Corn Bread muffins from Blah to Fab!

Finding a top 8 safe and vegan corn bread is like finding a four leaf clover in a field. It could be there but you might not have the patience to find it... I have found ones that are safe for my daughter who is only allergic to peanuts and tree nuts but do I really need to give her boxed mixes with all those extra ingredients that I can’t pronounce?

When my grocery store experience was less than fruitful I turned to the handy dandy internet and started an extensive search of corn bread recipes. I found a simple gluten free recipe by What the Fork Food Blog with only a handful of ingredients that I could easily substitute to make it completely vegan and top 8 free. It seemed like i found my four leaf clover! It could be there but you might not have the patience to find it...

Let me just preface this by saying this recipe used, as is, might be great but the first attempt with the top 8 substitutes I used, it became a bit blah. Like it was just plain bland and really dense. It was mostly the same texture and feel of corn bread with all the flavor sapped right out of it. I even tried to mix in dried cranberries to add a little more pizzazz yet even that fell flat.

Both my kids were eager to try the muffins (as they are with every new baked goody I whip up in the kitchen) but they weren’t all that excited to have a second bite never mind a second muffin.

I think this is a recipe that will need a bit more experimenting before we can give it approval! Well I’ll keep on trying and let you know my results- good or bad, the next time I attempt a corn bread muffin.

Update: it has only been a week since I attempted the corn bread muffins and that whole time I was brainstorming how to make them super tasty.

Well after thinking of what ingredients could be changed or adjusted the easiest change was to use a different egg replacement. I was originally using a flax “egg” because it wouldn’t interfere with the texture of the corn muffin but I’m thinking it made the first version very dense and didn’t help with the flavor. This time i used the baking soda “eggs” and let the dough proof/ rest for about a half hour to not only help the dry ingredients incorporate better but with all the baking soda it would help create more fluffiness. If you are also having trouble searching for the perfect egg replacement check out my “Egg” blog!

Well these changes made not only the perfect looking corn muffin but also a super tasty one that was so close to the original gluten filled version that it could even fool the pickiest toddler!

Let me know your thoughts. Experimenting with a recipe doesn’t mean it’s an automatic fail it’s just a step in the process. It may take one, two or even a dozen times to get a top 8 allergen recipe right but once you do it’s the best feeling in the world! I’m already planning on making these muffin at least every other week they are so addicting.