Egg Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free Perfect Cornbread Muffins

These cornbread muffins have a perfect texture and mild flavor. They are yummy with soups, stews, chili, or by themselves.

Cornbread Muffins

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup oil

Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the soy milk, applesauce, and oil then mix until just combined. Spoon the mixture evenly into 12 lined and sprayed muffin cups. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Egg Free, Dairy Free Sweet Cornbread

We love our Simple Sweet Cornbread and our Sweet Corn Cake. I wanted to make cornbread to go with our supper and I was out of the Jiffy Cornbread Mix, which is an ingredient in both recipes. This new Sweet Cornbread recipe is still easy to make and very good. It is more of a traditional cornbread that is fluffy and drier than my other two recipes, which is not at all a bad thing depending what texture you want and what you are using the cornbread for. This cornbread was perfect with the chowder I made. The girls liked their cornbread topped with dairy free margarine. I didn't find a need to put it on because I was dipping it in my chowder. This cornbread reminds me of the cornbread my mom used to make with her Chili when I was growing up.

Sweet Cornbread

2 1/2 cups cornmeal
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups soy milk
1/4 cup dairy free margarine, melted
1/4 cup water

Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the soy milk, margarine, and water then mix until thoroughly combined. Pour the mixture evenly into a sprayed 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
*  You can substitute the 9x13 baking dish for two 8x8 baking dishes.

Egg Free, Dairy Free Fried Corn Dogs

We love our Baked Corn Dogs, but I wanted to make a fried corn dog like you see at fairs and amusement parks. They were very good, but they are more time consuming and obviously greasier than the baked version. I made a quadruple batch since the oil was heated, then froze all of the leftovers in freezer Ziploc bags. They reheat well in the microwave, they just loose their crispiness.

Fried Corn Dogs

Oil for frying
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
1 cup soy milk
1 cup flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Approximately 12 hot dogs
Approximately 12 wooden popsicle sticks

Heat the oil in a deep pan until very hot then keep over medium heat. While the oil is warming, whisk the cornstarch and water in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the soy milk. Add the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt then whisk until smooth. Place a popsicle stick into a hot dog, leaving about 1 1/2" of the stick to hold. Roll the hot dogs into the batter, using a spoon or spatula to coat thickly and evenly. Carefully lay 2-4 coated hot dogs in the oil, but be careful not to crowd them. Fry until golden brown, gently turning with tongs to brown evenly. Remove the hot dogs from the oil then allow them to drain on paper towels.
*  Leftovers can be frozen in freezer Ziploc bags. Reheat in the microwave.

Shared with Full Plate Thursday, It's a Keeper Thursday, Tastetastic Thursday, Creative Thursday, Fantastic Thursday, Food on Fridays, Foodie Friday, Weekend Potluck, Check Me Out Saturday, Seasonal Inspiration,, Sweet Saturday, Think Pink Sunday, Church Supper, Sweet and Simple Sunday, Scrumptious Sunday, and Southern Sundays.

Egg Free, Dairy Free Tayana's Baked Empanadas

My girls were watching an old episode of Hannah Montana and Rico was selling empanadas. Tayana loved the way Rico said the word empanada and saying it that way herself, so she just had to have one. Traditional empanadas are made with an egg dough and filled with onions, garlic and other things my husband wouldn't eat. So, Tayana and I brainstormed and came up with our version. We used a cornmeal dough and a ground beef, gravy and diced potato filling. Everyone loved them and Tayana was so excited to say that she ate an empanada. She also had so much fun making the dough and filling. She helped roll out the dough, cut it, fill it and pinch it shut. They took longer than my regular meals, but they were really worth the effort because they were so yummy. Since we loved them so much, next time I'm going to make a triple batch and freeze the leftovers. It won't be much extra work to make the extras and then we have another option in the freezer for lunch.

Tayana's Baked Empanadas

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup dairy free margarine, melted
3/4 cup water
1 lb cooked ground beef
1 can gravy
1 can diced potatoes (or fresh diced and boiled potatoes)

Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Stir in the margarine. Add the water then stir until thoroughly combined. The dough should not be sticky, but it should also not be dry. It should hold together when you form it into a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap then refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, place the ground beef, gravy and potatoes into a saucepan. Cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and meat are tender (10-15 minutes). Allow to cool before using.

On a floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough to about 1/8" thick. Cut the dough into 5-6" circles. (I used a ceramic bowl that was about 5 1/2" across.) Place a good sized amount of the filling (about 2-4 tbsp) on half of the circle. Fold the other half over the filling then pinch to seal. Use fork tines to crimp the edges to make sure the edges stay sealed. Place the empanadas onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Continue until all of the dough is used, re-rolling as needed. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until just golden.

Shared with Savory Sunday, Meatless Mondays, Melt-in-Your-Mouth-Monday, Mouthwatering Monday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Crazy Sweet Tuesday, Trick-or-Treat Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesdays at the Table, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Full Plate Thursday, Frugal Food Thursday, It's a Keeper Thursday, Share the Wealth Wednesday, Foodie Friday, Friday Food, Fabulous Friday, Food on Fridays, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love and Allergy Friendly Fridays.