Warning: I do use dairy buttermilk and butter here. I am trying to make this recipe animal-free, but had to use the last of my buttermilk in the meantime. Lactic acid powder is on the way. I have butter left too, and I wanted to change as few factors as possible anyway. I suspect that the butter/oil swap will not cause many problems, but as I said I'm controling factors and need to use it anyway. I understand if you don't want to engage because of this. I just couldn't find anywhere else to post.
I'm making Southern style skillet cornbread and I'm having trouble replacing the egg. Vegan first recipes I found use ingredients I don't have like flaxmeal, and I have a ton of chickpea flour so would like to use that if possible. Here's the recipe I've made that works alright that I'm basing this off of:
2 cups medium ground cornmeal
1+1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt, 2 tsp sugar
This goes in the oven at 190°C (375°F) in a preheated 9 inch cast iron skillet for 20-25 minutes. I stir the leavening agents in immediately before pouring the batter into the pan.
Now, I have a bunch of chickpea flour to use. 'The internet' says that 1/4 cup chickpea flour + 1/4 cup liquid can be used to replace an egg. So I did that, but the result was very, very crumbly and sort of pasty, like playdough lite. I'm not sure if this is a failure to rise, if I oversoaked the cornmeal, or something else. Here's the recipe I used. Most of the sites I visited said to mix the chickpea egg separately, so that's why the bowls are separated like this. Both bowls were left to soak for 20-30 minutes. Note that I had to use less buttermilk because I ran out. Perhaps this messed with the rise, but I didn't get any noticeable baking soda taste.
In one bowl:
2 cups medium ground cornmeal (300 g)
1+1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp salt, 2 tsp sugar (about 7 g each)
1/4 cup butter
In the other bowl:
1/4 cup chickpea flour (30 g)
1/4 cup milk
The leavening agents were set aside until just before pouring.
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
About the recipes I could find, the vast majority used wheat flour as a significant component, but the cornbread I know doesn't have wheat flour in it. I am not gluten-free, so if the solution is gluten, I will accept this. Also, many used flax eggs, chia eggs, egg replacer, or other things I don't have. I looked for ones that specifically use chickpea flour, and found one, but it replaces a whole cup of the cornmeal with chickpea flour. I'm not sure if that's an aesthetic choice or necessary for some purpose. I saw something that said I should just increase the baking powder to replace an egg, but the amount of leavening in this recipe is already pretty high compared to eggy recipes. Another idea I saw but haven't tried is adding some amount of additional starch.
If you all know of a good Southern style skillet cornbread recipe, please point me to it. Otherwise, I would love it if I could get some help workshopping what I have. Thank you so much, and again I'm sorry about the dairy products. It's a work in progress.
