My sweet, golden, cake-like vegan cornbread has been years in the making. No flax eggs, no special egg replacers, just a handful of everyday ingredients that come together in one bowl to make the most tender, moist, perfectly sweet cornbread you’ll ever pull out of the oven.
I originally made a decent cornbread years ago that came in second place at a chili cook-off and honestly, I knew I could do better. It was fine, but fine wasn’t what I was going for. I wanted something spongy and cake-like with a fine crumb like the kind you’d get at a really good bakery. Firm but not dry. Sweet but not heavy. After a lot of testing, this is that recipe.
Since I wanted these cake-like and sweet I would have used cake flour for a more refined texture but since most don’t normally have that on hand we’re adding a little cornstarch to lighten things up and keep with the corn theme. This bakes in a hot oven and they all can vary. I use a convection oven so things tend to bake faster. You can bake this in a 9×9 baking pan and it will bake quicker or an 8×8 and it will take a little longer. You can also bake in a cast iron skillet if preferred or even bake these as muffins!
Why My Recipe Works
The secret weapon here is vegan sour cream. It adds the fat and richness that eggs would normally provide, which means you get a tender, moist crumb without any egg replacer workarounds. Oil is used instead of vegan butter because butter contains water, which can affect texture. A small amount of cornstarch in place of cake flour lightens things up and keeps the crumb fine and delicate.
Baking soda works alongside the baking powder here too, not just for lift, but to help with browning and to balance the acidity of the sour cream. Every ingredient has their job to do.
What do I need to make this?
For the dry ingredients, you’ll need yellow cornmeal, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, and a tablespoon of cornstarch. For the wet ingredients, it’s vegan sour cream, your favorite plant-based milk, and vegetable oil. The optional honey glaze is just vegan butter and agave or vegan honey, and I really recommend not skipping it.
A few notes on ingredients: I prefer a finer yellow cornmeal like Quaker for a cakier texture as coarser grinds will give you a more rustic result. For the sour cream, Follow Your Heart, Kite Hill, Tofutti and Violife all work well. Soy milk is my preference here but any plant-based milk should be fine. The glaze is technically optional but it takes this from great to genuinely unforgettable.
Why You Should Make This Cornbread
There are a lot of vegan cornbread recipes out there and most of them fall into one of two camps. Either they’re dry and crumbly or they lean so hard into egg replacers that the whole thing tastes like a science experiment. This one is neither. It’s legitimately the best cornbread I’ve ever had, vegan or not, and I say that as someone who has been baking for decades and tested this recipe more times than I can count. It’s has an almost perfect five star review rating!
It comes together in one bowl in about 10 minutes of prep. It doesn’t require anything you wouldn’t already have in your pantry. And it produces a result that is so good, so tender, golden, and perfectly sweet, that even non-vegans won’t believe there’s no egg or dairy in it. That’s the bar I always set, and this clears it easily.
If you’ve been disappointed by other vegan cornbread recipes, this is the one that’s going to change your mind.
Try my holiday style Stuffing-Flavored Vegan Cornbread!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Use a standard muffin tin and start checking around the 15-minute mark. They’ll bake faster than a square pan so keep an eye on them. To use a skillet, preheat it in the oven before adding the batter for extra crispy edges. Baking time will be similar to the 9-inch pan.
Follow Your Heart, Kite Hill, Tofutti and Violife all should work well here. I’d avoid anything too thin or watery you want a thick, creamy sour cream for the best texture. A thick unsweetened plain vegan yogurt could also work in a pinch, though I haven’t tested it.
I don’t recommend it, and here’s why. Vegan butter contains water, which affects the texture and can make the cornbread less tender. Stick with a neutral vegetable oil here.
I haven’t tested it with a gluten-free flour blend, so I can’t promise perfect results. If you try it, a 1-to-1 GF flour substitute is your best bet and I’d love to hear how it goes in the comments.
Store covered at room temperature for up to two days or in the fridge for up to five. This also freezes really well so wrap individual squares tightly and reheat in a low oven or microwave when you’re ready.
It’s optional and some might think it makes it too sweet which is valid. The agave or vegan honey soaks into the warm cornbread and adds this subtle floral sweetness that takes it to another level in my opinion but if you prefer less sweet you can totally skip it, but I suggest to at least try it once before you decide.
Yes! Shredded vegan cheddar and sliced jalapeños are a great combination. Frozen corn kernels also work well folded in. Just don’t go overboard as too many mix-ins can weigh down the batter and affect the perfect rise this has.
The Best Sweet Vegan Cornbread (Northern Style)
12
servings10
minutes20
minutesThis is the best rich, sweet & golden northern style vegan cornbread you’ll ever make!
Keep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup plus two tablespoons vegan or organic cane sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
- Wet ingredients
1 cup vegan sour cream (I prefer Tofutti brand, but use your favorite)
1 cup vegan milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
- “Honee” Glaze
2 tablespoons vegan butter
2 tablespoons vegan honey or agave syrup
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Grease or spray a 9×9 or 8×8 square baking pan.
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. In a large bowl whisk all the wet ingredients together. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients gently into the wet just until combined. You don’t want to see any streaks or clumps of flour but you also don’t want to over-mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared greased pan (scraping it all from the bowl) and tap the pan on the counter firmly a few times to even out the batter and remove any large air bubbles then bake for about 18-22 minutes for a 9 inch pan or about 22-24 minutes for an 8 inch pan or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean. The top should be golden brown but don’t over-bake!
- Is using the glaze, melt the vegan butter then whisk in the vegan honey or agave and brush over the warm cornbread letting it all soak in.
- Cool for a few minutes then cut into squares and enjoy. This is best served warm but you can freeze this or store in the fridge and warm up pieces as needed.
Notes
- This recipe can be made as corn muffins, corn sticks or in a cast iron pan. Obviously, cooking time will need to be adjusted for different pan sizes. You can search online for standard baking times for different pan sizes.
- Use your favorite vegan milk. I prefer soy.
- Use your favorite vegan sour cream. You could probably use a thick plain unsweetened vegan yogurt as well but I haven’t tested it.
- I prefer fine yellow cornmeal for cornbread. You can find it in most supermarkets in the baking aisle but coarse should work fine as well.
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Perfect cornbread!! With the cold weather, this is great with soups!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the corn bread! It really does have a perfect texture! Thanks for taking the time to leave such a kind review.
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Delicious! It was soft and sweet but not overly sweet. The best recipe. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! This one took me years to perfect so I’m glad it paid off!
Very easy to make and came out so delicious! My family is picky about cornbread and they loved it. We tried it with and without the glaze and prefer without – found it was overall too sweet with the glaze. Will be making again! Thank you for a great recipe.
So happy you all enjoyed it and love that it got the stamp of approval! I’m very picky too and took a lot of time perfecting this recipe. Thanks again for the kind review!
This cornbread is amazing! It pairs well with a vegan chili.
Thank you and I agree! It’s one of my favorite recipes and so glad you enjoyed it too.