These Cornmeal Pancakes pancakes are incredibly delicious, fluffy and tender, with a nice subtle crunch from the corn meal.Since I had fresh raspberries, I made a raspberry compote to serve with this. The notes of vanilla adds just the right amount of sweetness. Of course, using pure maple syrup is an added bonus. This is a keeper recipe!
One Sundays, after church, we enjoying treating ourselves to breakfast at a local restaurant. It’s a nice treat to have someone prepare pancakes, and all the fixin’s so that I can relax and not have to worry about kitchen cleanup.
Still, I do enjoy making breakfast at home, when I have time. I do enjoy making homemade pancakes (not from a box mix). I have a nice assortments of pancake recipes that I have shared with all of you–from Swedish pancakes to German Pancakes— and even Lemon-Blueberry Ricotta pancakes. My Best Pancake recipes has remained the top favorite among my men, and I have to agree that they are fluffy and delicious! But, now, I think these pancakes are going to be moving up in rank as our favorites.
In a way, this recipe reminds me of the Cornmeal and Ricotta waffle recipe that was memorable, in a good way– though a bit more work.) Cornmeal pancakes? Yes! The batter uses everyday ingredients that you have on hand– flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, pure vanilla and milk.
Since I had some frozen raspberries that I wanted to use up– and so I made a quick raspberry compote. (Really, a compote is fruit cooked with sugar and water.) The compote took about ten minutes to make, and I set it aside to cool to room temperature.
I’m sure that these pancakes would be good with pure maple syrup. But, adding the fruit topping will bring this up to a whole new level of deliciousness.
TASTING NOTES: By the smile on my husband’s face, I could tell that these pancakes were a hit. These pancakes were surprisingly tender and fluffy. The cornmeal added a subtle crunch and a perfect balance of corn flavor. The vanilla extract added a little sweetness, but not too much. The sweet-tart raspberry compote gave a some zip and pretty color to the breakfast. I would say that these are 100% husband approved, as he went back for seconds. I’ll be making these again, for sure.
Cornmeal Pancakes with Rasperry Compote
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal (heaping cups )
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 1/4 cups whole milk plus more if needed for thinning
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons salted butter melted, plus additional melted butter for the skillet
- Pats of butter for serving
- Maple syrup for serving, optional
Instructions
For the compote (optional):
- *Clearjel is a product that I buy either on the King Arthur Flour website, or Amazon carries it. I use this for making my berry pie filling. I whisk 1 tablespoon to every cup of sugar before adding it to my berries. Clearjel always gives me perfectly thickened and well set fruit pie filling, without clumping– and, like the name says, my fillings are clear and not cloudy (as cornstarch tends to do). You can use cornstarch, but I tend to whisk it into some water to remove all lumps before adding to my fruit.
- Wash and drain raspberries. (If frozen, I still rinse them with warm water to separate them) Place in a saucepan on medium-high heat. Bring to a gentle boil, and reduce heat until just simmering.
- Gently crush the berries to break them up a bit (I use a potato masher). Simmer until the fruit has thickened. Remove from heat allow to come to room temperature.
For the cornmeal pancakes
- Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, vinegar, vanilla and eggs.
- Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring gently.
- Stir in the melted butter.
- If the batter is overly thick, splash in a small amount of milk.
- Heat 1 tablespoon melted butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. When hot, drop in 1/4 cup batter per pancake and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.
- Remove from the skillet and keep warm. Continue with the remaining batter, using more melted butter as needed
- Stack some pancakes for each serving, placing a pat of butter on top. Drizzle raspberry compote over the top.
- Note: Yes, you can substitute blueberries or blackberries, if you wish. Any leftover compote should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated up to a week.
Notes
Breakfast is my favorite meal! When I saw these this morning, I was ready to hope in the car with my fork!
Awww, Kate, I would have gladly set a place for you!
What a wonderful combination! I'm a huge fan of pancakes (hotcakes, around here), especially those with substance and bit of 'tooth' to them. My late Father was ~famous for a W.W. Hotcake that included a substantial measure of Wheat Germ. Other, similar 'cakes might be pop up as Corn Cakes.
In any case, your adapted recipe is dirt-simple to make and even a genuine novice would not be able to goof it up.
As for the compote, of course! Nearly any fruit will work (we may question citrus) and they are easy. Recalling another of your tricks from prior recipes, when the compote is finished and cooling, why not add a few drops of lemon or lime OIL? (Thanks to your lessons, I now use only genuine OILS, never the alcohol-based chemical extracts. The difference in flavor and potency is astounding.)
As a birthday week celebration, I will probably make these cakes sometime this week. Like you, I have a few '14 season berries to use up and the new crop will be here soon. Best wishes,
-Craig (The other one.)
I'm not a breakfast eater and have the usual breakfast foods for dinner. I do love sausage and eggs and I know I would enjoy pancakes too. I've never made them with a cornmeal batter. Sounds delicious, Debby, and it would be a real treat.
I love the flavor of cornmeal and have been wanting to do cornmeal pancakes for a long time. THanks for the recipe! Loved going through your previous pancake recipes too!
Pancakes are my favorite to order out, though we do make them at home fairly often. Love the texture that the cornmeal adds!
Mercy these were tasty. I might serve these with meals in place of bread (from the freezer of course). Next time, to make them a little more savory, I think I'll lighten up on the vanilla just a wee bit.
Gina, thanks so much for the positive feedback. I think they'd be fun to make in a savory version. Please keep me posted, if you do.