Laura always wondered why bread made of corn meal was called johnny-cake. It wasn’t cake. Ma didn’t know, unless the Northern soldiers called it johnny-cake because the people in the South, where they fought, ate so much of it. They called the Southern soldiers Johnny Rebs. Maybe they called the Southern bread, cake, just for fun.
Ma had heard some say it should be called journey-cake. She didn’t know. It wouldn’t be very good bread to take on a journey.
—Little House in the Big Woods
This johnny-cake recipe adaptation provides a simple bread to accompany a meal. The rumor Ma heard was likely correct. Over time, the word “journey” began to sound like “johnny” as people’s accents may have made words difficult to understand.
Though johnny-cakes would not be ideal on a journey, with few ingredients and simple preparation they were easy for traveling pioneers to make when stopped for a meal or at home. Syrup or gravy provides the moisture and flavor for the johnny-cakes.
Johnny-cake batter was often spread on a board and baked on an open fire. To eat it, you would break off a piece and dip it in maple syrup, molasses, or gravy. This recipe is adapted for the stove-top to make individual cakes, similar in appearance to pancakes though rather different in taste.
Ingredients for Old-Fashioned Johnny-Cakes
- 1 cup corn meal
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup boiling water
- oil or shortening
Directions to cook Pioneer Johnny-Cakes
1. Mix the corn meal, sugar, and salt together.
2. Slowly add the boiling water to the cornmeal mixture. Stir until just combined. Do not over-mix.
3. Warm a griddle or frying pan (nonstick or cast iron) over medium heat (about 350°). It is preheated when water “dances” across the heated surface when sprinkled on it. Note: Johnny-cakes will stick to an aluminum pan, so it is best to use a griddle or frying pan made of cast iron or with a non-stick coating.
4. Spread a tablespoon of oil in the warm pan. Place about ¼ cup of batter on the griddle.
5. After the edges dry, wait about 30 seconds and then flip the johnny-cake over with a wide spatula.
6. Press the center of the johnny-cake down with the spatula if needed. The second side does not take as long as the first to cook.
7. Remove the cooked johnny-cake. Oil the griddle and begin again.
8. Serve warm with maple syrup, molasses, gravy, or baked beans.
How will you top your johnny-cakes? For more pioneer recipes, subscribe to the Little House on the Prairie Newsletter.
Annette Whipple explores the pioneer world of Laura Ingalls Wilder at her blog Little House Companion. She lives with her husband and three children in rural Pennsylvania where she enjoys baking, writing, and reading. Annette provides science and pioneer programs for children.
Johnny cake, journey cake, cornbread. johnny cake was first “hoecake” or “hoe cake”. it was a simple mixture of corn meal, salt if available (not often) and water. the batter was poured over the inside of he hoe blade and held over an open fire to cook. this was done in the field or around a hunting campfire.
regulation cornbread does not contain sugar, butter or boiling water. it is made of course ground yellow cornmeal, egg, salt, black pepper,veg oil and buttermilk. mix the dry ingredients separately. it is not to be more than three-quarters of an inch thick when done.
There’s no way they had eggs or buttermilk on a wagon train to Kansas. I think this recipe holds true for a bare necessities Johnny cake.
I agree
I think you’re right ????
Johnny cakes sound delicious and can’t wait to try them. Even the rustic beans. GOD BLESS. AMEN.
When I was younger, I watched “Little House on The Prairie” every week that it was on. Today, the reruns are shown everyday from 4:00pm-7:00pm Eastern time on The Cozi TV channel. i love them. I remember watching ma Ingles making Johnny Cakes. I never had them, and they look delicious. i am going to make them.
My mum loves the “Little House” books so I’m planning to make some of your recipes for Mother’s Day in the UK on Sunday! I was wondering how many Johnny Cakes you think this recipe will make? I’m making them for 5 people so want to make sure there are enough!
Johnny cake recipe above should serve 2-3 people. Basis for this is the same as for pancakes. 1 cup dry ingredients plus 1 cup of liquid is two large servings at my house. To be sure for you and your family why not try this small recipe and see what you think. Enjoy!
I really like “Little House on the Prairie.” I watched it regularly when it first came on the air. Now, I saw the reruns the other day. I thought this was great, but I didn’t get the channel it was on. Could you please tell me this and the time it is on?
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Carole M. Kanter
cmkanter25@gmail.com
Hi Carole! I’m here two years later reading your question. I’ve found LH on two channels. The “Inspiration” Channel and a channel called “Up TV”. I record the episodes on my DVR and enjoy them whenever. Hopefully these stations are available to you!
-Erin
Why does your batter look so smooth? Mine was super lumpy.
We are having Colonial Days tomorrow and I’m using your recipe for a little treat along with making pretzel log cabins, quils and corn husk dolls. Really looking forward to it. And to tasing the corn cakes!
My brother called and wanted the recipe for Johnny Cakes like our Mom used to make. I have no memory of them. He said he remembered her using honey in the batter not sugar. Anyone out there able to help me?
I have a book open in front of me saying Ma had forgotten to load their share of sugar when leaving Ma and Pa Ingalls that morning, and only realized it when she was putting the cornbread in the pans. Pa said the sugar couldn’t make it taste any sweeter than her hand print had.
In the books she’s actually making cornbread.
I don’t have copies of the “Little House” books available, but I recall reading them to my children years ago. As I recall, Ma baked the johnnycake batter in a skillet when the family was traveling across the prairie in their wagon, and she would press her hand on the top of the batter before baking, leaving a handprint, which Pa said made it taste sweeter. Am I mis-remembering that? I thought that was so sweet. Several years after my kids had outgrown the Little House books, my husband’s aunt taught me to make what his side of the family called Tennessee cornbread. It was just white corn meal mixed with boiling water and a little salt, unleavened, and baked in a pre-heated cast iron skillet. I remember thinking that this was Ma’s johnny cake. Perfect for a long trip by wagon, as it didn’t use baking powder, which might have gone bad on the long trip.
It was actually cornbread she was making.
Howdy, Being a True southern gentleman , of advanced age, the johnny cake was used as a bread for lunch and dinner type meals, whereas the hoecake was used as a breakfast meal with the exclusion of fried chicken. Kinda like choosing the proper wine for certain dishes.White dishes, white bread. dark dishes darker bread. Johnny cakes were named from the soldiers aka johnny rebs whom came back home from the war and showed the home folk how to make bread without all the fuss of building a fire in the wood burning oven, instead just cook it in a pan on top. Biscuits were time consuming so again this was a labor saving way to make biscuits in a hurry called later hoe cakes. the plantation workers went into the field with a bag of dry ingredients and a canteen of water and at lunch time scraped clean the back side of a hoe used for farming, built a small fire between a circle of rocks and cooked “Hoecakes”, Some made with flour some with cornmeal.
Thank you. My grandmama made hoecakes and told me her granny made them by the fire on a hoe. Glad to know I am not the only person with this story. We also use a thinner batter, so that it makes a lace edge. This lace was called the rat, because my grandmama would say, “Who ate my hoecake?” My granddaddy, who had given it to me, would say, ” Must have been a rat.” We all laughed, cause she knew he was playing. My grandchildren continue the tradition.
My batter was very watery–maybe I measured wrong. When I put it in the pan with bacon grease of course the water sizzled and popped everywhere. I tried to remove as much as I could and it helped. I preferred them just with butter.
I tried to make these and was not successful. I used a cast iron pan first, and they stuck like crazy. It was a mess. I then tried a stainless steel pan and it was a little better, but not by much. The good thing was that they taste amazing. But I need to find a pan they will not stick to, otherwise it’ll always just be a cornmeal mess!
Hi.
Not to be too critical but, if you use 1 1/2 cups of water you get totat soup. All other recipes call for 1 1/2 TBS of hot water.
Hello there,
The recipe above calls for 1 1/4 cups (not 1 1/2 cups) of water. This makes a thin batter. The extra 1/4 cup you mentioned would certainly make a soup-like batter. The liquid should be measured in cups and not tablespoons. I have not seen any recipes that call for significantly less liquid, however here are two johnny cake recipes that do call for a cup or more of liquid.
http://www.marthastewart.com/318356/johnny-cakes
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/johnnycakes-recipe.html#!
Best of luck with your pioneer cooking!
The amount of liquid required depends on how old/dry your cornmeal is!
Ma Ingalls probably had freshly ground cornmeal. The stuff i am using was
most likely sitting in a warehouse for several months prior to sitting in my
cupboard.
Thanks for the recipe. I am using it for a class on Western pioneers.
I can see why It was so popular: very easy to prepare while on the trail.
My granny used to make these a littlebon the sweet side and served them with brown beans and fried greens … Mmmm the good old yummy days 🙂
Thanks for the recipe. My mom used to make these for breakfast for us in the 60’s. Cornmeal was cheap. And we loved them. She melted brown sugar with water, and poured it over the top. 🙂
I had to add another 1/2 cup of boiling water to the recipe to get the mix close to where it could be poured. As it is stated above, with 1 1/4 cups of water, it formed a thick paste.
A person just below you wrote that she had the amount of water stated and hers was like soup. She said only add a few tablespoons. Who knows.. maybe somebody is not following the recipe correctly or it’s the altitude you live in.
I had the same problem using 1 1/4 cups of boiling water. I expected it to be like corn muffin mix, but this was so dry that not all of the cornmeal mixed in. It was more of a paste, but I used it anyway. I fried them in lard in my non-stick skillet and I thought that they turned out great, not pretty, but they were crispy and tasted great with maple syrup. I may increase the water just a little next time.
Those look really good! My daughter has been reading the little house books and would probably love to try these out! Maybe I’ll make them with her during the Christmas holidays. Thanks for sharing!
Christmas vacation is the perfect time to enjoy some Little House activities. It’s even when I taught my then-6-year-old to sew by hand.
Yummy. My grandma made johnny cakes when I was a kid.
What did she serve with them? Did you like them?
I like the Johnny Cakes with pinto beans I scoop the beans up in the johnny cake and dip it in the pot liquor delicious.
AH! I love it! Pinning this for later- so much fun!
I hope you enjoy!
I’ve heard of Johnny cakes but did not realize they were a pancake thingy.
They at least look like pancakes! Johnny-cakes definitely need something wet to moisten them though. 🙂