Southern Pumpkin Cornbread (Vegan) with Maple Cinnamon Butter

Oct 12, 2017
4 min read

Fall is officially here! YAY!! Are you as excited as I am to embrace this year's crisp and colorful season? I must say that living out here in L.A., I don't get to see as much of the leaves change as I once did growing up in New Orleans and especially during doctoral years in Northwest AR. But one thing I get to experience no matter where I'm living is PUMPKIN SEASON!!! And if you've been following me via social media or know me well, you know I'm a total pumpkin freak! Ha! So as a tribute to the start of fall, along with my own nostalgic memories of growing up in the comfort of the south, I figured why not marry my two loves into something that's reminiscent of both: Pumpkin Cornbread!

I'm so excited to share my pumpkin cornbread with you because I got the chance to share my cornbread at last week at a BBQ with my neighbors and friends from Australia and England. These guys are anything but vegans and strongly claim they will never be, ha! Their jaws dropped when I told them it was actually vegan... Pretty awesome, right?! They can actually feel good about indulging :-)

I developed this recipe to capture the warm and earthy comfort of the fall season. I also created it to have a denser texture, by combining Red Mill's medium grind cornmeal with Red Mill's whole wheat pastry flour, compared to my lighter Classic Homestyle Cornbread recipe because I wanted to capture the heartiness of the fall. I prefer the medium grind cornmeal simply because I actually like seeing the cornmeal in my cornbread personally. Using the whole wheat pastry flour does two things, it bumps up the fiber content along with allowing you not to over-mix the batter (which makes the cornbread tough if you accidentally over-mix when using All Purpose flour). To incorporate the sweet nuttiness of the season, I chose organic coconut sugar with because of the molasses which I feel captures those earthly undertones of the season.

Can you smell the warmth of this pumpkin cornbread??

I'm all about flavor, color and texture. So to add a bit of crunch to the pumpkin cornbread, I sprinkled raw pumpkin seeds to add texture to every bite. And of course coming from the south, folks always expect to have butter to go with their cornbread. I can't disappoint folks... so I whipped up some maple cinnamon butter (vegan) to top off this wonderful pumpkin cornbread delight. How bad can that be?...

Your turn!

What are your fall treats must-haves? Of course pumpkin everything sounds good to me--from savory to sweet dishes, I've never met anything pumpkin I didn't like... But for fall, my must-haves would definitely include (but are not limited too, haha!) pumpkin spice almond lattes (thanks to Starbucks for introducing that cozy treat to my world), pumpkin pie (of course), cranberry orange scones, and coconut milk hot chocolate! Oh yeah, and apple cider...definitely apple cider for sure.

What about you? Let me know your favorites in the comment section below, and I'll see if I can make them happen this fall! Also, let me know how your pumpkin cornbread with maple cinnamon butter turns out after trying this recipe in the comment box below. I'd love to hear from you!

Don't forget to follow @naturestrusts via Instagram and like NT via FB by using the links provided below. Tag me with pictures of your own version of pumpkin cornbread w/ maple cinnamon butter via NT Instagram and FB page because I'd love to see your creation and perhaps even share via NT social media as well!

SOUTHERN PUMPKIN CORNBREAD (VEGAN)

W/ MAPLE CINNAMON BUTTER

Ingredients

time 45 m servs 8

Pumpkin Cornbread

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 cup medium grind cornmeal

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spic e

4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup coconut sugar 3 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from your can of garbanzo beans)

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Maple Cinnamon Butter

1 stick or 12 tablespoons salted vegan butter

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1-2 tablespoons grade A maple syrup (depending upon your sweetness preference)

Directions

prep 20 m bake 20-25 m ready in 45 m

For the cornbread:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a cup, add the vinegar to the almond milk and let sit for about 5 minutes on the side to make the homemade vegan buttermilk.

2. Then, using a mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, pumpkin pie spice and baking powder. In another separate mixing bowl, add the sugar, pumpkin puree, coconut oil, buttermilk and aquafaba. Whisk together, then add the wet ingredients to your dry ingredients.

3. Spray your 10" cast iron skillet (using the skillet allows for a nice crust on the outside of the cornbread) with non-stick cooking spray and pour the batter into the pan. Spread the batter into an even layer, bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted in the center comes out free of batter, about 20 - 25 minutes. Cool slightly before spreading the maple syrup on top and sprinkling with pumpkin seeds. Cut into triangles and serve with the Maple Cinnamon Butter.

For the maple cinnamon butter:

1. In a mixing bowl (or using a standing mixer), whip butter with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Add in the maple syrup and ground cinnamon and mix on low until you have a smooth consistency, about 1 - 2 minutes.

Here are products used in this recipe you can conveniently purchase: