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Buttery, Mushy, Pillowy, and Fried to Golden Perfection

Why It Works

  • Together with cornmeal within the batter contributes to the crispy exterior and provides sweetness to the Johnny muffins.
  • The inclusion of butter retains the dough moist inside and delivers a frivolously crispy exterior.
  • Frying in small batches helps maintain the oil on the appropriate temperature, stopping the muffins from getting greasy.

The one factor higher than a white Christmas is an island Christmas. I’ve been fortunate sufficient to expertise the latter a number of occasions whereas visiting my dad’s hometown, Christiansted, within the US Virgin Islands. Because the capital of St. Croix, the biggest island within the USVI, it’s a improbable place to spend the vacations—or any time. Throughout Christmas, the streets come alive with artwork festivals, soca bands, and the colourful performances of moko jumbies, who dance on towering six-foot stilts. One of the best meals distributors are out on the streets serving all of the island classics: salt fish, guava pies, jerk all the things, and my absolute favourite, Johnny muffins.

Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


Pillowy, golden brown Johnny muffins are served recent from the fryer from breakfast till midnight at all the native eating places on the island. My private favorites come from La Reine Rooster Shack—an unassuming roadside restaurant identified for making a few of the finest hen in St. Croix. The scent of hen slow-roasting over coals reaches you lengthy earlier than you stroll to the counter. Once I order provisions (aka sides), I by no means skip the Johnny muffins.

What Are Johnny Truffles?

Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


Traditional Johnny muffins like the sort you may discover within the Caribbean are constituted of white flour and will or might not have a small quantity of cornmeal added to the dough for added taste, texture, and shade (this recipe does). Granulated sugar provides a contact of sweetness, butter retains the inside moist, and baking soda helps the dough rise. After a brief relaxation, the dough is formed into small balls, flattened with a palm or rolling pin, then deep-fried till golden brown. Because the Johnny muffins fry, the gasoline bubbles created by the baking soda increase, creating a light-weight and fluffy texture and pleasantly candy aroma. They’re denser than a beignet and never as candy as a yeasted doughnut, as an alternative splendidly tender with a chewy texture and only a contact of sweetness. It is price noting, they are not meant to be a dessert. You possibly can get pleasure from Johnny muffins any time of day, for breakfast, as a snack for tea time, or as bread for sopping up curry at dinner.

The origin story for Johnny muffins is tough to type out, relationship again a minimum of to colonial occasions, although in all probability effectively earlier than. In New England in the present day, and Rhode Island particularly, there is a continued custom of cooking cornmeal-based “Johnny muffins,” which doubtless have their roots in indigenous American cooking (probably by the Algonquin, Narragansett, or Iroquois tribes). Johnny muffins, and comparable dishes generally known as ashcakes, Shawnee muffins, and hoecakes, are additionally in style within the South, opening up the query of the contributions of Black (doubtless enslaved) Individuals within the evolution and unfold of most of these preparations. Whereas I have not discovered concrete proof, it’s believable to think about that these American iterations of the Johnny cake are the precursors to the Johnny muffins discovered within the Caribbean in the present day. Many questions stay: How did they get to the Caribbean? Who launched white flour into the recipe? When did it turn out to be a deep-fried dough? The journey of Johnny muffins from a cornmeal batter cooked over a hearth within the Northeast to a fried dough of largely white flour within the Caribbean is tough to doc. At the moment, although, we will safely say you may discover that almost each island within the Caribbean has a baked or fried model of Johnny muffins.

What to Think about When Making Johnny Truffles

For this Johnny cake recipe, I needed to recreate the Johnny muffins I like a lot at La Reine Rooster Shack and so many different eating places I go to every time I am in St. Croix, particularly since I can not make the journey there yearly. And having a fantastic selfmade recipe has worth all its personal, no matter my journey plans—I can not stress sufficient how significantly better Johnny muffins are after they’re so steaming sizzling you may barely maintain them. Sure, you may reheat them in an air-fryer as soon as they cool, and I do, however it’s simply not the identical as after they’re recent from the fryer.

Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


Use bread flour or an AP flour with a better gluten content material. I’ve made this recipe with all-purpose flour, bread flour, and King Arthur’s AP flour (a better protein all-purpose flour), and I just like the chew that bread flour supplies finest. With that mentioned, after I made these with the King Arthur AP flour, the outcomes weren’t noticeably totally different from commonplace bread flour, in order that’s a fantastic possibility as effectively. Both means, you should definitely let your dough relaxation earlier than frying so the gluten can chill out. Nobody desires a tricky Johnny cake!

Use the best cornmeal. Particularly, a finely floor cornmeal that seamlessly whisks into the flour and would not add graininess to the ultimate product. The cornmeal provides a refined sweetness (along with the sugar), and helps the Johnny muffins tackle a deeper golden hue as soon as fried. It is solely a small amount, however it makes an enormous distinction when it comes to taste and texture.

Butter makes it higher. Based on my auntie, Johnny muffins have been as soon as made with lard earlier than refrigeration made butter extensively accessible. At the moment you may discover that many individuals within the Caribbean are vegetarians, so it is sensible that butter is often used as an alternative of lard within the dough in the present day. That trace of buttery taste is a pleasant contact and the fats helps to maintain the inside moist.

Make these by hand or use a mixer. The straightforward dough comes collectively in a single bowl and might simply be made by hand, however after I’m making rather a lot I often use my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. In the event you select that route, the dough will come collectively in simply minutes, however you may miss out on the enjoyable of watching a shaggy dough flip supple and easy proper within the palm of your arms.

Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


Johnny muffins pair completely with absolutely anything—oxtail, fish, and even callaloo—however I particularly love consuming them on their very own. With a glass of sorrel or some rum punch in hand, you’ll have all the things you want for an actual island Christmas.

Johnny Truffles: Buttery, Mushy, Pillowy, and Fried to Golden Perfection



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  • 600 g bread flour (21 1/4 ounces; 4 1/4 cups), plus extra for dusting

  • 3 tablespoons advantageous yellow cornmeal (1 1/4 ounces; 23g)

  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (1 1/3 ounces; 38g)

  • 1 tablespoon baking powder plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature

  • 1 1/2 cups (355 ml) water

  • 2 quarts (1.9L) canola or different impartial oil, for frying

  1. In a big bowl, completely whisk collectively flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Utilizing your fingers, rub butter into dry elements till combination is crumbly with no giant chunks of butter.

    Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


  2. Make a effectively within the middle of the flour combination, then pour water into the effectively. Utilizing a wood spoon, then your arms, combine water into flour combination till a agency but elastic dough ball is shaped.

    Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


  3. On a frivolously floured floor, prove the dough and knead till easy and elastic.

    Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


  4. Place the dough in a clear bowl and canopy with a moist towel. Let relaxation at room temperature for half-hour.

    Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


  5. After the dough has rested, divide into 12 equal-size balls (about 90g; 3 ounces every).

    Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


  6. On a clear work floor, working with 1 dough ball at a time and masking the remaining with a moist towel, roll right into a small 4-inch (10cm) spherical. Repeat with remaining dough balls.

    Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


  7. Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels or wire rack. In a big Dutch oven crammed with about 2 inches of oil (or an electrical fryer crammed to its minimal fill line), warmth oil over medium-high warmth till it registers 350°F (177°C) on an instant-read thermometer. Working in batches of about 3 at a time to keep away from crowding, fry dough rounds till golden on first aspect, 2 to three minutes. Flip Johnny muffins and fry till second aspect is golden, 2 to three minutes longer. Take away from oil and drain on a wire rack or paper towels. Return oil to 350°F (177°C) and repeat with remaining dough rounds. Switch to a serving platter and serve sizzling, heat, or at room temperature.

    Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


Particular Tools

Massive Dutch oven or deep fryer, instant-read thermometer, rimmed baking sheet, wire rack or paper towels

Make Forward and Storage

Johnny muffins are finest served instantly, however leftovers could be rewarmed in an air fryer at 350ºF (175ºC) till warmed by way of, about 5 minutes.

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