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Does anyone else remember as a kid requesting to go to IHOP specifically for their corncakes with pecan maple syrup? Hot off the griddle, dripping with maple syrup, with a hint of nutty crunch from the pecans…as a 10 year old, food really didn’t get any better than that, except for maybe pop rocks and warheads. I haven’t had pop rocks or warheads in years, but corncakes with maple syrup and pecans are still a favorite of mine.
I admit that these are not the corncakes of my childhood though. I added quinoa, which make for nice chewy cakes (and also added nutrition!). And the cakes themselves are subtly flavored with cinnamon and maple, which almost alleviates the need to add additional maple syrup…almost. ;)
Quinoa Corncakes
(Yield: 15 cakes, about 5-7 servings)
1 c cornmeal
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 TB lightly packed brown sugar
3/4 c water
2/3 c buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 c pure maple syrup, plus more for serving if desired
2 TB canola oil, plus a little more to grease the griddle
1 c cooked quinoa (1/4 c before cooking)
Chopped pecans (optional, for serving)
Butter (optional, for serving)
In a small bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together water, buttermilk, eggs, maple syrup, and canola oil. Gently stir dry ingredients into wet, adding a little at a time until everything is incorporated. Gently fold cooked quinoa into the batter.
Preheat a griddle over medium to medium-high heat (or if you have an electric griddle, preheat it to 350F). Once the griddle is hot, lightly brush it with canola oil, then use a 1/4 c measure to scoop out the batter into round cakes on the griddle. Cook each cake until golden on both sides, flipping once (about 3 minutes per side). You can turn down the heat if the cakes start cooking too fast. Repeat this process until all the batter is gone (this makes about 15 cakes).
If desired, serve with maple syrup, butter, and chopped pecans to sprinkle on top.
Mmm, love the mile-high stack…note that this is actually two servings though…perfect for breakfast in bed with your honey. ;)
I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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I’ve never been so hungry … thank you for sharing! I’m cooking these this weekend.
I make cornmeal pancakes but have never made them with quinoa. This is a keeper! Next time I make quinoa, will have to make extra for the leftovers.
These were delicious – made them tonight!
Nicole, I’m so glad you enjoyed them!!! :)
I love corn cakes… and quinoa! These look fantastic! Can’t wait to try!
I can`t stop looking at this! It`s absolutely divine and I want to try this…
Have a great time,
Paula
These look amazing, Faith! I love the addition of quinoa. What a great way to sneak some nutrition in pancakes, especially if you’re feeding them to kids…
These pancakes look really good! I wish that I had a plate of them in front of me right now! I loved IHOP as a child. We’d often order the dollar sized pancakes, you know, the ones that are smaller like the American dollar coin (the Eisenhower dollar, not Susan B Anthony). They serve lots of them on the plate. These were especially good with boysenberry syrup and lots of whipped butter.
You know I love anything that has quinoa in it! Yum, what a fantastic idea!
i never tried ihop’s corncakes, probably making them the only thing on the menu i didn’t sample. duly noted. :)
i love that you included fantastic quinoa into your batch–good thinking and well done!
I’ve never had corncakes…however, I get the feeling I would like to try these out…especially since you integrated Quinoa ;o)
Ciao for now,
Claudia
Very creative and delicious recipe…That is one gorgeous stack :)
I would seriously get out of bed at 2am for these beauties! I love a mile high stack too-it always screams “eat me!” :)
You’d put IHOP out of business in a week if you took those cakes on the road. Cheers!
These look great! We love quinoa in our house—so yummy!
I never heard of corn cakes or Ihop as a youth, Faith. Wish I did. But it is so true that the foods of our childhood have a huge impact on our adult memory triggers and eating habits. That is why I worry so much about the students of today. All they eat is JUNK. Can you imagine – speeding ahead into the futures, a young woman blogging… does anyone remember those incredible onion rings from Burger King soaked in grease and laced in salt? Very different than your healthy trigger… but it is scary!
:)
valerie
I’ve never had corncakes, or quinoa corncakes. But they sound delicious!
What a delicious stack of corn cakes! Great choice for breakfast in bed. We do enjoy the pancakes at IHOP. :)
Delicioso!!! :D YUM YUM~
Very healthy pancakes.Infact I never knew that ihop serves corncakes even though I go there almost evry weekend.Will chk the menu thoroughly nxt time.
Tanvi, It was about 15 years ago that I used to eat these at IHOP. They may or may not still be on the menu, lol!
Great use of quinoa, Faith. Doubt very much I could ever do without syrup though! :)
These really look good and I’m imagine the quinoa makes them even more interesting. I really want to try these. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
These sound absolutely yummy!
Faith, these look *so* amazingly delicious…Love that you added quinoa…brilliant! Photos are fantastic, as always :)
I love the idea of these. Quinoa is amazing! I can picture myself right now sitting at the table licking the maple syrup off of the plate.
I cannot WAIT to make these!! YUM!
One word Faith – YUM. I have never heard of corn cakes before but I’ll definitely be on the look out for them now. Man do these look delicious and you did a spectacular job of getting them all exactly the same size. that never happens with my pancakes. Just beautiful!
Thanks for the sweet comment yesterday on my SITS day and back atcha, you have one of the best food blogs I’ve come across; it’s one of my favorites!
Julie, I use a scoop…otherwise they definitely wouldn’t all be the same size, lol! :)
You know, I eat quinoa at least once a week.. love it truly, madly deeply and it’s good for me too… great new way to do it in a pancake and then add maple syrup???? Another absolutely favorite flavor… great post.. many thanks!
These look so packed full of tasty and nutritionally dense ingredients. Thanks for sharing!
This stack looks beautiful, healthy, and delicious! I keep meaning to add quinoa to my shopping list, but I’ve not bought it yet. One more reason to pick some up.
what a delicious idea to put quinoa in this recipe
I love it
Delphine
I have never tried these but they look delicious with the melted butter on top!
Pancakes looks damn irresistible..
I don’t have these memories of IHop but i love corncakes and these look fantastic with that melted pat of butter on top!
Faith, adding quinoa is an excellent idea…gorgeous looking pancakes.
You know how much I love pancakes, so this Quinoa stack sounds fabulous to me…., nice one.
Wow! What a stack! Now, that is a breakfast that will last you through the day. So fluffy and wonderful looking, too.
Quinoa is such a versatile ingredient and makes such lovely pancakes!
I love pancakes and was thinking with quinoa flour i could at least get some protein in with my deliciousness. Thanks for a tasty recipe. Warheads!!! I remember having competitions with my friends to see who could suck the entire thing with out making a face. Me and my sister were the champions.
we actually didn’t have an IHOP anywhere near us so I missed out on a lot of their delicious meals! I have to see, these quinoa corncakes sound fantastic. And most likely way better than IHOP’s. For your waist AND your soul.
What a great idea to add quinoa to corncakes, Faith! Such a healthy delicious breakfast. I have to confess something, I’ve never been to IHOP before. We finally got one open here just recently.
Wow, those look and sound divine! would you believe I’ve NEVER had corn cakes in my life?! I know, it’s so sad. I think I need to remedy that soon! The idea of the maple syrup and pecans on top has me salivating.
Look at that gorgeous stack of corncakes! I love the addition of quinoa and that you flavored the cakes with cinnamon and maple, excellent!
I can’t believe that I never had the corn pancakes at IHOP! We did go there when I was a kid, but I missed out! I love your version with the quinoa, I bet the texture is wonderful with the corn and nuts as well. Yum!
I haven’t been to IHOP in ages. But I always went for the Rooty Tooty Fresh n Fruity breakfast, just because I liked saying it to my kids :) Your pancakes look fantastic. Better than anything from IHOP!
We had pancakes for supper last night but this looks way healthier!
That is a gorgeous mile high stack of your healthy corn cakes. We rarely went out for breakfast growing up, so I’ve never had the chance to try corn cakes.
Beautiful stack of pancakes. I can’t resist maple at the moment. The healthy touch is very nice. :)
This quinoa corn cake looks delicious. I haven’t tried pancake with cornmeal in it. Look like i need to try them.
I never would have thought to put quinoa in pancakes before – love it!
Quinoa is a very versatile ingredient. I like how you think out of the box, totally loving this one..will try it :)
US Masala
Recently made my first corn pancakes…yum and my. Interesting with quinoa. Sadly IHOP is not present in Quebec but maple syrup is :-)
Oops, sorry Faith, I just realized there are weird slashes in the preview of my comment. An error message came up when I hit submit the first time so I copied and pasted and submitted again and it worked. But I didn’t realize there were weird slashes in between. My mistake!
I have a terrible habit of having an aversion to foods that sound strange to me. Like quinoa lol. So I\’m very embarassed and ashamed to admit that when I read your title in my reader, I thought \’Hmmm this is strangeee\’. So I had to check it out. But wow am I pleasantly surprised! They look so good and better than pancakes! I\’d love to eat this! Still don\’t know what quinoa is, but I\’ll google it and find out haha. Great one Faith, I\’m sorry for doubting! :D
Surely delicious! A healthy treat…
Cheers,
Rosa