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This pumpkin cornbread is a great, easy, vegan side dish for any meal! It’s made with whole wheat pastry flour, coconut oil, and smothered in maple syrup!

I’m obsessed. Obsessed with playing with old recipes and turning them into something new. For example: One Bowl Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread –> Vegan Pumpkin Cornbread.

Eeeek! I love it.

Then again, I pretty much love anything that’s pumpkin flavored, and covered in melty (vegan) butter and sweet, sticky maple syrup.

Yep. I do. And I don’t care who knows it.

My love of food didn’t really start until my freshman year of college. It was the first time that I had 100% control over what I ate and I really wanted to focus on healthy eating.

My problem? I looooooove(d) to bake and while I love sharing my food with others to enjoy, ahem, I’d prefer to just eat it all myself. 😉

I wanted to find a way to enjoy desserts all day, every day. You know what I’m sayin’?

That’s how I stumbled upon Chocolate Covered Katie aka the Healthy Dessert Blog aka exactly what I was looking for. I immediately started trying recipes and was never disappointed.

Years later, I still LOVE playing around with vegan & health-ified baking, so thanks to YOU, Katie, for inspiring me to try vegan baking and create super yummy treats like this easy pumpkin cornbread.

Now. I love cornbread. That’s no secret. Give it to me with a side of chili, warmed up for breakfast, or even cold as a late night snack.

The only thing I care about is that it’s gotta be dense, it’s gotta be slightly corn-y, and it’s gotta be slathered in butter and honey, or in this case, maple syrup, because we’re vegan today.

Like I said, I based this pumpkin cornbread off of my jalapeno cheddar cornbread recipe.

How, you ask?

First, the butter became coconut oil. I have a ginormous jar of coconut oil. I’m crazy for that stuff! You could also use vegetable or canola oil, I’m sure, but I love the health benefits that coconut oil provides.

Then, the buttermilk became almond milk & vinegar. Typically I don’t have buttermilk on hand anyway, so I do this with cow’s milk, too. But to keep this pumpkin cornbread vegan, I chose to use almond milk.

Lastly, the eggs became pumpkin puree. Eggs are typically used to bind and add moisture to a recipe, so pumpkin puree was the perfect (and healthy!) substitute. Plus, hellllooooo, it’s October, so naturally I’m all about pumpkin…all the time.

The result? Ahhhh. Mazing.

This cornbread has a pretty strong pumpkin, kind of earthy flavor that’s outta this world delicious. It’s so moist, dense, and I want am going to eat all. 😉

Now. Don’t forget. There is just one little rule to eating this vegan pumpkin cornbread: it’s gotta be slathered in vegan butter and plenty of maple syrup.

It’s the rule. So do it. 😉

– Jennifer

If you like vegan baking as much as I do, you might also like:

Black Bean Brownies

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins