Cornmeal Cookies
Ah, cornmeal cookies. With crispy edges, a soft center, and the taste of sweet buttery corn in every bite, they’ve got it all!
Somehow, I fell in love with these cookies at first bite, and since a few years ago, they’ve been on my regular cookie list.
I make these with different icings, but my favorite is with sour cream icing. I just think of it as a perfect icing for cornmeal cookies because cornmeal is usually prepared with sour cream.
I found my inspiration in Northern Italian cookies, called zaletti – cornmeal cookies flavored with vanilla, lemon zest, and grappa soaked raisins. Warm out of the oven, they taste like cornbread (check out my cornbread cookies recipe too).
I adjusted my recipe a bit to meet my own tastes, and because I planned to share a kid-friendly recipe. Grappa is not suitable for kids, but if you want to make this version, I will add my ideas on how to make kid-friendly zaletti.
Choosing The Cornmeal
Cornmeal is a simple product with so many faces. If a recipe calls for cornmeal, you may find yourself in the grain aisle staring down a bag of grits, polenta, fine cornmeal, blue cornmeal, and many others.
All cornmeal has its use, and here is how to use different types:
- Corn flour – The finest form of cornmeal. You can use this to make melt-in-your mouth cookies, or for tempura batter for your seafood.
- Fine and medium cornmeal – This type of cornmeal can be used for these cookies, muffins, and pancakes.
- Coarse cornmeal – This cornmeal will make your cakes and muffins gritty, so use this cornmeal just for breading. Catfish or any type of fish is great with this cornmeal breading.
- Polenta and grits – This is yellow and white cornmeal you can use same as you would use the coarse cornmeal.
- Blue cornmeal – This is cornmeal made from the blue corn. Its color gives it a sweet and unique flavor. If you can find this one in fine cornmeal form, try it for the cookies.
If You Want To Make Zaletti Cookies
Zaletti cookies were my inspiration for these- delicious Italian cookies filled with rum-soaked raisins and rich buttery base.
You can follow the recipe for the cornmeal cookies I will give, and just add ½ cup of the rum-soaked raisins. To soak the raisins, you will need 3 tbsp of dark rum.
For a kid-friendly version instead of rum, you can soak your raisins in hot water or rum-extract flavored water. Instead of raisins, you can also try dried black currants or dried blueberries.
Once you make the cookie dough, add the raisins into the dough and stir until all are incorporated. Afterwards, you will shape the cookies and bake as the recipe indicates.
Tips For The Perfect Cornmeal Cookies
- Start with a room temperature butter – The butter needs to be at room temperature. If you go with cold butter, it will not blend beautifully with the sugar and instead of fluffy butter you will end up with a coarse butter mix. Also, don’t use melted butter, as it will not turn into a fluffy mixture, and will lose its ability to hold air when beaten.
- Use a mix of sugars – I went with caster sugar this time, but when I make cookies, I usually combine caster and brown sugar. Both of these bring different properties; caster sugar gives crispiness, while the brown sugar provides complex flavor and some moisture.
- Always add some all-purpose flour – Making these cookies without any all-purpose flour will just make them too firm. To avoid this, always add some all-purpose flour. Thanks to this mix, the cookies will have a lovely soft texture, but also a little crunch and some flavor from the cornmeal.
- Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes – Do not over-bake these cookies, as they will be way too firm. Once you remove these from the oven, the cookies will be soft, but as they rest, they will firm up. Any over-baking will end up in almost rock-hard cookies.
How To Make The Icing
The icing changes it all. It transforms this simple cookie into a gourmet treat. I made sour cream icing, as sour cream and cornmeal are just a perfect pair.
This icing is made with sour cream, powdered sugar, butter, and lemon juice. The icing gives a nice tangy touch to the sweet cookies.
Cornmeal Cookies
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 12 minutes
Servings: 12 cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup room temperature butter
- ¾ cup caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup cornmeal
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp lemon zest, freshly grated
For the icing:
- 3 tbsp sour cream
- 1/3 cup room temperature butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Beat butter and sugar in a bowl, until fluffy and pale.
3. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until smooth and fluffy.
4. Fold in flour, cornmeal, and baking powder.
5. Stir until well combined.
6. Shape the dough into 12 balls and arrange on a baking sheet. Press each down to flatten. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
7. Make the icing; in a bowl, beat butter with sour cream and powdered sugar. Add lemon juice and beat until fluffy.
8. Spoon the icing into a piping bag and drizzle over the cookies or just smear the icing with a spoon.
9. Serve cookies with some freshly brewed tea.
Cornmeal Cookies
These cornmeal cookies are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and the perfect comfort food for any season!
Ingredients
- ½ cup room temperature butter
- ¾ cup caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup cornmeal
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp lemon zest, freshly grated
For the icing:
- 3 tbsp sour cream
- 1/3 cup room temperature butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Beat butter and sugar in a bowl, until fluffy and pale.
- Add egg and vanilla. Beat until smooth and fluffy.Fold in flour, cornmeal, and baking powder.
- Stir until well combined.
- Shape the dough into 12 balls and arrange on a baking sheet. Press each down to flatten. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
- To make the icing, in a bowl, beat butter with sour cream and powdered sugar. Add lemon juice and beat until fluffy.
- Spoon the icing into a piping bag and drizzle over the cookies or just smear the icing with a spoon.
- Serve cookies with some freshly brewed tea.
