Cornbread

"Cornbread" (page 401) is one of my favorite quick breads. It is a wonderful accompaniment to bean dishes, is lovely warm out of the oven with a drizzle of pure maple syrup, and is a great take-along on hikes when you need a snack to hold you until lunch. Since I switched to oil-free baking, perfecting cornbread has been a challenge, and the end product is often too dry, too crumbly, or both. However, I was happily surprised when this particular recipe yielded a moist and tender loaf that restored my faith in achieving a (more than!) acceptable oil-free cornbread. This is a basic recipe consisting of cornmeal and flour, curdled soymilk (using vinegar to create "buttermilk"), a small amount of sugar, and leavened with baking powder. The recipe also calls for ¼ cup of oil, but I replaced this with ½ cup unsweetened applesauce. I have discovered recently that when replacing the oil with applesauce or banana, more is better. So, if the recipe calls for ¼ cup oil, I'll up the amount of applesauce or banana to ½ cup. This has made a positive difference in the final outcome of my oil-free baking, as well as being careful not to over-bake (something I had not been as attentive to in the past). Try this recipe the oil free way, and see if you don't find it as delicious as I did!

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

• Use whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose (white) flour.
• Substitute ½ cup of applesauce for the ¼ cup of oil.