Makes 15 two-inch Johnnycakes (serves 4)
Time: 30 minutes
Somewhere between cornbread and pancake lies Johnnycake! To be honest, my knowledge of Johnnycakes is limited to Little House and the Prairie and The Sopranos, but the two always made me crave these rugged crunchy corn cakes and so after years of yearning, I felt qualified to come up with a recipe.
These pancakes were supposed to have been eaten on the American frontier, when supplies were limited. But I’m not going for a perfect historical representation — I added some fresh corn and brought everything together in the blender. The resulting cakes are at once tender and crunchy and have a rich, salty corn flavor that’s so satisfying drenched in some maple syrup. Oh, and because they’re 100% cornmeal, they contain no gluten!
You absolutely need a really well seasoned cast iron pan or something non-stick because corn likes to stick! If using cast iron, also lightly spray a metal spatula for flipping.
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen (thawed if frozen)
1 cup plain almond milk
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Spray oil
In a blender, pulse the corn and almond milk around 5 times, just to get the corn a bit chopped up. Add all remaining ingredients and blend for about 5 seconds, or until combined. There should still be chunky pieces of corn left.
Let the batter rest for around 10 minutes, and in the meantime, preheat a well-seasoned cast iron pan over medium heat. If using non-stick, you only need to preheat 3 minutes or so.
Spray the pan with oil and use ¼ cup measuring cup (or ice cream scoop) to ladle out three johnnycakes. Cook for about 3 minutes, the underside should be crisp and browned, the top still wet. Flip the cakes (spraying the pan as you lift each cake) and cook until crisp and flecked with brown.
Keep finished Johnnycakes on a plate covered with tinfoil as you prepare the rest. Serve with pure maple syrup and a few blueberries if you have them.
So this recipe is probably not the best for a bullet type blender were the gasses from the sodas can’t escape. my kitchen and I are now covered in cornmeal, lol.
Thank you sooo much for this recipe!! I was craving something yummy, yet low fat, and this recipe had me at hello! 😉 They turned out perfectly! Just had them for brunch <3
awesome recipe, they came out perfect! only thing was that mine only yielded 9 pancakes (and yes, I also used a 1/4 c scoop.) no biggie, next ime I’ll be sure to make a double batch! deLISH! thank you :o)
So when I first made these, I didn’t have a lot of corn meal, so I used more flour than corn meal (and fresh corn). They came out great, but I’ve made them a couple times since, each time increasing the ratio of corn-wheat flour.
They are still good, but this time I did 1 c corn meal and 1/2 c whole wheat flour. They flipped fine, but came out a little dry and crumbly. They want to break apart / crumble in the middle when you cut them with a fork.
So my question is: it this the way actual ‘corn cakes’ are supposed to be? or is it because of the whole wheat flour? If I go 100% corn meal, will they be even more crumbly? I have some friends visiting soon, one of which is gluten free. So I want to make them 100% corn. But I liked them better then they were more moist and less crumbly. Am I just failing to embrace the corn cake for what it is?
Thanks!
Also, I don’t have a blender. But that doesn’t seem to be a problem (?) (I just hand chop the corn and mix everything else).
It is probably obnoxious to leave 3 comments in a row, but I felt the need to clarify this:
This was the first time I used whole wheat flour in this recipe. Before I used all purpose flour. And this is the highest corn meal / flour ratio I used (i.e. more corn meal this time).
The scientist part of me is aware that I changed two variables, and that the way to solve this problem is to make them again, with varying amounts of each kind of flour.
But the hungry vegetarian part of me is just hoping someone can tell me the answer to this, so I can cook delicious vegan food for my friends and actually seem like I know what I’m doing 🙂
I didn’add the maple syrup to the batter but added sone orange peel and pit in the blender with the corn. I loved it!
These were soo good – you have made my 2014. As in, the rest of the year will be a win because I found, made, and ate these cakes.
Hi! Do you know if these will freeze well?