Easy Crispy Hoe Cakes (Fried Cornbread Recipe)
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This easy Hoe Cakes Recipe makes crispy, golden cornmeal cakes with a soft, tender center using simple pantry ingredients. Perfect for breakfast or served alongside your favorite Southern comfort foods, these old-fashioned hoe cakes are a timeless Southern classic. If you love traditional Southern recipes, be sure to try my Sweet Honey Cornbread or Buttermilk Biscuits.
These homemade hoe cakes come together in minutes and cook up perfectly golden in a hot skillet. They're budget-friendly, incredibly versatile, and delicious served sweet or savory, making them an easy side dish or hearty breakfast you'll want to make again and again.
Serve them alongside my Slow Cooker Green Beans, Shake and Bake Pork Chops, or my Cube Steak with Onion Gravy.
Quick Look: Hoe Cakes Recipe
- ⏱️ Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🕒 Total Time: 25 minutes
- 👨👩👧👦 Servings: 4
- 📊 Calories: ~319 kcal per serving
- 🥣 Ingredients: cornmeal,flour, sugar, eggs, buttermilk, water, butter, bacon grease, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy, great for potlucks and cookouts
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Why this Recipe Works
Simple pantry ingredients – Made with basic staples you probably already have on hand.
Budget-friendly – An inexpensive Southern classic that feeds the whole family.
Perfect any time of day – Enjoy them for breakfast, as a side dish, or with your favorite Southern meals.
For even more savory breakfast options, try my Breakfast Enchiladas, or my Breakfast Hot Pockets!
Ingredients Needed
- Flour: All-purpose flour works best.
- Corn meal: Either yellow cornmeal or white cornmeal will work.
- Sugar: You can leave it out if you prefer.
- Buttermilk: You can use whole milk in a pinch or make your own buttermilk in the notes section
- Bacon Grease: Or oil to fry the cornmeal hoe cakes.
How To Make Hoe Cakes
- Step 1: In a large bowl, add the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
- Step 2: Make a little well in the center and add the wet ingredients, and mix until combined.
- Step 3: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the bacon grease or oil to the hot skillet, and drop the batter into small discs.
- Step 4: Cook until golden brown, flip, finish cooking, and serve!
Recipe Tips
- Flip only once when bubbles form on top, and the edges begin to set.
- These are best served hot off the pan when the edges are crispy.
- I prefer to fry these in bacon grease. I just fry my bacon first, then use that grease to fry these Johnny cakes.
- Keep cooked hoe cakes warm on a baking sheet in a 200°F oven while you finish the remaining batter.
Hoe Cakes Recipe Faq's
They have a few different names, like Jonnycake, Hoe Cake, and Shawnee cake. They are little round cornmeal pancakes or fried cornbread made with a combination of cornmeal and self-rising flour. Fried in bacon grease to get those delicious crispy edges that are enjoyed smothered in syrup or as a side dish to my Poblano Beef Chili.
Even though they look similar to traditional pancakes, they are not the same. Pancakes are soft and fluffy and have a sweetness to the batter like my Copycat IHOP Pancakes Recipe. Johnny cakes are a form of cornbread made from a basic cornbread batter that's fried in bacon fat or oil to get those crispy edges.
You can use whole milk, but I love the tanginess that buttermilk gives these southern hoecakes. You can make your own buttermilk with 1 cup of whole milk and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice. Let's sit for 5 minutes.
No. While both are made with cornmeal, hoe cakes are cooked in a skillet like pancakes, while cornbread is baked in the oven.
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Southern Hoe Cakes (Johnny Cakes)
Ingredients
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup melted butter slightly cooled
- Vegetable oil or bacon grease for frying
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Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl add the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt and whisk together.
- Make a well in the center and add in the egg, buttermilk, water, and melted butter and mix until combined.
- Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil (I use bacon grease) in a 12-inch cast iron skillet or frying pan on medium-high heat.
- Scoop about 3 tablespoons of batter and drop into the frying pan, (I usually do 4 corncakes at a time)
- Fry each Hoe cake until the edges start to bubble, flip and fry for another couple minutes until golden brown.
- Remove and serve immediately with butter, and or syrup.
Yay Joshua, so happy you enjoyed them 🙂 Thanks for the great review!