should rename it ‘Vegan Cornbread for One’ as I don’t think I want to share. :) Made with Bob’s Red Mill GF flour and it came out perfect.
Wow! This recipe is amazing. I finally got some Earthbalance and made these cornbread muffins. Before I started eating more plant-based and healthier foods, I always reached for the Jiffy Mix. I am amazed at how similar these muffins are in quality and flavor to the packaged Jiffy Mix, Knowing that they are so much healthier makes them even more delicious. Lard-free and guilt-free.
My wife made vegetarian chili and I made the muffins. The combo was outstanding.
Thank you for a great recipe.
Just made this, as I needed something to go along with my vegetarian chili. Since I wanted abit more cornbread than 2 portions, I tripled all the ingredients, and then baked it in a 10″ cast iron skillet, for about 40 min. Turned out wonderfully! Crispy and crunchy on the outside, and soft and moist inside. The flavour is really nice, and not too sweet. Definitely a keeper!
I have tried many cornbread recipes over the years (even before I was vegan), and this is by far the best! I doubled the recipe and baked them in a pan. It made 6+ good sized muffins… I made them for a dinner of white beans and cornbread, but the rest ended up being a fabulous breakfast for work. Thank you!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Stacy!
This recipe is amazing! I tried it out using more butter instead of the applesauce and o my! Everyone loved them and they go so well with a spicy curry. I think these would make a lovely little dessert as well. Brilliant as usual.
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Jaia!
I was thinking that, too. Maybe a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of maple syrup. Excellent idea!
I NEEDED cornbread to go with some homemade vegan chili and so, of course, I dialed into your website and this recipe did not disappoint! Sooooooo good! I made a double batch since I was serving 4 and ended up with 5 ramekins filled…..so, of course, I ate 2!
Holy shit, these are amazing. Thank you!
Glad you liked them! Thanks for sharing, Talia.
I made a few adjustments according to what I had on hand. Baking powder, soy milk and rice flour. The texture is a tad crumbly, but the crunch is spot on. I ate mine along side a bowl roasted red pepper and tomato gazpacho – it’s hot as in Queensland, Australia. Thank you so much for this, exactly what I was craving!
This cornbread is wonderful! I doubled the recipe, and it made 6 large cornbread muffins. The batter rose so much while cooking, I was amazed. I used soy milk and homemade apple sauce, they turned out moist and not too crumbly. They accompanied my vegan chili perfectly. Thanks for the great recipe!
Ooh, wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Elena!
Delicious! I used a regular egg and otherwise followed the recipe exactly. One of the best things about using the ramekins is that every bite of cornbread is hot and the butter melts beautifully. Thanks for a great recipe.
Pretty good texture. Next time I’ll add maybe 1/4 tsp of salt…
Have not made these but just had to mention that cornbread is not supposed to be sweet. In Texas and Tennessee you do not have sweet cornbread.
It is in my books, but thanks for the feedback!
OMG this almost made me cry.Tastes like my Mom’s cornbread.It is so perfect!Thank you!
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Cory!
This is, without a doubt, the BEST cornbread I have ever had. Even my family, who typically hate cornbread, eat every crumb of this recipe. It’s become a family favorite already, thank you so much! Beef stew and chili have officially been paired with their soulmate. Also, FYI to all the gluten-free-ers out there; I use the Pillsbury GF baking flour (xanthan gum included) instead of the regular, and it still comes out perfect. I’d assume that the Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose would work the same as well. Also, I’m not totally vegan so I use two egg whites with this recipe and it works just fine, just don’t forget the applesauce!
Again, thank you so much for this recipe! It is to die for, and I’ll be (and my mom and grandmother will be) using it for years to come. :)
Oh, and I cooked it in a cast iron skillet once I tripled the recipe. It truly makes it the perfect consistency!
Great tip!
Giiiirrrlllll, now this is good cornbread! I’m a southern girl gone vegan and I often times miss simple tasty cornbread. This right here is perfect! I doubled the recipe and made a pan-full of mini corn muffins that were perfect served alongside a hearty cabbage soup- yum! Thanks for sharing!
Ha! Yay! It passes the southern test! Thanks for sharing, Cynthia ;D
Tried this recipe last night and it came out amazing! My mother approved of the cornbread which was VERY important. My family has Southern roots so I knew I had to get this right lol. Thank you!
Haha, so great! Thanks for sharing, Tanner!
Outstanding!!!
These are amazing! We used coconut sugar, coconut oil for vegan butter (I’ve been eating a lot of toast lately….?), And brown rice flour! Delicious! It made 4 muffins in my standard tin. Thanks so much!
Oh my gosh, I made these yesterday and they turned out so good! I realized halfway into making them that I was out of white sugar so I had to use brown sugar and I was worried they wouldn’t turn out right, but they were fabulous! Finally this single lady can enjoy some cornbread and the leftovers store well, too!
So freaking delicious! I have tried so many vegan cornbreads and they’ve all been bad – I had kind of given up on the idea of good vegan cornbread. Made this gluten-free with all purpose GF flour + guar gum for a chili potluck with friends and they went over great! I made too much but these muffins are also great with veggie sausages and maple syrup for breakfast :)
my fiancé and I are vegans so this corn bread is a great addition to our diet. I made these and he LOVED them (soo much that I am making them again tonight hehe) and so did; we sat at the table to eat these together :) I used a muffin bake sheet I was able to get four nice size corn breads out of this recipe. I also used regular egg substitute, only because I didn’t have flax meal.. but this made mine have their own uniqueness, so I was good with that. The maple syrup was great! I have been a vegan for over 10 years and this recipe helped me to be even more inspired to start cooking more where I have been a baker mostly.. Thank you so much fr the recipe and I will be trying more and for sure adding some of these at our wedding :D
This was the best cornbread I have ever had! Thank goodness it was a recipe for 2!! I would have eaten 12 of these!
We just tried this recipe out for New Year’s Day. It’s really moist and delicious just like traditional cornbread, but we found it to be too sweet. We don’t eat sugar normally, so I think we’re a bit more sensitive to it. I would definitely make it again, but I’d cut down on the sugar to get more of a savory taste.
I’m making this tonight with my sweet potato chili!
Just made these tonight for dinner. They were great! These are very generous portions of cornbread, which I love! I used gluten free flour (bob’s red mill gluten free all-purpose flour to be exact) & it came out lovely. The only almond milk I had in the fridge was sweetened, so I just cut back on the added sugar to balance it out. Thank you so much for this lovely recipe!
Just made these… Best cornbread I’ve ever had!
Just made this to go with chili later this week. Oops, I’ll have to make some more because I ate half the pan. I doubled the recipe and baked in an 8 x 8 inch square pan. I don’t measure things exactly, I eye-ball it, so batter was thick. I added a bit more applesauce and soy milk to thin it. Tasted wonderful.
Very Tasty! Thank you for this great recipe!
I substituted the flaxseed with chickpea flower- it worked wonderfully- they raised a lot and they tasted really good.
Is it possible to leave out of the sugar? Or will that change the consistency, the raising?
Best wishes from Germany,
Susanne
Super helpful! I used your recipe as inspiration to adapt my family cornbread recipe (passed generation to generation in Texas) into a vegan, gluten-free one that came out delicious!
I’m going to try it substituting millet flour for the cornmeal & flour. I have a “millet” cornbread that I make and using all millet flour in it works great & tastes very similar to corn. (My daughter is allergic to corn). I’m looking forward to trying this because the flax will add fiber and protein to the muffins.
Does it work without butter?
*Alternative flour*
I modified this recipe slightly and wanted to share my success! I replaced all of the regular flour with chickpea flour, added 1/2c frozen corn, added 1/2c extra corn flour and used Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg in place of a flax egg.
It is delicious and so bouncy!!
Just made a batch yesterday and they turned out perfectly!
Not only are your recipes delicious but you present them so beautifully.
Used only 2 tbsp of sugar, coconut oil and oat flour instead of all purpose flour. Works great!
I’m not vegan, but I loved these! I used regular butter & GF flour and they were great! Even added a little jalapeno for my husband. It made 3 good sized muffins, which were perfect with a big pot of soup for dinner. Love your recipes!!
I made these a few days ago to eat alongside a pot of bean and pumpkin chili. I have to admit I didn’t have very high expectations, I haven’t made cornbread since going (mostly) vegan and didn’t know how this version without dairy sour cream and buttermilk would compare. They were so, so good. So rich and light and tender. I made a few changes. I had no flax seed or any other egg replacer so I just left it out. I used all vegan butter with no applesauce and reduced the sugar very slightly (I don’t care about the calories but I prefer my cornbread on the less sweet side). I also used soy milk, that’s what I had. I made the full recipe but baked it in a muffin pan, I got 4 beautiful well-risen cornbread muffins. It kept well in the fridge. Eating the last one with more chili now.
These are delicious!!! Great recipe. Only change I made is using less sugar (2 teaspoons) I like cornbread not very sweet. Thanks for a super recipe.
These are amazing! Best I’ve ever had – vegan or not! :)
If I wanted to make a larger batch to make a loaf, does this recipe double or triple well?
Yes!!
Would this work with soy milk?
I think it should Erica! Check out our Recipe FAQ’s for more information about substitutions!
This is SO delicious!! Made some to accompany the vegan chili my wife made and OMG!! I only ended up eatting 1/2 a ramekin and it was enough for me ?
SO yummy. Subbed 2.5 tbsp aquafaba for the flax egg and it turned out perfectly. Favorite cornbread recipe ever!
I just made this tonight and had to come comment that I LOVE them! They rose beautifully, though mine had a funny grayish tinge to them, and were moist, fluffy, crisp on the outside, and just the perfect texture.
The taste wasn’t a full 100% on its own, I’d say maybe a 95% perfect taste, though I think I added a teensy bit too much salt (oops!). With a little Earth Balance and Grade A maple syrup, these cornbread muffins were absolutely drool-worthy!! I LOVE THEM! I burned my mouth eating them too soon!
I doubled the recipe and am often lax on exact measurements, and they still turned out wonderful made in a regular size muffin tin. I can’t wait to eat them with your 5 Ingredient Sweet Potato Chili I’m making tomorrow!! Thank you so much :)
I’ve been a vegetarian for a long time, and was more than a little surprised to learn after a recent physical that my cholesterol was a bit on the high side. Since then I’ve been virtually vegan, and have committed to no more cheese or eggs.
So – anyway when I made some black bean chili today, I decided to try your cornbread, one of my first forays into vegan baking. THANKS! It was delicious.
I doubled the recipe, reduced the sugar, increased the ratio of cornmeal to flour, substituted corn oil for vegan “butter,” and even added some diced frozen red, green, and yellow peppers and chili powder to make the muffins more savory than sweet. It’s a very forgiving recipe, and they still turned out. I’ll be using your recipe for some other muffin variations.
***** (5 stars)
Many thanks again!
I have a daughter that can not do flax seed as an egg substitute (she also can’t do eggs) I’ve used chia seeds with water as a binder in replacements for pancakes and will try it in this recipe as well. Just in case anyone else has this problem.
I have been looking for a nonsweet cornbread like the mix I used to use before going Vegan. Cotton pickin cornbread. I have searched everywhere for a nonsweet Vegan cornbread and can’t find one. All want you to use maple syrup etc. Can you please come up with a non sweet version? Thanks
Want to make an entire pan of this for thanksgiving, how would I convert the recipe? Triple or quadruple it?
Here!
Tried this today with whole wheat flour Thought it would be too healthy. But it was still perfect! Thanks for being my go to site for vegan meals with the husband :)
I was never a cornbread person, but when we made a big batch of 5 Ingredient Chili (to have over the week while we got snowed in), we knew we wanted something to go with it that wasn’t super sweet or full of junk. Naturally Minimalist Baker was my go to for a new recipe.
This recipe made me a believer! We just used a regular egg instead of flax. Looking forward to making the gluten free recipe once I have those ingredients on file, but this one was a home run! Doubled the recipe and used a pie dish and it worked great. I can’t stop eating it :)
I was out of tofu for my go-to cornbread recipe so I tried this one based on the ingredients list. Someone mentioned doubling the recipe and I wanted to do that, too. Someone else mentioned using aquafaba; I happened to have a jar of navy beans there to make chili, so plenty of bean juice. I doubled the recipe quantities thinking I’d get 4 but it yielded 8 using a muffin pan. So I doubled the ingredient list and spooned in 5 tablespoons of bean juice right out of the jar as the flax/egg sub. Was a bit generous on the salt for good measure. I too am a bit lax in my measurements, but I can’t imagine it affected anything because they were delicious. Sweet, dense, moist, and a bit of give but not crumbly. I did NOT tell my husband it had apple cider vinegar, applesauce, or navy bean juice otherwise he probably wouldn’t have tried them. He LOVED them. (So this will be our little secret.) This is now my go-to recipe for cornbread.
So FRIGGIN good. I did a few twist on the vegan cornbread muffins for two. I am not very good at following directions.
1-I doubled the recipie
2- I had no applesauce, I used about a 1/4 of a small bannana
3- Added about 3 TBSP molasses
4- used a little less butter
5- I have cashew milk, the 25 calorie one
This is not the first recipe I tried from your site, I cannot say any of them turned out bad. Also I Just signed up for emails.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars was that I changed it a bit.
I made these today. Doubled the recipe and it made 9 muffins. I also used GF flour and they turned out great. Thanks for a super recipe!
I made these and they really did rise great. My only adjustment would be to cut back on a lot of the sugar, 1/4 a cup is a lot if you don’t want your cornbread to taste like cake. I used muffin pans, and I was able to make 4. I will definitely use this recipe again.