Add Cornmeal To Your Sugar Cookie Dough For Chewier Results

There's a lot to love about the classic sugar cookie. While they're excellent plain and straight from the cooling rack, you can also use the neutral base to experiment with different add-ins. One of the most creative mix-ins, which fuses the timeless cookie with an equally delicious Southern side dish, is cornmeal. The flavor of cornmeal is just that, corny; it's not too sweet and it's not too savory. You'll also find that cookies made with cornmeal have a subtle nutty quality to them, which makes them all the more compelling and interesting.

The key to a successful batch of cornmeal cookies is to use cornmeal in addition to your sugar cookie ingredients, rather than just trying to plop cornmeal batter on a tray and bake it. You'll want to add about 3/4 cup of cornmeal to the batter with your leavening agents, like baking soda or baking powder. It's important to remember that while cornmeal plays a role in the structure and chewy consistency of your cookies, it's not a replacement for wheat flour. Rather, using wheat flour and cornmeal in tandem will ensure that your cookies come out pliable and soft. Then, once your batter is well-mixed, roll it into balls and bake it like a normal cookie dough. You can also decide whether you want to use yellow, white, or blue cornmeal in your recipe; while the flavor is, by and large, the same, each variety will produce a different-colored cookie.

Cornmeal cookies are just the start when it comes to innovating and experimenting with new ingredients and flavors in your kitchen. One other that we find goes particularly well with the mild nuttiness of the corn is blueberries. You might consider stirring in some freeze-dried fruit to your cornmeal cookie batter to draw attention to this dynamic flavor profile. Or, you might experiment with different herbs and spices to make your cookies taste a little more mature. One spice that we recommend is thyme; the flavor is rather herbal and woody, but also gentle on the palate. It won't overwhelm the flavor of the corn, and will instead act as a unique complement that will make your cookies traverse a thin line between savory and sweet. 

Regardless of your additional add-ins, one ingredient you should always include in your cookie recipe is honey. Honey is often found in cornbread recipes because its florality accentuates the cornmeal's profile. This sweetener is also in good company with nutmeg and cinnamon, which can turn your cornmeal cookies into something a little more autumnal.