From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Want more recipes from Chef Oonagh? Keep an eye out for her column in NFCA’s December 2014 newsletter, hitting inboxes on December 4.

I wanted a more indulgent corn bread. I remember the soft, buttery, cake-like corn breads often served in restaurants that my husband can eat. Sorry, New England-style is sweet. My everyday cornbread has fat-free milk or almond milk, olive oil and liquid egg substitute. Very tasty without the fat calories. This version is just from cornmeal. I find that I like the “grittiness” of Arrowhead Mills cornmeal, (labeled gluten-free). Other friends like coarser or smoother corn meals. Bob’s Red Mill make both. Their version is grittier since it is stone ground, but more nutritious. A coarser corn meal might also make a drier cornbread.

I should remember not to experiment with a recipe when I am busy, with my husband home and back aching. I ended up making these with 5 oz. 10 Tbsp. of butter instead of the 6 Tbsp. I tell you in the recipe. So beyond indulgent to evil! They were very good, but the butter quantity is crazy. So stick with the 6 Tbsp. recipe. It’s still a lot of butter.

Ingredients

Makes 6 mini loaves, a little bigger than 2×4”

• 3 oz. 6 Tbsp. (85g) soft butter or substitute, melted
• 1/3 cup (2+1/2 oz., 70g) sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. (5ml) gluten-free vanilla extract
• 1 cup (5 oz., 145g) labeled gluten-free cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp xanthan gum (They are crumbly without xanthan gum. My husband complained, I didn’t mind.)
• ½ cup (120 ml., 4 fl. oz.) buttermilk (Add 1 tsp. lemon juice to almond milk etc. for dairy-free. In New Hampshire, we can easily buy “real” buttermilk.)
• Pinch of salt
• Maple syrup to finish

Suggested Additions: You can add some chopped jalapeños, cheese, herbs, bits of bacon, red pepper.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease 6 cavity mini loaf pan.
2. Place all ingredients in bowl and beat with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes until creamy and fluffy. If the mixture looks too stiff, add 1-2 Tbsp. more buttermilk.
3. Scoop into greased mini loaf pans and smooth surface.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes until risen and golden brown.
5. Brush tops of warm cornbread with maple syrup. Of course you can also whip some maple syrup into soft butter to serve with cornbread.

Watch me on New Hampshire’s ABC TV on Wednesday, November 19, 2014 for something deliciously gluten-free. On Friday, December 12, 2014, I’ll be making my gluten-free Kahlua tipsy cake at the producer’s request. She doesn’t mind it’s gluten-free, even though she’s a wheat eater.

Chef Oonagh’s son was diagnosed over 5 years ago with no previous symptoms. She has non-celiac gluten sensitivity, but with celiac disease markers, and has cousins with celiac disease. Chef Oonagh is British, has a culinary arts degree, trained in London and Switzerland and lives in New Hampshire. Chef Oonagh will be speaking at the GFAF Expos in Springfield, Massachusetts in October and Dallas, Texas in November. Chef Oonagh has just returned from speaking and teaching gluten-free cooking classes to a support group in Dallas and Fort Worth. ‘Like’ Chef Oonagh at Gluten Free Cooking with Oonagh on FB where she posts links to her recipes, her Delicious Gluten Free cooking cookbook (over 200 pages), appearances on the local ABC station, products, her classes, and where you can meet her when she speaks at conferences nationwide. E-mail at [email protected].