Cornbread has indeed saved the world. Not just a staple of the South, where cornbread is religion and the daily bread part of every important occasion; corn and cornbread has sustained folks around the world.
Cornbread: a Staple of America
Cornbread was especially significant in the New World where indigenous Native Americans shared their ways with the starving colonists and helped to shape and flavor the regional cornbreads of America. Whether skillet-baked buttermilk Southern cornbread, sweet cake-like Northern cornbread, and chile-spiced, smoky Southwestern cornbread – cornbread remains a vital component of regional fare.
In our house, cornbread is King. Growing up in Northwest Arkansas, I brought my religion with me, as many before me have. Cornbread is the first thing College Girl requests when she comes home and it was one of the first foods I absolutely had to find a way to make without baking powder when Don was put on a very restricted sodium diet.
Low Sodium Cornbread
Why no baking powder? Surprising to us, and to many who are watching their sodium intake, bread is one of The Salty Six. Not only is most bread highly processed with salt added for flavor and a preservative, but a component of nearly every baked good is baking soda or baking powder – baking soda has an astounding 150 mg. of sodium per 1/8th teaspoon and baking powder 55 mg. per 1/8 teaspoon. The labeling verges on deceptive because when do you use only 1/8 of a teaspoon? When you do the math, that is 1,200 and 440 mg of sodium per teaspoon respectively! Check the label.
History of Cornbread
But, back to cornbread and its place in food history. You can find cornbread brethren in Mexico as pan de elote; arepas; in Columbia and Latin America; and humitas in Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia. New World corn spread to Old World Europe – broa, a yeast-risen dense cornbread, served with caldo verde in Portugal, and more of a cornmeal mush in Italy’s polenta in Italy and Romanian mamaliga. The path of corn around the world is as intriguing as tales of spice traders, and no one tells it better than passionate author Crescent Dragonwagon who spent six years following the cornbread trail from the Green Mountains to the Ozarks, to Latin America, Asia, and beyond researching and writing The Cornbread Gospels.
“No other single food has been the subject of more passionate discussion, on and off the record, than cornbread. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, and Mark Twain are just a few of those who wrote heatedly about cornbread. No other single food has more purely American historical and cultural connections, from the worship of Mother Corn, the Corn Goddess, by Native Americans, to the survival of the Pilgrims, … to its darker history, that of a staple food to those once enslaved in this country.”
Cast Iron Cornbread is the Best
Usually, I bake cornbread in my cast iron skillet and it makes a nice homespun presentation. But, I also like to serve it in my brick red apple casserole dish because I get to eat the little crunchy “stem” piece. College Girl always liked the puffy centerpieces, I adore the crunchy edges, and Don is an equal opportunity cornbread eater.
Cornbread is a given when I cook Southern dishes like beans, my un-fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, pulled pork and, of course, chili and ribs. Over the years I tweaked my cornbread recipe to be a little less caloric by substituting 1% milk for whole milk and sunflower oil for butter or bacon fat. Now, with the help of Hain Featherweight Sodium-Free Baking Powder (yes, there is such a thing – it contains potassium in lieu of sodium) and no added salt, it also has nearly zero sodium (milk has a little). Some people like sweet cornbread – we’re not one of those people – there is only a scant 1/4 cup of sugar for just a touch of sweetness.
Low Sodium Cornbread Recipe – Family Tested and Approved
- 1 c. unbleached flour
- 1 c. medium-grind cornmeal
- ¼ c. sugar
- 3 teaspoons Hain Featherweight No-Sodium baking powder*
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- ¼ c. sunflower or canola oil
- 1⅓ c. 1% lowfat milk
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Preheat oven to 425° degrees F.
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Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
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Blend in the beaten egg, milk and oil.
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Pour into a baking dish sprayed lightly with oil. Bake for 20 minutes.
* I buy Hain's Featherweight No-Sodium Baking Powder on Amazon, you can buy it via She's Cookin's Amazon Affiliate store https://www.amazon.com/shop/shescookin, at no additional cost to you. Nutritional Analysis via MyFitnessPal.com
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I love cornbread too. So glad you were able to make a heart healthy variation!
Thanks, Laura! It took a bit of doing, but definitely worth it 🙂
I hadn’t ever thought about the sodium in baking powder and baking soda. Thanks for the education!
I just made this cornbread today. It’s super yummy – and fluffy! Perfect amount of sweetness.
I think so too! Thanks for letting me know that the recipe worked for you 🙂
Now, work on a recipe with no milk. I’m lactose intolerant and I really like cornbread. Could you make it with almond milk and cut down a little on the sugar?
Hi Julie – My daughter is lactose intolerant and has no issues with this cornbread. But, I’ll give it a shot with almond milk. I don’t use full fat milk, so I think almond milk will work – you should give it a try! Thanks for visiting 🙂
Hi, just made this today using unsweetened coconut milk, and monk sweetner – 2 tablespoon instead of sugar. It was great!
I’ve never used monk sweetener! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment – I really appreciate hearing from readers who make and enjoy my recipes :))
Monk sweetner brand is Norbu, I also use Natvia – stevia sweetner.
I came across your recipe looking for low sodium recipes. The sodium you have listed seemed a little high for what’s in it, so I ran it through myfitnesspal.com. The only changes I made was using 2%milk instead of 1%. Their calculations came up with 33mg of sodium/serving.
You are absolutely right! I think the analysis that I use was calculating the Featherweight as regular baking powder, when I took it out the sodium came down to 23 mg. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
The Featherweight No Sodium Baking Powder, the store brand Bread and Butter Pickles I eat, the Heinze No-Salt Ketchup all DO have potassium chloride. Do you know the risks of consuming that? I’m suspicious that it may be just as bad as sodium chloride for CHD and other conditions that require a low sodium diet.
Hi Katherine – Excellent question, but I don’t know the answer and would have to ask an expert. However, we have never had a cardiologist tell us that the potassium in low sodium products is harmful.
Great recipe! I made a few changes: 1/2 cup whole wheat + 1/2 cup white flour; 1/4 cup honey instead of sugar; and just 2tsp baking powder (regular – didn’t have sodium free). loved it!
Great! I’m glad you like it and thanks for letting me know 🙂 It has to be sodium-free for us, but regular baking powder definitely works!
Does the floor and cornmeal noir have sodium in it.
Hi Ronda – flour and cornmeal are sodium free in their pure form, but flour mixes such as pancake, biscuit, cake mixes etc. do contain sodium as the baking powder and/or baking soda are added for your convenience.
So happy to have found your website. I am new to low sodium cooking so your recipes are a life saver.
Glad to be of help, Kathy. It takes time to adjust your taste buds because we are so conditioned to sugar and salt in our food, but soon you’ll notice how ingredients can be flavorful on their own. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
I have tried using the no-sodium baking powder in cornbread and also in zucchini bread. For some reason nothing raises properly and the middle does not get done properly. I am open to suggestions to what is causing this. I have tried the EnerG baking soda for a sodium reduction but it doesn’t work either. I have also tried using cream of tartar but that has not made a difference. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you
Hi, Jeanne – I’m have used Hain Featherweight in cornbread for years with great results – the cornbread photos here show how much it rises. The things that could possibly contribute to the bread not rising and not being done in the center are: your oven is not heating to the full 425 degrees – use a meat thermometer or similar to see if your oven is heating to the correct temperature; altitude – not sure where you live, but altitude affects baking; or the product is old. Also, are you using coarse-grain cornmeal? It is heavier than medium-ground and may take longer to bake and doesn’t allow as much rising. Hope this helps!
Hi …. with respect to the earlier question regarding using potassium chloride as a salt substitute …. I have congestive heart failure and took a product called NO SALT which is sold as a salt susitute to my cardiologist as he wanted me to reduce my salt intake …… he said salt (sodium chloride) and potassium chloride are both salts and equally dangerous for sodium restricted diets. I made your recipe using the no sodium baking powder and didn’t add any salt. I did add a little brown sugar as I do like a sweet cornbread.
Hi Mike – thank you for taking time to leave a comment and share what your cardiologist told you about potassium chloride. And that you made the cornbread – I prefer a little sweetness, too 🙂
What size pan? 13×9 or 8 inch square?
Hi Cindy – I use an 8×8 square. And good question – I’ll update the recipe notes to reflect this.
Let’s make this recipe much healthier, Leave Out The Sugar. As a 60 year old southerner who has eaten cornbread at least once nearly every week of my life I know whereof I speak. If you are making corn cake put in all the sugar you want, but cornbread should never ever have more than 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Enjoy the corn flavor without unnecessary ingredients.
Thank you for your comment. I also grew up in the South and am familiar with no-sugar cornbread, this recipe has minimal sugar and it boils down to personal preference actually. Any recipe is subject to adaptation.
I miss my biscuits and cornbread being on a low sodium diet, and these sound great. I was wondering when she show the sodium content is that from the butter and milk that you use or would I have to count that in also.. I use the land of lakes Butter with Olive Oil
Hi – Yes, we sorely missed having biscuits, and cornbread especially, and it was paramount to my family that I come up with a recipe that tasted good and was low in sodium! The sodium content is calculated on My Fitness Pal and takes into account all of the ingredients.
Thank You, I know I feel confident in making these now.