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Gluten-Free Cornbread – muffins or pan!

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Crumbly, sweet, and filling – Gluten-Free Cornbread is sure to be a staple in your gluten-free kitchen. This gluten-free cornbread recipe is simple, uses minimal ingredients, and serves as a fantastic side to soups, stews, and BBQ.

You can make this gluten-free cornbread in a pan or into gluten-free cornbread muffins!

If you are looking for a good chili recipe or gluten-free soup recipe, you’ll love my Gluten-Free Chili and my Spicy Black Bean Soup.

A slice of gluten-free cornbread on a white place with a honey drizzle.

Gluten-Free Cornbread

Often when I think of gluten-free cornbread, I think of chili, soups, and stews. Why? Because my mom served gluten-free cornbread with each of them. It’s also a great side dish for picnics and BBQ’s. I serve mine along short ribs, coleslaw, and beans. Delish!

This Gluten-Free Cornbread recipe can be made into gluten-free cornbread muffins or in the gluten-free cornbread bar form. I like to make my Gluten-Free Cornbread into muffins so it’s easy for people to grab-and-go.

 

I also like to serve mine with dairy-free butter and honey. I can actually get myself into trouble with these gluten-free cornbread muffins. They are incredible strait out of the oven with butter and honey dripping down the sides.

I’m seriously salivating as I write this. So good.

seven cornbread muffins on a cooling rack next to a cornbread muffin on the counter

Is cornbread gluten-free?

Not all cornbread is gluten-free. Some cornbread recipes are made with gluten flours and cornmeal. Make sure to use a gluten-free cornbread recipe or substitute any what flour four gluten-free flour in your gluten-free cornbread recipe.

When I told someone I was posting my gluten-free cornbread muffins on the blog, they asked if they were southern cornbread biscuits. To be honest, I’ve never heard of southern cornbread, but I’m sure it’s delightful.

This is traditional, old-fashioned gluten-free cornbread recipe. It’s less than ten ingredients and it taste like what I remember gluten-free cornbread tasting like growing up.

Can I make gluten-free cornbread dairy-free?

Actually, this recipe is for gluten-free dairy-free cornbread muffins. You can use regular dairy-milk if you want but we like to use vanilla almond milk in this gluten-free dairy-free cornbread. Just make sure to serve this gluten-free cornbread with a dairy-free butter to keep it dairy-free.

a gluten free cornbread muffin in a muffin wrapper next to two more muffins and a bowl of cornbread muffins

Egg Substitute for Cornbread

If you are looking for an egg substitute for cornbread, you have a few options. You can use an egg replacer. You can also use a one flaxegg (1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water) per egg called for or one chiaegg.

Making Gluten-Free Cornbread Stuffing

I am a regular gluten-free stuffing gal myself but I have a few family members who love making cornbread stuffing. You can use this gluten-free cornbread recipe to make gluten-free cornbread stuffing. Simply replace the bread cubes in this Gluten Free Stuffing Recipe with 10-12 cups of cubed cornbread.

Gluten-Free Cornbread Ingredients:

  • Gluten-Free Flour – I used Ryze gluten-free flour in this gluten-free cornbread recipe but you can use your favorite high quality gluten-free flour.
  • Cornmeal – I recommend buying a high quality fine ground cornmeal that is gluten-free. The gluten-free label insures that it was processed in a facility free from glutinous ingredients.
  • Gluten-Free Baking Powder – Not all baking powders are created equal. Make sure yours is labeled gluten-free.
  • Dairy-Free Milk – We love to use a vanilla almond milk in this gluten-free cornbread muffin recipe. It adds a touch of extra sw

I haven’t tried substituting the eggs out of this gluten-free cornbread recipe. I’ve had a few people use chia egg (1 tablespoon ground chia seeds with 3 tablespoons water) with success.

a collage of six numbered photos showing how to make gluten free cornbread, the numbers match the steps below

Steps to make gluten-free cornbread

  1. Add dry ingredients to a medium mixing bowl.
  2. Whisk dry ingredients together until well combined.
  3. In a separate medium mixing bowl add eggs, milk, and oil. Whisk until combined.
  4. Add dry mixture to wet mixture, and stir just till blended.
  5. Spoon batter evenly into the square pan or cupcake pans, filling about 2/3 full.
  6. Spoon batter evenly into the square pan or cupcake pans, filling about 2/3 full. For a square pan bake for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. For muffins, bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Your gluten-free cornbread will be a light brown in color.

How do you make gluten-free southern cornbread?

From what my very southern Aunt has told me. Gluten-Free Cornbread that uses bacon grease instead of oil, and buttermilk instead of milk or dairy-free milk is considered “southern”. You can swap those out in this recipe easily, if you’d like. Or you could try this recipe for Gluten-Free Southern Cornbread.

I’ve tried gluten-free cornbread recipes that have more of a cake texture. These don’t. These are hearty, thick, and corn-bread-like (if that makes any sense). Sure, I love gluten-free cornbread that is actually cake – fluffy and sweet, enough that you could lather on some buttercream frosting and devour with a fork.

These gluten-free cornbread muffins are the kind that you ladle chili over, the kind that you mop up the last of your stew with. It’s my tried and true gluten-free cornbread that we serve to our family. I hope you like it as much as we do.

Looking for more sides, try my Gluten Free Gravy Recipe. My Gluten Free Gravy is also super easy to make.

If you make this recipe please leave a starred review and comment below! It helps other see that the recipe is great.

Yield: 12 muffins

Gluten-Free Cornbread

A slice of gluten-free cornbread on a white place with a honey drizzle.

This gluten-free cornbread recipe is simple, uses minimal ingredients, and serves as a fantastic side to soups, stews, and BBQ.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Position rack in center of oven. Grease a 12 serving cupcake pan; or a square 9x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In a separate medium mixing bowl, beat together eggs, milk, and oil. Add dry mixture to wet mixture, and stir just till blended.
  4. Spoon batter evenly into the square pan or cupcake pans, filling about 2/3 full. For a square pan bake for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. For muffins, bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
  5. Store leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.

Notes

  • Dairy-Free Option: To make this gluten-free cornbread dairy free use a dairy-free milk.
  • Flour blends: For this recipe I use my gluten-free flour blend, Ryze, or Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour.
  • Use fine ground cornmeal to make this gluten-free cornbread recipe.
  • For a sweeter cornbread, use buttermilk instead of milk, melted and cooled butter instead of oil, and increase the sugar to 1/2 cup.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1 muffin
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 164Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 196mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 1gSugar: 4gProtein: 4g
© Chrystal
Cuisine: Side Dish / Category: Main Dishes

A slice of cornbread on a white place with a honey drizzle, the words easy gluten free cornbread written at the top of the image

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hope I can ask a question here. You said these were good with chili, etc. That they were not sweet, yet it has sugar in it. Can I omit the sugar?

    Reply

    • Hi Beth,
      Yes, compared to a lot of cornbreads, this one is not sweet. The 1/4 cup of sugar in the recipe helps lend a tender crumb. You are welcome to replace the sugar with maple syrup if you are looking for a refined sugar free recipe. Hope that helps.

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

  3. Just made this recipe today, and it’s delicious! I made a vegan version, using unsweetened flax milk in place of the milk, and flax “eggs” in place of eggs. I also substituted maple syrup for sugar, using about 1/3 of a cup as I prefer a sweeter corn bread. It all came out great! Even my picky teenage son (who usually turns his nose up at most GF baked goods) loved it.

    Reply

  5. Hi there, I know this is an old recipe, but hoping you can help. I made a test batch of these Saturday for an upcoming family event, and when I checked them at 25 mins they were totally brown and ended up with a thick crunchy shell on the outside. I’m not sure what I did wrong. Any ideas? Should I cook them for less time, or perhaps reduce the temperature?

    Reply

    • Hi Joanna,
      This recipe has been up for a while, but it’s still great 🙂 I made these cornbread muffins last week. What flour blend did you use? Did you make any substitutions? You can definitely start with a lower cook time – not all ovens are created equal and sometimes they run hotter than they read.

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

      • Chrystal, Thanks a bunch! I used Robin Hood Gluten Free flour. I also used coconut s
        ugar instead of regular sugar. I’ll try them at 400 and keep an eye on them. Thanks again!

        Reply

        • Hi Joanna,
          I haven’t used coconut sugar in this recipe and I have never tried Robin Hood Gluten Free Flour so I can’t say if it’s related.

          Best,
          Chrystal

          Reply

          • Right – okay, thanks. I may use Maple Syrup instead as the sweetener then since you presented that suggestion. I’m not buying new flour though, so I’ll just have to try again. 🙂 Thanks for your feedback.

  6. Hi there!. These muffins were great! I too, will cook a little shorter time next time (at 25min browning of the top) and/or maybe at 400 degrees instead of 425. They still tasted great and the centers were not overcooked. I used Arrowhead Mills all purpose gf flour and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I love how they are not too sweet. Just right. Thanks for sharing and if you have a good gf blueberry muffin recipe without dairy, please share as well.

    Reply

    • Hi Heather,
      So glad you liked them! Thank you for letting me know what flour blend you used. I do have a dairy-free blueberry muffin recipe.

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

  7. I made these yesterday and thought they came out beautifully. I used the coconut sugar- no problem there. I thought that baking them as muffins they probably didn’t need more than 18 minutes and that turned out to be just perfect.

    Reply

    • Hi Melissa,
      Thank you so much for stopping by to let me know. I’m glad the coconut sugar worked for you 🙂 We love using coconut sugar in this cornbread recipe.

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

  8. Thank you for the recipe Chrystal!

    I’ve made a little corn bread bundt cake today. Need tips please!

    I’m (trying very hard to be) a vegan, so had to replace 2 eggs with 2 chia eggs (2 tbsp chia + 6 tbsp water) and sugar with maple syrup. I was expecting to reduce the milk as i used a syrup instead of sugar but the batter ended up being SO dry i had to add 2 cups of almond milk. I was actually thinking of adding the third cup as my batter still seemed too dry (a lot dryer than pancake batter, for instance). I’ve ended up with a lovely crunchy crust on top and soft sogginess inside my bread tastes lovely toasted and i will eat and enjoy it. I understand I’ve modified the recipe quite a bit but thought I’d ask just in case: would you have idea where things went wrong for me? If you have any suggestions I’d greatly appreciate them ✨

    Thank you!

    Reply

    • Hi Aly,
      I haven’t tried chia egg in this recipe, or using a bundt pan. A couple of things you might want to try: make sure you are spooning the flour and cornmeal into the measuring cup (and not scooping it with the measuring cup). Also, you could use flaxseed egg instead of chia egg. I’ve tested this recipe with my flour blend and Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1. I’m not sure which flour blend you used but you don’t want to use one that has a nut flour in it.

      Hope that helps,
      Chrystal

      Reply

  9. Thank you Chrystal,

    I will try flax seeds and a muffin pan next time to see if that makes a difference.

    Just checked the ingredients of my gluten free flour mix: rice flour, buckwheat flour, cornstarch, potato starch, tapioca flour and xantham gum. buckwheat does have that nut flavour you mentioned (which i love! ). So need to try baking with a different blend too – i think it might have been buckwheat flour that absorbed all my liquid!

    I had to give up gluten 3 years ago but I’m a busy Mom of 2 and don’t bake much for myself so it is hit and miss.

    Thank you

    Reply

    • Hi Aly,
      I think it was either the cornstarch or the buckwheat, or a combination of both. I’m a busy mom of 2 as well, so I understand 🙂

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

  14. I have to say I have made this cornbread twice. Once the way the recipe calls a little crumbly just like most gluten free stuff, next time I replaced the milk with buttermilk and it will change your life lol!! Best cornbread EVER!! It was so moist and delicious- like cornbread cake perfect with cabbage soup!!

    Reply

    • We often use buttermilk in this cornbread recipe. I should add a comment about it to the post. Thanks for sharing!

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

    • Most manufactures use cornstarch or potato starch in baking powder but some manufacturers still add wheat starch, which is not gluten-free. There are people who don’t understand that some are cut with wheat starch so I like to add the label “gluten free” just in case.

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

  17. I made this yesterday. I used the rice flour blend I like (due to taste) and medium corn meal (Bob’s Red Mill)
    I absolutely love this recipe!! It turned out so good! My husband had three pieces, which almost never happens when I make gluten free. AND my daughter asked for it in her lunch!! I almost fell off my chair. She usually hates cornbread.
    Thank you so much for sharing this super easy, super tasty recipe!

    Reply

  18. WOW. I’m just blown away by this cornbread recipe.
    I veganized it very easily. I used ground flax/chia “egg” as you recommended and it worked perfectly. I also used oat milk, and used vegan butter for the oil. I’ve also got a major sweet tooth so I sprinkled coarse sugar on top for a sweet caramelized crust.
    The one chance I will make is I will soak the corn meal in the milk while the flax/chia egg is soaking, it was a little too cronchy.
    I will definitely keep this in my arsenal. Can’t wait to play around with it.
    Overall 10/10

    Reply

  19. Hi, This is a great cornbread recipe! Thank you for sharing. I had to adapt for altitude (Denver) and it came out great.

    I used Trader Joe’s GF flour with no issue.

    Substituted MonkFruit for the sugar (1:1)
    Added 1 additional egg
    Used full fat coconut milk + 2 additional Tablespoons
    Used melted coconut oil

    I kept the temp the same (425) and baked for 25 minutes.

    This is now a “tried and true” recipe.

    Many Thanks!

    Reply

  20. I had a gluten free cornbread recipe that had corn in it but can’t can’t find it now. Have you ever seen one or know where I could find one?

    Reply

  21. Great recipe. I used a 1/4 c of sour cream as part of the milk component. They rose well and had a very even texture. The cornmeal I used might be a bit coarse though so I will look for a finer grain meal for the next time. I only had cane sugar so I used a scant 1/4 c of that. It worked fine and I also like the coconut sugar substitution and will try that for sure..

    Reply

  22. Made these and they were great! Here are some additions/subs that I did:
    -Coconut sugar instead of refined sugar
    -2 Tbs of nutritional yeast
    -Half avocado oil and half ghee
    -Added some ACV to my oat milk for a “buttermilk”

    Thanks for the recipe! 🙂

    Reply

  23. Absolutely wonderful recipe! I used it as a base for corn dog muffins rather than using a mix. They turned out perfect. My picky son couldn’t tell they were gluten free. I cut the sugar down to 2 Tbsp because I didn’t want them too sweet. Of course I added stuff to make it my corn dog muffins (sauted hot dogs, onion, sage, celery seed, cheddar cheese). I am definitely going to try this recipe as written (but keeping the sugar at 2 Tbsp). Thank you for this gem!

    Reply

  24. I used almond milk, avocado oil, and added about a 1/4 cup of corn that I chopped in the food processor. So delicious!! Everyone was impressed! I saved this recipe to my favorites as I will definitely be making this again!

    Reply

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