Can I substitute anything for cornmeal?

[CastsSpellsWitchySpells]

Never bought cornmeal and don't really know what it's like, but want to try making these pancakes for DD's breakfast, as she won't let me spoon anything into her. Can anyone suggest what I could use instead?

Dairy Free Banana Pancakes

Makes 4

Ingredients

50g/2oz Rolled Oats

50g/2oz Plain Flour

50g/2oz Cornmeal (white or yellow)

1 tbsp Baking Powder

360ml/12fl.oz. Water

3 Ripe Bananas, sliced

Vegetable Oil for frying

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to very low. Place all the ingredients (apart from the fruit and oil) in a large mixing bowl and mix until well blended. Add the fruit and mix well.

1. Heat about 1 teaspoon of oil in a small frying pan until very hot the pour 1/4 of the batter mixture into the pan, swirling it around to cover the base evenly.

1. Reduce the heat and fry over low heat until the first side is lightly browned, then turn and fry on the other side until done.

1. Transfer to a warmed plate, cover loosely with foil and place in the oven to keep warm whilst you cook the remaining pancakes.

No cooks online tonight then?

I would probably bump the oats and regular flour? Cornmeal is a gritty heavy powder, so to speak ...

Thanks NQC - will give it a try.

Meant to let you know btw that we aren't going to Montreal after all. They wouldn't free DH up from his current role, so have sent someone else.

Polenta?

Cupboard is all bare of polenta, but thanks for the suggestion .

Oh, that's too bad. It was going to be winter, though, wasn't it? Winter in Montreal with a little one would kinda suck, in some ways ...

Now you tell me .

Polenta was my guess too. I'd probably stick oatmeal in although it's really not the same thing at all

Well I've measured it out according to NQC's suggestion now, but you know it doesn't really matter don't you Soupy, as it will all just end up on the floor anyway .

But you have to get the right shredding/squidging factor!

If it's less shredable than the porridge pancakes then I'll be happy! Would you like me to send you the crumbs so that BabyDragon can eat them once they've gone all dry and crusty?

Pancakes were a success. You might like to try them with BabyDragon. First time I've got banana and oats into DD without requiring a MAJOR clean up afterwards.

For Future information, cornmeal is what they call polenta in America (BTW not the quick cook kind )

Of course since your DD ate them, maybe you don't want to mess with the recipe

Sometimes I get my mother to bring me blue cornmeal -- now that really throws the DC !

Hmm, I have found cornmeal for sale in the UK, marked as "cornmeal". The polenta I bought was definately instant polenta ... not sure how they make that, but it is weird stuff ...

I bought polenta today but think it's quick cook . Ah well, will give it a go and see what happens - nothing ventured nothing gained!

cornmeal in the US and polenta (non quick cook) here are only slightly different in that cornmeal tends to be a coarser. But I have used them interchangeably in making my cornbread.

I tend to have to go to a little specialist shop to get the non quick cook variety of polenta. As I haven't seen it in Tesco, Sainsbury's or Waitrose !

The good news is that it worked fine with the quick cook stuff. Much better consistency than yesterday, as the extra oats absorbed so much of the liquid that it was very thick and stodgy to cook, but today was much more pancakey!