Guest Post: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Maple Cornbread Baked Bean Casserole

 Cooking Tool of the Month – Casserole Dish

I’ve been a big fan of Amanda’s blog Pickles & Honey for a while, so I was ecstatic when she agreed to do a guest post for casserole month. Coming from the south I love me some baked beans. I ate them out of a can as a kid on the regular. But now that I’m all grown up and eating healthy making them from scratch is where it’s at! If you love cornbread and baked beans as much as me you are going to flip for this Gluten-Free Pumpkin Maple Cornbread Baked Bean Casserole!   

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Maple Cornbread Baked Bean Casserole by Amanda

Casseroles are one of those dishes that I frequently seem to overlook. The fact that I immediately think of recipes like heavy green bean casserole or the often-iffy corn pudding certainly doesn’t help, but a lot of the time, I find myself getting into food ruts with things like hummus and salads. They’re easy and require very little planning.

However, when life gets really busy, casseroles definitely have the edge. Sure, it takes a little time to assemble and bake them, but in my mind, casseroles = leftovers. And if you cook in bulk like I tend to do on Sundays, this means satisfying, grab-and-go lunches for the entire week. As an added bonus, it also means minimal dish-washing, which is always a nice perk.

My husband is borderline-obsessed with my homemade baked beans. You would think he would choose something like cookies or donuts over beans, but at least every other week he not-so-subtly hints that he wants me to make them. I also happen to like baked beans, so it works out just fine, but even more so than baked beans, I love cornbread.

Cornbread was the first recipe I posted when I started my blog a little over a year ago, and since then I’ve developed a gluten-free variation that’s my current go-to recipe. I actually prefer the texture of the gluten-free cornbread, and I’ve been thinking about creating a seasonal pumpkin maple version since my yearly obsession with all things pumpkin began in September.

When Christy asked me if I’d be interested in doing a post for her Cooking Tool of the Month, my mind immediately went to a cornbread baked bean casserole. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before (maybe because I was too busy eating hummus?), but it makes perfect sense. You save time, minimize dirty dishes, and for me, it was the perfect excuse to bake that pumpkin maple cornbread I’ve been dreaming up for months.

This casserole is vegan comfort food at its finest. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Pumpkin Maple Cornbread Baked Bean Casserole (Gluten-Free)

Casserole Dish: 9 x 11 x 3 inches

Yield: 10 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

For the Baked Beans:

1 Large Onion (Red or Sweet)

3/4 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 1/2 Cups Cooked Navy Beans (about 3 cans, drained and rinsed)

1/2 Cup + 1 Tablespoon BBQ Sauce

1/4 Cup Blackstrap Molasses

1/3 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 Cup Pure Maple Syrup

3 Tablespoons Whole Grain Dijon Mustard

3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

2 Teaspoons Liquid Smoke (optional)

Coconut Oil for greasing the casserole dish

For the Cornbread:

3 flax eggs (3 Tablespoons Ground flax, 1/2 Cup + 1 Tablespoon Warm Water)

3/4 Cup Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour

3/4 Cup Garbanzo Bean Flour

1 1/2 Cups Finely Ground Cornmeal

1 1/2 Tablespoons Baking Powder

1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 1/2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

1 1/4 Teaspoons Xanthan Gum

1 1/4 Teaspoons Fine Sea Salt

1 1/2 Cups Non-Dairy Milk (I used Unsweetened Almond Milk)

1/3 Cup Pure Maple Syrup

3/4 Cup Canned Pumpkin

Instructions:

Prepare the baked beans by heating the olive oil in a large pot on the stovetop over medium heat. While the oil is heating, chop the onion. Add the onion to the pot and cook until soft (about 5 minutes). Add the navy beans, BBQ sauce, molasses, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, tomato paste, and liquid smoke (if using). Stir everything to combine and bring the ingredients to a low simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Lightly grease the casserole dish with coconut oil, and then transfer the baked beans to the dish. Set the beans aside while you prepare the cornbread mixture, and pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Combine the ground flax seeds and water to make ‘flax eggs’. Stir and set aside for a couple of minutes to thicken. In a large bowl, combine the gluten-free all-purpose flour, garbanzo bean flour, cornmeal, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, xanthan gum, and sea salt. Add the ‘flax eggs’, non-dairy milk, maple syrup, and pumpkin to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. The batter should be thick. Spread the batter over the baked beans and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cornbread comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly and serve!

Notes:

For the baked beans, I used Annie’s Naturals Organic Smoky Maple BBQ Sauce. I love the flavor and the fact that it uses brown rice syrup as the main sweetener rather than white or brown sugar.

The cornbread batter is thick, so I found that it was easier to spread over the baked beans using an ice cream scoop. I dropped dollops of the mixture across the beans and then used a spatula to smooth it into an even layer.

Once baked, the cornbread layer is relatively thick. I personally like a higher ratio of cornbread to baked beans, but feel free to adjust the proportions to suit your taste.

The cornbread will absorb some of the sauce from the baked beans over time. I liked this dish best immediately after I prepared it, but the leftovers were still very good. The cornbread softened a bit after re-heating; however, it still retained a great texture.

 

Amanda is a twenty-something Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Manager turned food blogger living just outside of Boston. She spent the last 5 years working a 9-5, climbing the corporate ladder…and then she got completely burnt out. She moved 3,000+ miles from Boston to San Francisco and then back again, learning more about herself in that year than she had in the previous four, and trading her fears for motivation to create the life she wants.

In the last year, Amanda quit her 9-5, leaving safe, but stagnant to pursue what she loves – writing, specifically about healthy, vegan food.

Amanda blogs at Pickles & Honey and can also be found on Twitter.

November Recipes:

Fall Mexican Casserole

Lentil Shepherd’s Pie by Allison