Gluten Free Pumpkin Cornbread

Gluten Free Pumpkin Cornbread! Looking for something to serve alongside hearty soups, stews and chilis this fall? This naturally gluten free cornbread recipe is easy to make and even easier to gobble up! 

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The weather is cooling down{ish}, the leaves are turning colors... it's almost time to bust out the pumpkin-carving knives and get in the fall spirit!

October is the perfect excuse for gatherings centered around autumn's fun activities like football watching and eating pumpkin everything. If you're looking for a great complement for hearty soups, stews and chilis, this naturally gluten free pumpkin cornbread is a perfect solution! 

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Baking Pans for Cornbread
• Cornbread Without Flour
• Variations
• Gluten Free Pumpkin Cornbread

Ingredients

One of the cool things about this recipe is that it doesn't contain any flour, making it naturally gluten-free and perfect for family and friends who avoid wheat products. The main ingredients are:

• Cornmeal - Cornmeal is simply ground, dried corn. It is available in both finely and coarsely ground varieties. For this particular recipe I just use a regular, medium-ground cornmeal. While corn is gluten-free, it's important to check the brand of cornmeal you purchase to ensure that it is not produced in a facility that also makes wheat products, especially if you will be sharing the cornbread with someone who has Celiac disease or a severe gluten allergy.
• Baking Soda & Baking Powder - These are the leavening agents which will aid in making the cornbread rise and become airier as it bakes.
• Pumpkin puree - This fall addition isn't totally necessary, but lends a mild pumpkin flavor and a bit of extra moisture to the cornbread. If you don't have any pumpkin puree, you can swap it out for more yogurt. 
• Egg - Egg helps to bind the mixture as well as give it structure and stability.
• Butter - Butter is a fat that help improve both flavor and texture in baked goods. If you prefer, you can swap out the butter for an equal amount of your favorite oil.
• Honey - Honey gives just a hint of sweetness and balance to the cornbread. You can increase the amount by a tablespoon if you like it a little sweeter, just keep an eye on things during the bake time as the higher sugar content can make it easier to burn.
• Yogurt - Yogurt adds moisture and fat to the recipe, producing a nice mouthfeel and making it a bit more tender. I like to use full fat Greek yogurt, but you can also experiment with regular plain yogurt, sour cream or even buttermilk, though each variation will be slightly different in texture and cook time.

Instructions

There are probably thousands of variations on cornbread, but most of them follow the same general rules:

Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl, whisk all the wet ingredients in another bowl, add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined.

Pour the batter into your desired baking vessel and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is lightly golden.

This recipe follows the same steps, making it a very easy recipe to whip up in no time at all. 

Baking Pans for Cornbread

The types of baking pans or dishes used for recipes can make a big difference in the cook time and results. This article over on the King Arthur Flour website {ie. the holy grail of baking tips and tricks} does a pretty good job of explaining the science behind it all.

I made this cornbread in a pumpkin-shaped cookie tin to give it a bit of festive appeal for the fall season, but you can use an 8x8 inch baking pan, cast iron skillet, regular muffin tin or a mini muffin tin, or even silicone baking mold in fall shapes.

Please note that the baking time will vary depending on the material of the baking vessel and the depth, so start out by baking for a shorter period of time and check for doneness. 

Cornbread Without Flour

You might think that cornbread made without flour would be super dense, but I think this flourless cornbread has a pretty nice texture. It is a bit more dense and crumbly than cornbread made with flour, but overall, it does the trick. 

It is said that the use of flour and sugar/sweetener is what sets Northern-style cornbread apart from Southern-style cornbread. I'm not sure of the accuracy of that statement {I did a little internet research but found conflicting opinions}, but I do know that there are definitely two camps when it comes to cornbread preferences.

Cornbread made with flour are often more light and cake-like, whereas cornbread recipes made purely with cornmeal tend to be a little more crumbly and dry. 

The nice thing about this recipe is that, if you need a recipe for specifically gluten free cornbread, you don't have to worry about having gluten free flour in your pantry in order to make it.

If you prefer a Northern-style cornbread, check out the links to other recipes below.

Variations

Cornbread is a fairly blank canvas flavor-wise, probably because it's often served as an accompaniment to things like chili and soup.

If you're serving cornbread as a stand-alone snack to nibble on, you may want to jazz up the flavors by adding in, well, some add-ins! Here are a few flavor variations that you may want to try:

• Taco-Spiced Cornbread - Add 1 ½ tablespoons of your favorite taco seasoning to the dry ingredients for a southwestern kick!
• Cheesy Cornbread - Add ½ cup of grated cheese of your choice to the batter before baking.
• Smoky Bacon Jalapeno Cornbread - Add about ⅓ cup of cooked, crumbled bacon and about ¼ cup of pickled jalapenos to the batter before baking for a smoky, spicy version.
• Corn & Scallion Cornbread - Add about ¼ cup corn kernels and ¼ cup chopped scallions to the batter before baking for extra flavor and texture.

If gluten isn't an issue for you, here are a few other interesting cornbread recipes!

• Pimento Cheese Stuffed Cornbread
• Brown Butter Zucchini Cornbread
• Poblano Corn Muffins with Chili-Honey Butter