Johnny's Cakes

This recipe comes from Bob's Red Mill Baking Book, but during my first try I realized that the recipe was missing a few ingredients. I hadn't heard of Johnnycakes before, but the first recipe for it was printed by Amelia Simmons in 1796. My father also tells me that the Shawnee originally made this and taught the recipe to the settlers, who dubbed it "Shawnee Cake".

I've heard that Johnnycakes can be eaten as a type of bread with dinner, but I made them in the fashion of pancakes. I think that they taste delicious, and you can't even tell they're gluten free. The third time I made this I finally got it right, and the real trick is getting finely ground cornmeal. I used Arrowhead Mills Organic Yellow Corn Meal, with great results. I also recommend adding bacon grease to the batter if you're going to have bacon as well.



Spiced Johnnycakes
1 1/2 cups Cornmeal
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 Egg
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
Dashes Allspice, Nutmeg, and Cloves
2 cups Boiling Water
1/3 cup Soy Milk, at room temperature

Spray griddle or large saucepan with cooking spray and preheat. In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking powder, egg, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. Pour boiling water over the mixture and stir to combine. Let stand for ten minutes before stirring in the milk.

Pour desired amount of pancake batter into pan or onto griddle, and cook on medium low heat for five to ten minutes. Wait until the cakes appear firm around the edges and bubble up in the middle before flipping over. (If they seem unready, wait a bit longer. This recipe takes patience.)
Put desired toppings on the cakes and enjoy.