This cornbread is the perfect intersection of sweet/savory and fluffy/dense. I’ve been making it for over 5 years, and vegan-izing the recipe barely takes away from it’s deliciousness.

Needless to say, this is likely a necessary component to your vegan or elimination diet Thanksgiving menu. Trust me.

(Original recipe is here: Sage and Honey Skillet Cornbread. I’ve never made it with the fresh sage, because I never have fresh sage handy.)

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt (you might want to add 1/4 tsp salt if you’re using a non-salty fake butter)

1 cup milk alternative (I used Rice Dream Enriched Vanilla Rice Drink, because that’s what I had)

1/2 cup honey (Ok, so honey isn’t strictly vegan. We aren’t vegan here, just on a strict elimination diet. You might want to try Agave Nectar if you don’t eat honey.)

1 1/2 tsp Egg Replacer

2 tbsp warm water

1/2 cup butter alternative — I used Earth Balance Soy Free Spread

Heat your oven to 400 F. Put your cast iron skillet in there.

In a small bowl, fully blend the Egg Replacer with water and set aside.

In a medium to large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. Then, add in the milk alternative, honey, and Egg Replacer concoction.

Carefully take the hot skillet out of the oven. Throw in your butter alternative and let it melt in the hot pan. Poor most of the melted fake butter into the batter; reserve a few tablespoons in the hot skillet.

Mix the melted fake butter into the batter. Then, pour the batter into your skillet.

Bake for 22 minutes. Take out when a fork or toothpick comes out clean.

The crust on the skillet cornbread is slightly chewier than it’d be if we used egg and butter, but I think it’s only noticeable if you are looking for it. I just served up this cornbread to a room full of women; everyone raved about it and not one person suspected that it might be egg and butter free.