It’s that time of the year again when Autumn leaves warm the streets with brilliant hues of amber orange and burgundy red. Which means, it’s also that time of the year for farm-fresh apple pies, apple jams, and everything scrumptiously apple!
This year, rather than making traditional sweets and pastries out of orchard fresh apples, I wanted to explore something more on the savoury end of the spectrum.
While researching recipes to try, I stumbled upon this recipe on Bon Appetit that really caught my eye. The buttery bold flavours of the caramelized onions paired with juicy tart Pink Lady apples straight from the farm. Mmhm! Sounds so good!
I made a couple tweaks to the original recipe to make it free of refined sugars and dairy which makes the cake more moist and dense. If you’re not lactose intolerant or don’t have sensitivities to dairy, feel free to replace the coconut milk with buttermilk instead. Enjoy this little slice of heaven!
- ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 medium red- or pink-skinned apples (such as Pink Lady), thinly sliced
- 5 tablespoons maple syrup, divided
- 3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, divided
- 1½ cups cornmeal
- 1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ cups coconut milk (or buttermilk)
- 1 tsp of lemon juice, this is used to substitute the acidity in buttermilk (skip this ingredient if you are using buttermilk)
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Melt butter and pour all but 2 Tbsp. butter into a small bowl; set aside.
- Add onion to butter in skillet on medium-high heat, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and beginning to brown, around 10 minutes.
- Add apples, 2 Tbsp. maple syrup, and 2 tsp. thyme and cook, stirring often, until apples are softened, about 7 minutes.
- Whisk cornmeal, flour, baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, and remaining 3 Tbsp. maple syrup in a large bowl.
- Gradually whisk in eggs, buttermilk, and ¾ cup reserved melted butter until smooth (no lumps should remain).
- Fold in half of onion mixture and scrape batter into reserved skillet. Top with remaining onion mixture and remaining 1 tsp. thyme.
- Bake cornbread until golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30–40 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.
