Today, I’ve got the most DELICIOUS Gluten-free Skillet Cornbread for you. It took me a few tries to get this recipe exactly how I wanted it, and as I’ve found, cooking this cornbread in a skillet is what gives it the best, crispy crust. Pair this easy cornbread with chili, soup or serve as a side with dinner.
If you’ve never had skillet cornbread, you’re in for a real treat!
Adding the cornbread batter into the hot skillet with melted butter or ghee sears the edges of the bread, making the crust perfectly crisp with a wonderful soft and tender center. You never need another cornbread recipe!
Ingredient info & substitutions for my Gluten-free Skillet Cornbread:
Cornmeal: This probably goes without saying, but cornmeal is a must for this recipe. If you don’t tolerate corn, then I’d suggest diving into my recipe index, which includes 100’s of grain-free recipes!
Flour: I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-free Baking Flour for this recipe, and highly recommend it. Cup 4 Cup is another brand that would work well here. While I haven’t tried it for myself, you could most likely use regular flour as well in this recipe. I wouldn’t recommend any grain-free flours, as they’re super tricky to work with and often take a combination of using two or more to make a recipe work.
Coconut sugar: While I haven’t tried it myself just yet, you can typically substitute any dry sugar for the equal amount of another dry sugar. Maple sugar, date sugar or white sugar would be the best options, in my opinion. Leaving the sugar out altogether might work as well – I’d love to hear how it turns out if you end up trying this!
Egg: I haven’t tried any egg substitutes out for myself in this recipe, but if you try one out for yourself, I’d love to hear how it works!
Milk: You can use any milk or milk substitute that you’d like here. I used Almond Milk (Malk Brand).
Butter: I use Kerrygold butter for many of my recipes. My preferred substitute for butter would be ghee (4th & Heart is my favorite brand), as the flavor is really amazing. Ghee is simply clarified butter, aka the milk solids have been removed from the butter, making it something that many tolerate, even if they don’t do well with dairy. If you aren’t able to tolerate ghee/don’t have it on hand, then you could substitute coconut oil, just know that the flavor of the cornbread will change.
Don’t have a cast iron skillet?
Cast Iron: While I LOVE the crust that comes only from cooking this in a cast iron skillet, this can also easily be made in a 8”x8” baking dish. Simply melt the butter into the dish and bake as called for in the directions below.
How to make skillet cornbread:
This skillet cornbread is super quick and easy to whip up. Grab all of your ingredients and let’s bake some cornbread!
- First things first, preheat your oven and then whisk together cornmeal, 1 to 1 gluten-free flour, coconut sugar, baking powder and sea salt in a medium-sized bowl.
- Combine the egg, milk and ¼ cup of the melted (and cooled) butter in a separate bowl and stir well to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
- Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter or ghee in a 10”cast iron over medium heat. Once melted and hot, pour the batter into the cast iron and cook on the stovetop for one minute.
- Place the cast iron into your oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Be careful not to overcook the cornbread, as this will cause it to dry out. ENJOY!
Tips for making cornbread:
This skillet cornbread recipe is pretty much foolproof, but here are a few tips to make sure your cornbread bakes up perfect every time!
- For best results, make sure that your baking powder is fresh! It loses potency over time. When I open a new can, I always write the date on the lid with a sharpie. Discard the opened can after 6 months.
- Check your cornmeal for rancidity before baking. Rancid cornmeal will smell stale and musty; good cornmeal will have a sweeter smell.
- Watch your cornbread closely while it’s baking. Overcooked cornbread can become dry and crumbly.
- This cornbread is amazing served with honey butter. I make my own honey butter simply by combining equal parts softened butter with honey (For example: 2 tablespoons butter mixed with 2 tablespoons honey). So good!
Serve skillet cornbread with these favorites:
This skillet cornbread pairs perfectly with chili and soup! The spice from chili is the perfect complement to the sweetness of cornbread.
Gluten-free Skillet Cornbread
Ingredients
- ¾ cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 ¼ cup 1 to 1 gluten-free flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup plus two tablespoons melted butter or ghee, divided
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Place the cornmeal, 1 to 1 gluten-free flour, coconut sugar, baking powder and sea salt into a medium sized bowl, and stir well to combine, using a whisk or fork.
- Combine the egg, milk and ¼ cup of the melted (and cooled) butter in a separate bowl and stir well to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
- Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter or ghee in a 10”cast iron over medium heat. Once melted and hot, pour the batter into the cast iron and cook on the stovetop for one minute.
- Place the cast iron into your oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Be careful not to overcook the cornbread, as this will cause it to dry out. ENJOY!