Cornmeal Pancakes

These hearty cornmeal pancakes, made with medium-ground yellow cornmeal and cornstarch instead of flour, have a satisfying texture and tons of flavor. The simple batter is made smooth in a blender, quickly and easily!

Why you'll love this recipe

There's nothing like a traditional light and fluffy gluten free pancake, and there are so many ways to make them. But these cornmeal pancakes are a little different.

The recipe is made mostly with medium-ground yellow cornmeal and a touch of cornstarch to lighten things up a bit, but you blend the batter so there's only the slightest chew in each sweet-and-savory bite.

Making the batter in a blender has the added benefit of making these pancakes incredibly easy to make. I've spelled it all out in the recipe below (and the how-to video, too!), but really? I could have just written the instructions like this:

Put all of the ingredients in the order listed in a blender, blend, then pour on a hot buttered skillet, cook, flip, cook and eat. Of course, there's a bit more to it than that. But not a whole lot!

Recipe ingredients

There are only 9 total ingredients in these cornmeal pancakes, but that's including salt and an optional ingredient. Here are a few things to know about each of them:

• Medium ground yellow cornmeal – Blending the cornmeal with other ingredients helps it combine fully and make for pancakes with just the right amount of hearty texture
• Cornstarch – Adding some cornstarch to the mix lightens the weight of the pancakes a bit
• Xanthan gum – Because we aren't using any flour, a touch of xanthan gum helps thicken the batter and makes it hold together a bit better, but it's optional. Without xanthan gum, you'll have thinner pancakes, so cook them further apart on the griddle
• Granulated sugar – For sweetness and some extra tenderness; you can use an equal amount, by weight, of honey if you prefer
• Baking powder & baking soda– Help the pancakes rise and brown
• Kosher salt – Commonly used in baking, kosher salt is easier to measure accurately than table salt, and brightens all the other flavors
• Milk – Adds moisture and richness; avoid using fat free milk because fat is a tenderizer
• Butter – Some melted butter adds richness and buttery flavor to your pancakes. You can use vegetable oil to grease the griddle, or more butter.
• Eggs – The eggs help bind the pancakes together and add some lift

How to make cornmeal pancakes

Assemble ingredients and blend the batter

All of the wet and dry ingredients go into the blender! I have a blender with the blades on the bottom, so I put everything in the canister and give it a shake before blending for a full minute.

Cook the pancakes on a hot griddle

Grease a griddle and heat it to about 350°F, then pour 1/4 cup of batter on the hot surface in rounds. Let the pancakes cook until bubbles form all over, flip to cook the bottom, & flip again to make sure they're cooked through. They should be golden brown all over.

Serve & enjoy!

I like to stack the pancakes together, and let everyone serve themselves. The pancakes keep themselves warm that way. Or you can put the pancakes on a baking tray and keep them warm in a 200°F oven for a few minutes until ready to serve—with plenty of maple syrup.

Expert tips

Know when to flip your pancakes

You'll know when the pancakes are ready to flip when the underside has set and begun to brown, and the edges on top are set. You should see lots of bubbles forming on the top when the first side is cooking. When you slide your spatula underneath the pancake, the batter shouldn't leak off the edges back onto the cooking surface.

A quick tip for testing whether a pancake (really any pancake) is ready to flip is to slide your spatula only a couple of centimeters under the very edge of the pancake. If the batter on the top of the pancake starts to run at all, it's not ready to flip. If you flip it then, you'll end up with “feet” on your pancakes as the batter will slide around during transit.

Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature

If your wet ingredients, especially, are cold, your pancake batter won't blend fully and it will have lumps. Make sure everything is at room temperature before you blend.

If your milk is cold, try microwaving it for about 20 seconds. If your eggs are cold, place them in a bowl of very warm (not hot) water for about 10 minutes and they should become close to room temperature.

Recipe substitutions

Dairy free

These pancakes are super easy to make dairy-free. Just use non-dairy milk (I like unsweetened almond milk best), and you can even use extra virgin olive oil in place of melted butter. Any nondairy butter, even Earth Balance buttery sticks, should work if you melt it, too.

Egg free

Eggs are almost always a bit trickier than dairy to replace. Here, since the recipe is right at my 2-egg threshold for successful egg replacement.

Two “chia eggs” (a chia egg is simply 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds mixed with 1 tablespoon lukewarm water and allowed to gel) should work, but you'll have to experiment.

Frequently asked questions