I made this cornbread for one purpose. Salad croutons.
All the cornbread panzanellas have been floating around in my mind lately.
So I had to do one too.
So I did. And it was good. And so I had the same thing for my next meal. And the next. And the next. And the cornbread was gone in 48 hours and 4 meals. The end.
This recipe is not meant to be eaten as cornbread. It’s purely a salad accompaniment.
Crispy Cornbread (for salad croutons) [vegan, gluten free, dairy free]
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp ghee / Earth Balance
- 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 1/2 cups almond milk + 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Add ghee (or whatever fat you are using) to the baking dish (I used an 8×8”) and then put it in the oven to melt.
Meanwhile, mix cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Combine curdled almond milk with chia seeds and let sit for a few minutes. After >5 minutes combine with dry ingredients.
Remove pan with melted ghee from the oven and maneuver it around in the pan so it coats all the bottom and sides. Then pour in the cornbread mix and bake for 40-45 minutes.
It’ll be crispy and crunchy. Perfect for soaking up salad dressing (but not getting super soggy) and offering a nice textural difference amid the lettuce, tomatoes, and whatever else you fancy in your salads.
What do you like in your panzanella salad?
Raw corn straight from the cob for sure. And heirloom tomatoes. I took a trip to the farmer’s market just for those guys.
The cucumber was from my co-worker’s garden, picked that morning. Talk about fresh! Even though I already bought pumpkin flavored coffee, I am not ready for summer to end!!!
OMG YUM! Croutons are admittedly my favorite part of the salad 😉 and I love cornbread! Thanks for sharing this!
Something about Fall just screams cornbread!! I love to eat it with a swipe of almond butter and pumpkin jam – a Fall twist on pb&j 🙂
This is genius! I LOVE cornbread, so I am sure that it makes for a super delicious salad topping :).
I’m normally not a crouton girl, but this recipe has me intrigued. I love me some cornbread, and I eat a salad every day…adding this to my to-cook list!
I made pumpkin cornbread this weekend and have a bunch of it left, I would never have thought of using cornbread for croutons. My cornbread is pretty moist but i’m sure if I put it in the oven to dry it out some it would be a great salad topping. Thanks for the fun idea.
Yumm! Thanks so much for sharing this. I hadn’t ever considered using cornbread, even though I am obsessed with it, ha ha. Perfect addition to a tasty salad 🙂
totally! toast it and itll be perfect! i think pumpkin cornbread will be next on the recipe list 🙂
This is seriously brilliant!!! Perfect way to make my salad rut a thing of the past. Love how simple this recipe is too.
This looks fantastic and so easy to make! I’d love to make this to crumble on chili
Yum! I definitely need to do this! I can’t believe I never thought of doing this with my southern guy around
mmm cornbread croutons!! super impressive!