*^#$^&&^^% [insert swear word of choice]. While in NYC, I tried a few items from Milk Bar,

M

marilynfl

Moderator
Christina Tosi's ode to sugar treats made for common folk.

Really. Everything is extremely sweet and falls back on childhood memories, like multi-colored cereal that may possibly contain every chemical in the periodic table and colorful jimmies and marshmallows and Cheetos.

But the Key ingredient is SO. MUCH. SUGAR.

Anyway, I tried one of her Corn Cookies and it was good. To me, it immediately tasted like a schmooshed flat and crisp'd version of my uber-sweet corn bread (actually, Disney Wilderness Lodge's corn bread. Containing: Lots of sugar. Lots of butter. In fact, I will NEVER call it corn bread if I serve it here in western NC because I would be shot. Then shot again. Corn bread here is bread made of corn meal. And some buttermilk. Not much else.)

Anyway, I kept the cookie wrapper with ingredients to remind myself to try them out. I also picked up a container of freeze-dried corn at Milk Bar because I knew this was a "special" ingredient. $6. Okay, I'm fine with that.

Back now in NC, I looked at ingredient list on the wrapper and here's what it says:

SUGAR

BUTTER

UNBLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR

CORN

BROWN RICE SYRUP

WATER

SALT

GOLDEN FLAXSEED MEAL

BAKING POWDER

BAKING SODA

Crap. I don't have Brown Rice Syrup because I tossed out the jar I bought forever ago and used only once. And I don't have flaxseed because apparently I don't care enough for the internal workings of my heart to give it Omega-3 essential fatty acids. Nor did I have corn flour, which in one recipe I briefly scanned called for BOTH freeze-dried corn powder AND corn flour.

Okay. So now we've got to add in:

Brown Rice Syrup: $14.99

Flaxseed Meal: $5.99

Corn flour: $4.19

Plus tax because, unlike Florida, NC charges tax on food.

I finally figured I was ready to make these and LO AND BEHOLD, not a single recipe online calls for BROWN RICE SYRUP. NOR FLAXSEED. NOR CORN FLOUR.

I've got Tosi's older book on reserve at the library and am wondering what I'll find in there, because I'm assuming most of the recipes online will have come from that.

Damn. I just wasted $25 plus tax on ingredients for a cookie that will NOT end up tasting like the one I bought in NYC.

(insert groan of disgust at self for not researching better)

 
Corn flour is cornstarch.

Corn flour and cornstarch are the same thing. They are used for thickening agents. Corn flour is a powdery agent made from corn and comes in white and yellow colour. ... In the United States, people call it as corn starch and in the United Kingdom; it is called as corn flour.
Do you have Aldi's up in Asheville? They have flax seek
Can you make flaxseed meal?
Give the seeds a quick blend Starting at Variable Speed 1, Working your way quickly to Variable Sped 10, and on to High. After you start to see the Flax Seeds crush into meal, stop the VitaMix and give the Flax a quick stir with the blunt edge of a knife or spatula.

 
No. I don't believe so. Per *Bob's Red Mill Organic Whole Grain Corn Flour, Stone Ground*

that I'm holding in my hand, ingredients are: Whole Grain Organic Corn. They recommend using it in place of cornmeal for certain recipes.

From Bob's Red Mill site, their Premium Cornstarch is a "dense powder made from the endosperm portion of the corn kernel. Use it as a thickener for pies or sauces, or as an ingredient in gluten free baking."

So, cornstarch is only a portion of the corn grain. Corn flour uses the whole grain.

I think a recipe using cornstarch instead of corn flour would NOT turn out well.

 
It depends on where you come from. Where I come from, originally, ...

what you call corn starch, we call cornflour. So when nlb posted a recipe for corn muffins that required corn flour as well as corn meal, I naturally used what I had. She was most upset, as I was supposed to use the type Marilyn mentioned. I never dared tell her that the muffins were very good. I'm sure they would have been better if I had used the real thing, and one day, I might even try it.

 
I don't see any of nlb's RECs posted here. Could U add those corn muffins, pls, Lana? TIA

 
Danke, Deb. Yours must have been the recipe I remembered with both corns.

Since I have them, I think I'll add a bit of the brown rice syrup and the flaxseed meal. The cookie from NYC was a bit darker than any I've seen online.

 
I do stand corrected and this sounds SO much more correct.

A powdery flour made of finely ground cornmeal, NOT to be confused with cornstarch. The exception is in British and Australian recipes where the term "cornflour" is used synonymously with the U.S. word cornstarch. ...

 
REC nlb's corn muffins

Cornbread or Cornbread Muffins

1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c cornmeal
2/3 c sugar (optional)
1/2 c corn flour, available at health food stores
5 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/3 c milk
1/2 t salt
5 T unsalted butter, melted, I use salted and the 1/2 t salt
1 small egg, beaten

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, corn flour, baking powder, and salt; mix well, breaking up any lumps. In a separate bowl combine the milk, butter and egg and add to the dry ingredients; blend just until mixed and large lumps are dissolved. Do not overbeat.

For bread: Pour mixture into a greased 8x8 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees F. until golden brown, about 55 minutes.

For muffins: Spoon mixture into 12 greased cast iron muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees F. until golden brown; about 45 minutes.

Serve piping hot

 
You can make your own corn flour by grinding cornmeal into a fine powder in a food processor. Did it

many times at a catering kitchen where I was working 2 years ago while making miniature corn muffins. Similar process to buzzing granulated sugar in food processor to yield superfine sugar.

 
We lost a boatload of Gail's recipes when they shut down the site before they could get to Finer

Kitchen. I have loads in hard copy, but only God and a bunch of spiders in my basement know what box they're in.

 
I thought of doing that using my grits, but the store had a bag of the stuff.

God, I hope these cookies are worth it.

 
Brilliant suggestion, Curious1! TY. I was merely putting "nlb" in the Userid line & got nada. I

didn't realize she never made it over to "eat.at". I just assumed I hadn't seen her posting much anymore because her interests had changed. Hope she's okay.

 
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