Easy Hoe Cakes Recipe (Johnny Cakes)

After you taste one these easy to make cornmeal Hoe Cakes, you’ll forget all about ever wanting to eat pancakes again.

Ingredients for this recipe:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups fine cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 3 large eggs
• ¼ cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup water
• Oil for cooking

Makes 8 cakes

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Procedures:

1. In a large bowl mix together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
2. In a separate large bowl whisk together the eggs, butter, buttermilk, and water until combined.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in gently whisk just until combined.
4. Pour the oil into a large frying pan, cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-low heat and pour in a ½ cup to ¾ cup of the batter and cook as many at a time as possible without touching each other in the pan,
5. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until light and fluffy and cooked throughout.
6. Serve with fresh berries, butter, and maple syrup.

Chef Notes:

Make-Ahead: You can make these up to 1 hour ahead of time. Keep warm wrapped in foil and in the oven at 175° before serving.

How to Reheat: Place on a pan wrapped in foil and heat in the oven at 350° for 6-8 minutes or until hot. You can also heat in the microwave.

How to Store: Place covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Cover and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day, or until unfrozen, before reheating.

It is best to use finely ground cornmeal, but you can extend that to a medium or coarse ground as well.

To further enhance the flavor of these hoecakes, I would absolutely advise using rendered bacon fat instead of butter.

You can absolutely use milk in place of the buttermilk.

If you want to make your own buttermilk, simply mix 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar or lemon juice with 1 cup of milk.

You can also cook the hoecakes in butter instead of oil.