Rhode Island Jonnycake Cookies
Buttery and rich, these crispy oatmeal jonnycake cookies (so named for their inclusion of Rhode Island whitecap flint cornmeal) are a sweet treat.
Rhode Island Jonnycake Cookies
Photo Credit : Aimee TuckerButtery and rich, these crispy oatmeal jonnycake cookies (so named for their inclusion of Rhode Island whitecap flint cornmeal) are a sweet treat.
In 2014, I had the pleasure of meeting Bob and Diane Smith, operators (and former owners) of the Perry Grist Mill in Perryville, Rhode Island, for a Yankee feature. Since then, I have since become a big fan of their stone-ground jonnycake meal, a nutty cornmeal made from native Rhode Island whitecap flint corn.
This cornmeal cookie recipe, a favorite of Diane’s, combines old-fashioned oats with jonnycake meal and just a touch of Britain’s beloved Lyle’s Golden Syrup. Diane (who was born in the U.K.) says the cookies taste best when made with Lyle’s, but light corn syrup works, too.
Yield:
About 3 dozen cookiesIngredients
14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks), room temperature
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon Lyle’s Golden Syrup or light corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons jonnycake meal or cornmeal
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter, water, and syrup until light and fluffy. Add the baking soda.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, sugar, jonnycake meal or cornmeal, and salt.
Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. The batter will be very stiff. Add vanilla.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tops are barely set and edges are beginning to crisp.
Remove baking sheets and allow cookies to cool for a moment before gently transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Aimee Tucker
As Digital Editor of New England.com, Aimee writes, manages, and promotes content for NewEngland.com and its social media channels. Before this role, she served as assistant, then associate, editor for Yankee Magazine and YankeeMagazine.com, where she was nominated for a City and Regional Magazine Association award for Best Blog. A lifelong New Englander, Aimee loves history, the New Hampshire seacoast, and a good Massachusetts South Shore bar pizza.
More by Aimee Tucker