I cannot leave you with a recipe for chili, and not give you some cornbread to go with it.
A piece of crusty cornbread, a warm bowl of chili, a crisp kale salad, and a really good magazine .... the perfect way to spend a chilly saturday afternoon.
There is also no better way to feed a large group of hungry friends on football sunday. A quick batch of cornbread and big pot of chili, and you’re happily feasting.
There are a few things I look for in a cornbread to consider it really good:
1 – a crusty top layer
2 – a moist inner layer
3 – not so crumbly (you know, the kind that you can barley eat because it crumbles to bits)
bonus – super yummy things to flavor it like chilies and herbs.
double bonus – vegan or gluten-free (without knowing the difference).
So if I am going to post a recipe for cornbread, you know it has to pass this test. In case you’re wondering, this cornbread scored 120% (extra 10% for the chilies and rosemary + 10 more % for being gluten-free).
When I started working on this, the first and only blog I consulted was gluten-free girl. Shauna sure does know her stuff. Her recipe for gluten-free cornbread is flawless and absolutely delicious. I did make just a few tweaks. I know that not everyone is as ambitious as she is to make their own GF flour (ahem, me) but she does include an awesome video how to do it if you are interested. I also include a milk-free option because even though whole milk does do a wonderful job, it is not an ingredient I typically use. Lastly, I used maple syrup as a sweetener which is not only better for you than white sugar, it compliments this recipe so well. And of course I threw in some extra yummy things like rosemary and serrano chilies. Killer cornbread is born.