Vegan cornbread recipe

This vegan cornbread from Heather Saffer is flavoured with coffee making it the perfect afternoon treat or an easy vegan dessert. Vegan cornbread can be just as sweet and moist as traditional cornbread and this recipe really hits the spot.

Explaining how she developed the recipe, Heather reveals: ‘Three weeks after moving to L.A., I decided to get my car detailed (a dog + a month-long cross country road trip = one messy car). That same day, I had the idea of making a cornbread-based coffeecake.

'So, I searched Yelp for a car detailing place that was close to a grocery store. Can you believe I found one inside a parking garage beneath a Trader Joe’s? Los Angeles rocks! I spent three hours wandering around Trader Joe’s, waiting for my car and craving this moist, cinnamon sweet coffeecake cornbread, but boy I’ll tell you, it was well worth the wait.’

Ingredients

For the crumble

• ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons palm shortening, melted (Flora White, Trex or Cookeen)
• ½ cup gluten-free flour

For the cake

• ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
• ½ cup sunflower oil
• ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 (15-ounce) box gluten-free cornbread mix

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray an 8-inch square cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. To make the crumble, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Stir in the melted shortening. Add the flour and mix until a crumbly mixture forms. Refrigerate while you make the cake mixture.
3. To make the cake, mix together the almond milk, oil, and applesauce in a medium bowl. Slowly add the cornbread mix and continue mixing for 2 to 3 minutes. Spread the mixture in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top. Let sit for 10 minutes before placing in the oven.
4. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with moist crumbs attached, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool before serving. Crazy Easy Vegan Desserts by Heather Saffer, published by Sterling (£17.99, available from www.thegmcgroup.com)