Learn how to make perfect Cornmeal Cookies, with crispy edges, soft centres and the taste of buttery corn in every bite. Made with polenta, these are my fave Corn Cookies!
Perfect Cornmeal Cookies 💙
And I’m talking p-e-r-f-e-c-t. With crispy golden edges, a soft centre and the taste of buttery corn in everrry single bite. Made with polenta or cornmeal, these Corn Cookies are hands down, one of my favourite cookies ever.
Flavour, texture and a little crunch – this cookie has it all.
I have to credit my husband for the inspiration for this recipe. He asked me to make him a Corn Cookie. I first thought, what in the world is a Corn Cookie? But I went to work with a fresh bag of polenta in one hand and my kitchen mixer in the other.
My first batch went in the oven as 6 individual cookies and emerged as one giant one. Not exactly what I was intending. But the flavour was there.
So over the coming days I tried again. And again. And again. I was up to my ears in Corn Cookies. I had ones that were so thin they were see-through, then ones that were so fat, they were like whoopie pies. And then there was the flavour. I made them too sweet, too salty, not corn-y enough.
Then, I struck gold – in the form of the perfect Cornmeal Cookie. One with crisp golden edges boasting the perfect amount of chew, a light and fluffy centre and a sweet corn flavour that’s reminiscent of a good piece of cornbread.
FYI I am now completely hooked on cornmeal cookies.
So I dedicate these to my husband, who randomly sent me on a wild ride, but helped me discover my new favourite cookie. If you have a bag of polenta in your cupboard, you need to try these cookies!
HOW TO MAKE PERFECT CORNMEAL COOKIES
- These Corn Cookies are so easy to make. You will need an electric mixer or beater.
- Start with room temperature butter – it needs to be softened so not fridge cold, but not melty by any means.
- We use a combination of brown sugar for extra flavour and caster sugar for crispness. You can swap caster sugar with granulated sugar if you like. Read more about caster sugar here.
- We add a little bit of honey to the cookie batter which means these cookies reminiscent of honey cornbread – amazing!
- The cookies call for part plain or all purpose flour and part polenta or cornmeal. It means the cookies have a lovely soft texture but also a little crunch and flavour from the polenta.
- Bake for approximately 12 minutes, or until the cookies have spread out in the oven and gone slightly golden on the edges. They will be very soft when they first come out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
MORE COOKIE RECIPES TO TRY
- Honey Cookies
- Lemon Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chocolate Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.
Let's Bake
Perfect Cornmeal Cookies
Easy Corn Cookies made with polenta or cornmeal and honey.
Ingredients
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) caster sugar
- 45 grams (1/4 cup) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 175 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 120 grams (3/4 cup) cornmeal or polenta
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line two baking trays with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars until pale and creamy. Add the vanilla, egg and honey and mix again until combined.
- Sift in the plain flour and baking soda. Add the polenta and salt and stir until combined. Roll balls of cookie dough using your hands, approximately 1.5 tablespoons each, and place on prepared trays.
- Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Nutrition Information
This recipe was first published on Sweetest Menu in May 2017.
Ellie says
I just made these cookies – and now I am printing the recipe to my pdf keeper file. I made a couple of minor changes to match my family’s taste. I did go the 1/4 baking soda and 1/4 baking powder route. I used 3/4 tsp vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract and added zest from one lemon as the flavoring. Then I swirl piped the dough to make the cookies. Came out fantastic and pretty! The balance of butter (I used an Irish unsalted butter), honey and other ingredients is spot on for texture and flavor balance. Thank you for such a lovely recipe.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them Ellie! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Chris says
These are really great. I made them because I wanted a firmer, sweeter, cornbread to crumble and put in a honey and blueberry ice cream, but ended up liking the cookies on their own so much that we hardly had enough left to put in the ice cream. Great recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
Aw love that Chris! And paring with honey and blueberry ice cream sounds magical!
Jennifer G says
These are beautiful cookies full of amazing flavor. I did this recipe X’s 4 for a large party. My Mexican friends call these Corico’s. So I did things a little different. I used Irish Butter and whipped it for 5 minutes, I used standard cornmeal because that’s all I could find and I went to 4 stores to find it. Next time I would use Bob’s red mill organic cornmeal. I whipped the butter with the sugar another 5 minutes. I used 4 large eggs at room temperature. Now that rolling the dough into ball’s oh my no, I used a scoop and it works beautifully. With my oven I need 14 minutes to cook. These have a sweet combined with hot buttered corn flavor. Insanely good. Make these you will love these.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Jennifer! Thank you for your lovely feedback!
Kelly P says
I just made these after I bought some polenta, made cornbread, and wondered what else was out there. A random google search led me here. These cookies are delicious! Mine didn’t flatten as much (even though I used a scale) and came out darker (even when I reduced cooking time on second batch) but that didn’t affect their flavor at all. I loved them! The corn taste came through and they were just the right amount of sweet. The crispy edges and the chewy center made for a perfect cookie. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. Thank you!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So pleased you enjoyed them Kelly! Thank you for your lovely feedback.
Rachel says
I never comment on recipes but felt obligated to because these were SO DELICIOUS! I went searching for a cornmeal cookie recipe after having one at a local bakery.
I used irish unsalted butter, regular cornmeal, and granulated sugar., followed recipe exactly as written Wowza. So simple, but so incredible. These are a keeper for sure. I drizzled a little honey on top before eating. Equally loved by kids and adults, thank you for this recipe!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them Rachel! Thank you for your kind feedback. They are one of my favourites too!
Catherine maxey says
Super easy. I didn’t have caster sugar so just used granulated. .made them with a small ice cream scoop so got 28 from the batch. Love having the weights listed for ingredients.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed them Catherine!
Marie says
Just made this because I was craving cornbread, but also cookies. So I googled it and here we are. They are fantastic. If cornbread and cookies had children. I did as another reviewer recommended and did 1/4 baking powder 1/4 baking soda and they came out deliciously puffy and soft. The batch won’t last the afternoon!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies Marie! I love them too! ❤️
mickey says
Oops something didn’t go right. They stayed round balls & did not flatten out. I rarely have problems. Altitude maybe? Positive got ingredients correct.
Jessica Holmes says
Hey Mickey, I haven’t had that problem myself but it’s most likely you perhaps added more flour and polenta. Cookies rely on that careful balance of butter and flour to ensure they spread correctly. I recommend using a kitchen scale rather than cups if you can. In saying that I don’t have any experience with altitude baking so not sure how that might play a factor as well?
Nick says
I made these at home today and they tuned out PERFECTLY. I think these might be my favourite kind of cookie now. the only thing I altered was that where the recipe calls for, “1/2 tsp baking soda”, I used a 1/4 tsp of baking powder AND a 1/4 tsp of baking soda. In my opinion this gives the cookie a better rise and makes for a chewier cookie.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Awesome to hear Nick! So glad you enjoyed them! And love the tip for baking soda and baking powder – I’ll have to try that one!
Apple says
they came out perfectly, very easy recipe…would probably use finer cornmeal next time. thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them!
Mary says
Just finished making these and they are a big hit in our house! Wonderful, thank you for sharing the recipe.
A question, mine definitely didn’t flatten like yours in your photos. My only variation was not using a room temp egg (just forgot to take out ahead of time!). Could that have been cause?
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them Mary! If they didn’t flatten, my best guess would be that you may have added a little too much flour and it polenta? I recommend using a kitchen scale to measure if you can! Or your butter wasn’t softened enough. Hope that helps!
Mary says
That could be. Thank you for the quick reply!
Sarah says
Mine also didn’t flatten (I weighed out the flour and polenta). for the second tray into the oven, I just pressed them like an oatmeal cookie and dropped the cooking time to 10 minutes and good to go from there.
Delicious!
★★★★
Naheed says
Hi…i have just baked them a couple of hours ago and they turned out very nice..i added a few choc chips too to some for the kids…i had cornmeal at home and didn’t know how to use it and this was the best recipe ever.
Thank you so much for posting and sharing.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that! It’s so nice when you can make something delicious with ingredients you already have at home!
J.D. says
Need help with ingredients list.
Self-rising or plain cornmeal?
Thank you so much!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, just plain cornmeal for these cookies.
Dragana says
I made these cookies an hour ago, and my son and I have already eaten a third of them… we cannot get enough! I’ll have to double my morning jog tomorrow but it is SO worth it! They are absolutely fabulous, the texture is divine, the chewy-crunchy combination makes for hands down the best cookies I personally have ever made, or tasted for that matter. We are hooked!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
What lovely feedback! I’m so pleased you loved them – they’re one of my favourites too! ☺️
Bruce says
Subbed a combo of maple sugar/natural crystals for the caster sugar…no probs. I used fine cornmeal instead of the medium-grind I more often use. Also good. Recently got some super-non-stick pans, so didn’t bother with the parchment paper. Couple of other minor differences how I did it. Anyway, great results and easy to make.. The cookies are on the sweetish side but not overly so. And way tasty! I like their texture much more than the “other” cornmeal cookie recipe I have used. Winner.
★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Thanks for the feedback Bruce! So glad you enjoyed them ☺️
TerryG says
I plan to make these, since I adore cornbread and am getting more into making all kinds of cookies lately. But if each cookie is a heaping teaspoon, is the calorie count REALLY that high for a single cookie? (Say it ain’t so! I never eat just one!)
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Terry! Thanks for your comment. To be fair, a heaped teaspoon is probably on the conservative side. This batch makes 12 decent sized cookies (the calorie count is right) but you can make them as big or small as you wish!! Enjoy! ☺️
Josh says
These are my favourite cookies!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad to hear that Josh! They’re one of my favourites too.
Monica says
Wanting to make these cookies today but I have a few questions! How big do these come out? It says to roll into teaspoons before baking but that seems very small. Also, do you use dark brown or light brown sugar? Thanks, I’m excited to try these! I want to make icecream sandwiches with them.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Monica, thanks for getting in touch! Excited you are going to try these – especially to make ice cream sandwiches! Yum! I rolled these using a heaped teaspoon of dough, around a size 40 cookie scoop, but its really up to you how big or small you want them. You could even try cooking one or two and see how big they are. I would recommend light brown sugar. We only have one type of brown sugar in Australia but I believe it is most similar to light brown sugar. Hope that helps, would love to see a photo of your creation! x
Danielle says
OMG, I saw cornmeal cookies and couldn’t get to the recipe fast enough. YUM! I love cornmeal pancakes and cornbread, so what a great idea. Can’t wait to give these a shot!
Lynn says
I’m so intrigued!! These sound amazing. I love me a good cornbread, so I bet these would be just like that, but even better, because: COOKIE!
Jessica Holmes says
Oh if you love cornbread, you would love these Lynn!!