Vegan Almond Sour Cream Cornbread!

Cornbread is a Southern staple. It is served at every gathering and pretty much, with every meal in some houses. We had it a few times a week at my Grandma's house. There are so many different variations of cornbread that it blows my mind! My husband likes his sweet. I like mine savory. This recipe is a little bit of both. It is adapted from this recipe at food.com. The key to any cornbread, in my opinion, is the crust! I love love love a crispy crust! Who doesn't? The first thing you have to do is make your Almond sour cream. This recipe is adapted from Ohsheglows.com. I didn't have cashews on hand, so I thought I'd experiment with swapping out Almonds. Well, it turned out a little sweeter than I thought. I decided to incorporate it in my cornbread to add extra nutrients and a little bit of extra sweet for my sweet hubby! First you boil about 6 cups of water, pour it over 1.5 cups of almonds, and let soak 1 hour. Drain the almonds and pour into a high speed blender or food processor. Add 2 T of lemon juice, 2 t of apple cider vinegar, and 1/2 t of salt. Pulse a couple of times, then puree until smooth. You'll have to stop every minute or so and scrape the sides of the food processor bowl or blender. It doesn't get all the way smooth. At least mine didn't, but that's okay! If you want to use the original recipe for cashew sour cream in the link above, go ahead! You could even use regular sour cream(it won't be vegan, of course...) or store bought vegan sour cream! Once your Almond sour cream is done, refrigerate until ready to use. It will stay good up to 1 week in the fridge and 1 month in the freezer. I froze mine in muffin tins and popped them out into a ziplock bag for later use. I'll thaw them overnight for a recipe the next day. This recipe makes alot so feel free to scale it down if you don't think you'll use it.

Next, it's time to make the yummy nutritious cornbread!

First, preheat your oven to 425 degrees, pour 1/4 cup of canola oil into a cast iron skillet and put it in the oven as it's preheating. Next, put about 1/2 C of water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add 2 T of ground flaxseed and stir a couple of minutes until it thickens up just a bit. Set aside.

Next, mix your flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sweetener in a bowl.

Then add your flax seed mixture, almond milk, and 3 heaping tablespoons of your almond sour cream. Stir until combined. You want the mixture to drip off the spoon but not be too runny. Add almond milk if needed to get this consistency. If it's too thick, it will be dry.

Once your oven is preheated, take out the hot skillet carefully and put it on the stove. Carefully pour mixture into hot, sizzling skillet! You want to hear that sizzle! That's goodness right there! Pop it back in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

After a few minutes, take a plate and turn it out upside down onto the plate. It should easily come right out onto the plate! Serve with non-dairy butter! It's so good Ya'll! And it's better for you than traditional cornbread! MMM!

Recipe:

1/2 C Water

2 T Ground Flaxseed

1 C All Purpose Flour

1 C Cornmeal

1/4 C Zero Calorie Sweetener

4 t Baking Powder

1 t salt

1 C Unsweetened Original Almond Milk

3 T Homemade Almond Sour Cream

Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees, pour oil in black iron skillet and put in oven while it's preheating. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil and add flaxseed. Stir a couple of minutes until thickened. Set aside. Then mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix to combine. Add more almond milk if mixture is too thick. You want it to easily drip off the spoon. Once the oven is preheated, carefully take hot skillet out of oven with an oven mitt. Sit on stove. Pour in cornbread mixture. It should sizzle! Bake in oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Once done, let sit a few minutes, then turn it out onto a plate upside down. Slice and serve with non-dairy butter or by itself! MMM! Enjoy!

#comfort #healthy #vegan #Family #southern #cooking #food