Rhode Island Johnny Cakes

Move over, classic stack. Rhode Island Johnny Cakes are in town.

Every Sunday is #PancakeSunday.  Every Sunday morning I make myself pancakes, usually with chocolate chips, and always smeared with peanut butter and drizzled with honey.  It’s a tradition, and an indulgence, and kicks off what is usually a pretty lazy day.  With my friend in town, I figured I’d involve her in the great blog project and try something new now that I had a temporary and very willing guinea pig. Moving along to the American Northeast, I swapped my usual Sunday fare for the New England, more specifically Rhode Island Johnny Cakes.  Thought to be influenced by the Native Americans that once populated that region, they used to be called journey cakes because they were easy to transport and kept well on long journeys.  They can be made two ways: flat like corn tortillas, or puffy like traditional pancakes. I chose the latter because otherwise they would have seemed a bit more like crepes to me, and we’ll be eating those later on for sure.  Most recipes I found lacked a leavening agent, so I added some baking powder and baking soda to the recipe to give them puff. Garnished with pecans and maple syrup, we dug in.

The consensus? Thumbs up, though the flavor wasn’t quite what we were looking for, and of us agreed that we’d prefer the traditional IHOP flour variety.  Maybe it’s a Rhode Island thing…? Guess I’ll have to trek there to find out for myself!

Alternatively, here’s a site that offered a bunch of different varieties that you can try.