Opera Singer in the Kitchen: Vegan Cranberry Orange Cornbread

I am so happy to be posting a recipe. I have been taking photos of recipes and not had time to post. Anyone else having that problem? Oh, wait, maybe because I am trying to get through my to-do lists and preparing for baby #2. Hee hee.

Despite the lack of recipes being posted on my website I have indeed been baking. I have had plenty of energy to continue cooking and baking. My hubby likes that.

When I received my weekly email from Panera, I noticed a delicious recipe that I knew I had to make. We have a mill near where we live that ground up some nice cornmeal in the late fall when I went to one of the farmer's market located there.

I had already made 2 cornbread recipes that were savory and that came out super delicious. I do not know what it was about this cornmeal but it was so moist and it made for great meals. I could not wait to make this sweet bread.

For some reason it has been easy to locate recipes for ingredients I KNOW I have on hand. Even though I had the hubby try to use items in the fridge before we left for the holidays it was quite impossible for him to finish all the produce.

What produce lasts 3 weeks you ask? Well I still had oranges, fresh cranberries and apples so I knew I could make this bread. It was very quick to prepare and as it baked it made the whole house smell SO wonderful! No need for a candle.

How was the finished product? Well, even though I did not quite know what the original recipe tasted like, the veganized version sure tasted delicious. The husband approved and my neighbor approved too.

I happened to run out of soy sauce that same afternoon and so they let me borrow some of their soy sauce. I, in exchange, gave them half of this loaf, seeing it only made 1 loaf, and my neighbor texted me later ASKING me to send her the recipe. SCORE! Always a good sign eh?

Feel free to make the original recipe but I assure you that the vegan version will not disappoint. I need to go and make more now. :-)

Vegan Cranberry Orange Cornbread

by Noelle Kelly

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients (1 loaf (8x4-inch loaf))

1 navel orange
2 flax seed "eggs" or 2 regular eggs
2 Tbsp ground flax seed meal plus 6 Tbsp warm water
1/2 cup So Delicious original coconut milk + 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (to make buttermilk)
or use regular buttermilk
1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal (stone-ground is best)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup fresh cranberries

Instructions

Heat oven to 375ºF. Coat an 8-inch-by-4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

Grate zest from the orange into a large bowl. Cut the orange in half and squeeze in all of the juice. Whisk in flax seed "eggs", vegan buttermilk, oil, sugar, brown sugar, and salt until blended.

Stir together cornmeal, flour, baking powder and cranberries, and add them to the wet ingredients, stirring just until batter is thoroughly mixed.

Spoon into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

Cool on a rack.

Eat with cranberry chutney. (Optional)