Black Cherry Cornmeal Pancakes (Hoecakes)

Black Cherry Cornmeal Pancakes, a simple homemade cornmeal pancake (or “hoecake”) recipe made with cornmeal and served with a cherry drizzling sauce. Tasty summer morning treat!

Love cornmeal pancakes? Love fresh summer cherries? Combine them into a flavorful weekend morning treat in this cherry cornmeal pancake recipe.

Here are 3 reasons you should make cherry cornmeal pancakes:

• A simple from-scratch recipe that can be easily whipped up on lazy Sunday mornings
• Great with a simple black cherry compote, but also with whatever seasonal fruit you have on hand
• Easy to freeze and then reheat on a pan or by popping in the toaster on busy mornings

👉 Ready to learn how to make cherry cornmeal pancakes from scratch? Let’s do it!

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🍒 Ingredients

• Cornmeal: Made from ground dried corn, it can be used in pancakes to add a grainy and sweet corn flavor
• Flour: We used all-purpose flour, but spelt flour can also be used to make these corncakes gluten free
• Sugar: Granulated sugar rounds out the flavor of the cakes and helps them fluff when cooking
• Baking soda: Helps the pancakes rise and become soft and fluffy
• Salt: Helps add flavor and helps pancakes rise and become soft
• Eggs: Helps combine ingredients and add moisture
• Milk: Adds moisture to mix all ingredients; can use any traditional milk or a thick plant-based alternative like oat milk
• Oil or butter: To coat the pan; butter adds great flavor
• Cherry syrup ingredients: Black cherries and a touch of maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener) make up the sauce

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🥣 How to make (step-by-step photos)

1️⃣ Step One: Make black cherry sauce

The first step is to make the black cherry sauce! To do this, first wash the cherries and cut them in half to remove the seeds.

Then in a medium sauce pan, heat pitted cherries and brown sugar over medium-low heat until the cherries begin to soften and release their natural juices, and the sugar dissolves (this takes about 10 minutes).

Let the sauce simmer until it starts to thicken and resemble a syrup consistency, then remove the sauce from heat and set aside while you make the corncakes.

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2️⃣ Step Two: Make cornmeal pancake batter

In a large mixing bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt and whisk until all ingredients are well combined.

Then add eggs and milk to the dry ingredient mixture and whisk it well. Then drizzle milk while stirring the batter until it’s thoroughly mixed and has a thick consistency.

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3️⃣ Step Three: Cook the cornmeal pancakes

Now it’s time to cook! Heat a pancake griddle over medium-high heat (you’ll know it’s ready when water sizzles when it’s dripped on the pan).

Add butter or oil and coat the pan evenly, then add about 1/2 cup of the cornmeal pancake batter to the griddle.

Let cook until the top of the batter begins to dry and bubble, which is about 3 minutes. Then flip the pancakes and cook the other side about 1 minute more.

Repeat this until all of the batter is used, which makes about 8 pancakes.

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4️⃣ Step Four: Serve cherry cornmeal cakes

It’s finally time to serve! Place your desired number of pancakes on a plate and top with a drizzle of the black cherry sauce. Then enjoy!

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🧊 How to store

This hoecakes recipe is great for leftovers! Here’s how to store your leftover pancakes:

1. Refrigerator storage: Store leftover cornmeal pancakes in an airtight bag or container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days
2. Freezer storage: Store corncakes in the freezer in a freezer-friendly bag for up to 1 month; to thaw, simply remove and let sit for 20 minutes before reheating on a griddle or place frozen corncakes directly into a toaster for easy thawing and cooking.

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👩‍🍳 Pancake cooking tips

• The best pancakes always start on a hot griddle. Have you noticed that your first pancake is so-so, your second is good, but your third is great? It somehow took me years to figure out that the hotter the pan, the better the cake. The key to great pancakes from the start is to preheat your griddle to medium-high heat before making your first cake.
• You need quality mixes or corn flour. I’m not here to hate on pancake mixes, in fact I cook with them regularly. For this recipe, however, I started from scratch with Bob’s Red Mill Corn Flour.
• You need a good pancake griddle. While a pan or cast iron skillet will do the trick, the best pancakes always came from a great pan. We love GreenPan’s pancake griddle.

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🥞 More seasonal pancake recipes

Want more seasonal sweet breakfast recipes? We’ve got you covered:

• Pluot Brown Sugar Buckwheat Pancakes
• Meyer Lemon Dutch Baby Cake
• Strawberry Ricotta Crepes
• Whole Wheat Pancakes

UPDATE: This recipe was originally published in June 2019 and was updated for clarity in August 2022.