Bahamian Johnny Cake

Bahamian johnny cake recipe originally posted in 2014.

Updated in 2019 with new pictures and recipe card.

Bahamian johnny cake is a Caribbean specialty, which I make in my Southern-American kitchen in lieu of cornbread. Growing up, I spent most Spring Breaks and sometimes part of Summer vacation in the Bahamas with my family. We have been to many places in the Bahamas, but one of our favorites is Hope Town.

This small village is on Elbow Cay, which forms the northern tip of the Abaco island chain. This area is in the northern Bahamas; it’s actually very close to Florida!

In Hope Town, the locals are very welcoming and in this very tiny community there is a cute church, a school, a museum, and a beautiful lighthouse.  There are also several groceries on the island that serve up great, Bahamian classics! As a child, I remember waking up early in the morning and driving down to these stores. We would pick up some delicious homemade bread for lunches on the boat, plenty of Kaliks, and johnny cake. Kalik, one of the local beers,  is always popular, and now that the entire family is “of age” according to Bahamian law, we can go through entire cases each time we visit!

While we spent most of our time boating around from island to island, we also loved finding little beaches to sit and relax. Every time we visited there was something new and interesting to see!

Johnny cake is reminiscent of a Southern specialty: corn bread! I am not a big fan of corn bread because it is usually too dry and often has a slight buttermilk flavor. However, johnny cake does not include buttermilk and for some reason it is always so deliciously moist! Johnny cake batter can be poured onto a griddle and cooked like a pancake, but in the Bahamas it often takes the form of a loaf and thus resembles corn bread. My daughter is absolutely smitten with it and will eat an entire pan if we let her!

This recipe for Bahamian johnny cake is incredibly easy! Really, even beginner cooks can do this! It doesn’t make a mess and it doesn’t take too much time. If you want to add a southwestern twist, you can chop up some jalapeño and throw that in the batter!