Chipotle-'Bacon' Corn Bread

Chipotle chiles and vegan bacon add an interesting kick to regular corn bread!

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal, 3 tablespoons raw sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 tsp. ground cumin and 1/4 tsp. baking soda. Set aside.

For the wet ingredients, you need to make a few vegan versions of some very non-vegan things:
foremost among them, make 1 and 1/3 cups 'buttermilk' by pouring 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice into a measuring cup, then filling with plain soy milk (such as Silk) to equal 1 and 1/3 cups. Let stand 5 minutes to clabber (sour) the mixture.

Combine the 'buttermilk' in a bowl with 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter (such as Earth Balance), 1 and 1/2 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (about 2 chiles), and the equivalent of one egg using egg replacer (such as Ener-G).

Don't forget you can store the rest of the chiles from the can in individual servings in an ice-cube tray in the freezer!

Add the 'buttermilk' mixture to the flour mixture and stir until moist - I actually would have characterized my batter as more than moist, nearly wet, but it set just fine during baking. Fold in 3 cooked and crumbled vegan bacon slices (such as Light Life) - cook them about a minute longer than package directions, so they are nice and crispy.

Pour the batter into an 8x8-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray and bake at 425 degrees for 18 minutes - a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then cut into 9 squares. Each serving is 170 calories.

Cost:
plain soy milk $2.49
vegan bacon $2.50