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Gluten-Free Southern Cornbread Dressing

My mom: “Mmmm, this is closer to my mother’s cornbread dressing than anything I have ever tried to make.” (My grandmother never wrote any of her recipes down, so we have had a terrible time trying to replicate the dishes that mean so much to my mom, gluten-free or otherwise. My Aunt Sarah has given me some guidance over the years since she usually helped my grandmother do the cooking).

I had a serious "Whatchu Talkin' 'Bout Willis?" moment!

Me: WHAT!!! “But this is Gluten-Free…”

My mom: “Well, I am not sure what to say other than it is very good.”

Oh, Happy Day!

I have a lot of folks taste test for me.  I cook all day on most days when my boys are in school.  A tweak here, a tweak there…I think it has become an obsession.  Only a mild obsession though, LOL!  There is nothing quite like having gone without for so long, and then figuring it out and finally getting it right.  I do not do well with being told “no”, I never have.  Tell me “no” to something and I become a very determined woman!  For example: I was never a Twinkie fan, but once I knew I could NEVER have one again, (even though I hadn’t had one since I was probably 8 or so) all of a sudden, even a telephone pole looked like a Twinkie! I just had to have one! And only because I “technically” couldn’t! So I made my own.  😉

While most of my taste testers have said they really like my “GF replica” creations, my mom has been my toughest critic to win over.  As she puts it, “I’m just set in my ways.”  I actually appreciate her (at times, painful) honesty, as I always knew she would never spare my feelings and say she liked something if she in fact, did not.  My mom has been my driving force on this little obsession of mine.

My mom’s seal of approval for this cornbread dressing recipe has been the single most rewarding experience of my gluten-free life thus far.

Gluten-Free Southern Cornbread Dressing

I try to do as much as I can ahead of time for big meals like Thanksgiving so I can relax and enjoy the day too!  I will make my cornbread about 4 days ahead of time and let it dry out naturally on a cookie sheet. You can also dry it out in a 250° F. oven if you prefer.

First, you need to make the cornbread. This recipe calls for self-rising cornmeal, so you will need to make some (we are gluten-free after all!).

Gluten-Free Self-Rising Cornmeal

printable recipe

1 cup All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour (I used Tom Sawyer’s GF All-Purpose Flour)

3 cups Gluten-Free Cornmeal **be sure to use a cornmeal that is labeled gluten-free such as Bob’s Redmill or Arrowhead Mills**

2 Tbs. Baking Powder

2 tsp. Salt

1). Mix all ingredients well.

2) Store in an airtight container.

3). Use in any recipe calling for self-rising cornmeal.

Yes, you are reading the following recipe correctly, there is ZERO sugar in this cornbread recipe!  As my mom would say, “No self-respecting southerner puts sugar in their cornbread!” 😀

Gluten-Free Cornbread

printable recipe

1 cup Self-Rising Gluten-Free Cornmeal

3 Tbs. All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour (I used Tom Sawyer’s)

1 Egg, beaten

2/3 cup Buttermilk

1 Tbs. Water

1 Tbs. Shortening, melted  (Spectrum Shortening is my brand of choice)

1). In a bowl, add the self-rising cornmeal and flour. Stir with a whisk to combine.

2). In a separate bowl, add the beaten egg, buttermilk, water and melted shortening or oil. Mix well.

3). Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

4). Preheat oven to 400°F.

5). Grease an 8 or 9-inch baking pan (my grandmother always used a cast iron skillet).

6). Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown and wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Now it’s time to put the dressing together!

Cornbread Dressing

printable recipe

1 batch of Cornbread (see recipe above), crumbled and dried out. **to make this corn-free, try some mock cornbread**

5 slices Ener-g Light Tapioca Loaf, dried in a 250° F. oven for about an hour or so, then broken into small pieces. 

1 cup Onion, diced

1 cup Celery, diced

1/2 cup Butter

1 tsp. Poultry Seasoning (more or less, depending on your taste)

4 Eggs, beaten

1 Tbs. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Sugar (or sweetener of your choice, I like to use honey)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 quart (32-oz.) Chicken Broth or Stock (I use Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock)

1). Preheat oven to 350° F.

2). In a large sauté pan, melt butter then add onions and celery.  Reduce heat and cook until translucent.  Add poultry seasoning to the celery and onion mixture and cook a few minutes longer to allow the flavors to blend.  Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit (so the heat does not scramble the eggs).

3). Meanwhile, in a large bowl, add crumbled cornbread and bread pieces.  Toss to blend.  Add baking powder, sugar, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir to incorporate all of the dry ingredients.

4). In a separate bowl, beat eggs with a fork or whisk.  Add to the bread mixture, stir.

5). Add the cooled sauteed vegetables with poultry seasoning to the bread mixture, stir.

6). Add chicken broth or stock.  You will want this mixture to be soupy and I do mean soupy!  If you do not add enough broth or stock, the cornbread dressing turn out like a brick.  Depending on how dry the weather is here in the desert, I usually end up using 3 1/2 to 4 cups of stock.

7). Bake at 350° F. for 45 minutes to an hour or until the dressing is lightly brown on top and the middle is set (a toothpick should come out clean).  My grandmother would always lay a few pecan halves on top of the dressing before she baked it for a pretty presentation.



Comments

  1. Very impressive!!! We love our cornbread dressing here!

  2. This dressing recipe was THE BEST I've ever had (sorry grandma!) My husband said it was better than his mom's! It's was great, thank you for sharing! I used Bob's Red Mill Cornbread mix instead of making that from scratch but everything else was your directions and it was perfect!

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