Just like the grocery store favorite this copycat Trader Joes corn cookies tastes like a sugar cookie with a soft hint of corn in every bite. And the smell from your oven is absolutely amazing! It smells just like a fresh batch of sweet cornbread and fresh sugar cookies are baking!
what are trader joes corn cookies?
Trader Joes is a natural grocery store that is full of innovative and unique products! The Trader Joes Corn Cookie Mix is one that you can periodically find on shelves. The mix generally includes gluten flour, corn flour and corn meal. For these cookies, I am making sure that the copycat recipe has food allergy substitutions because everybody should enjoy cookies! Plural.
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Ingredients
This recipe has more than our usual 5 ingredient recipes, so if you're looking for some simple ingredient cookies consider our Andes mint cookies, peanut butter blossom cookies, or some hot cocoa cookies. All of these are made with 5 ingredients or less. To get started on these corn cookies you will need:
- Butter
- Egg
- Sugar
- Flour
- Corn meal
- Corn flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease or line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes on medium speed until butter is light and fluffy. Turn off mixer, scrape bowl and put mixer on low speed. Add the egg and remaining ingredients, continuing to stir until well blended.
- Drop the dough by tablespoons onto your cookie sheet, leaving several inches of space between cookies.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 12-15 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool for several minutes on the cookie sheet before moving cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
Substitutions
Everyone can enjoy these cookies! I included some substitutions you can make for making these cookies if you need to make some dietary changes.
- Gluten free: Substitute gluten free flour in place of the all purpose flour. Determine if your mix has xantham gum in it. That helps bind your cookies together. You can also add 1 teaspoon of psyllium husk to help the cookies bind better together too.
- Dairy free: Use dairy free butter in place of the butter in this recipe.
- Vegan: For making these cookies vegan, use plant based butter and egg replacer for the egg.
Tips
- What is the difference between cornmeal and corn flour? You will need both for this recipe. Looking at the back of the Trader Joe's mix it calls for both corn flour and corn meal. When I opened the bag of both and looked inside I really had a hard time telling the difference. So I grabbed a scoop of each and put them on a plate. It was interesting to see that even though they look very similar the corn meal spread and didn't retain it's shape as well as the corn flour. The corn flour also appeared to have a thicker consistency once out of the bag.
- Butter: Making sure your butter is softened, not melted or too softened is super important to getting the perfect cookie shape.
Serving
To me, these cookies can be served anytime of the year but I love that these corn cookies feel more summer and fall like to me. I think they would pair perfectly with a glass of Trader Joes Jalapeno Lemonade or Trader Joes Watermelon Lemonade.
Storing
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. For longer storage, freeze the cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet, then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. They can be frozen for up to 3 months.
FAQ
My taste testers all agreed that while cooking, the house smelled like cornbread and sugar cookies. They had different ideas on the taste though. Child 1 thought they tasted like a sugar cookie. The next child thought they had a snickerdoodle vibe. My third child went with sugar cookie and my husband thought they tasted like a sugar cookie with a hint of cornbread.
No, unfortunately the texture and taste of the cookies requires that you use both corn flour and cornmeal.
Yes, you can make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours. Let the dough come to room temperature before baking for best results.
Was your butter too soft? Did you maybe need to add a little bit more flour? You want your dough to resemble sugar cookie dough. You may want to also experiment by cooking one cookie first then seeing if you need to add any more flour. I would suggest adding flour one tablespoon at a time.
Copycat Trader Joes Corn Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie sheet
- Parchment paper optional
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 whole egg
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- ½ cup corn meal
- ¼-1/2 cup corn flour (use approximately ¼ cup if using all purpose flour, use approximately ½ cup if using gluten free flour blend)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 325°F (165°C). Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper, then set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and set the mixer to low speed.
- Add Egg and Remaining Ingredients: Add the egg and any remaining ingredients to the bowl, continuing to mix on low speed until everything is well blended.
- Drop Dough onto Cookie Sheet: Drop tablespoons of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, leaving several inches of space between each cookie to allow for spreading.
- Bake Cookies: Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Rachael
Oh, my goodness! These look SO good! I recently tried making a corn cookie that went alright, but it was a little denser than expected. I also love your recipe card! So sweet. Thanks for sharing!
creativejewishmom/sara
Looks great and nice to "meet" you on craft schooling Sunday!
Jeremy
Maybe do a test cookie with your dough, instead of making 3 sheets of 1 giant cookie after the tablespoons dropped several inches from each other melts into a single pool as it bakes 😕
burntapple
Hi Jeremy can you clarify what you are talking about? Thanks! Traci
Shelley Whittaker
These sound yummy - thanks for sharing the recipe! #KCACOLS
Jade
These look so tasty, love the kids descriptions too. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time
Clare M
These look tasty and I have a gluten free friend who would appreciate them. #KCACOLS
T.U
#KCACOLS oooh, i love Traders Joe and everything around it. These cookies are so amazing.
Helen Copson
These look delicious. But now I need to know what a Snickerdoodle is?? Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time"
Dana, A mamanista life
I always have corn flour and corn meal in the cupboard but i've never used them for baking cookies. These look delish x x
burntapple
I know! Until I saw them at Trader Joes I would've never known corn cookies were a thing! Enjoy!!
Kris
Delish!!!! Made using monk sugar and turned out fabulous!
burntapple
Aw, so glad to hear that!
Karen
can you sub for corn flour if usingGF flour and with what? Thanks
burntapple
unforunately Karen you will need to use corn flour. It is gluten free. It's just a finer flour. You'll need that to have a rich corn taste to the cookie. Hope that helps!
Lindsay N
Hi! I've tried to make these twice now and both times the cookies flatten out paper thin. Any suggestions on what is happening? Thank you!
burntapple
It's hard to know. Are you using gluten free flour or regular all purpose flour? Maybe try adding a tablespoon or two more of flour to the batter and then baking one cookie to see if the cookie continues to come out paper thin. They should come out thin, but probably not paper thin. If it's gluten free flour it can depend on the brand you are using. Sometimes it could also be the baking powder being older too. Thanks for reaching out!
jade
Were my classmates are doing a science fair. And I'm doing cookies because I like cookies I am make the and trying them see how they taste?
burntapple
I'm so excited for you! these are some of my favorite cookies! They taste like cornbread and sugar cookies together! Good luck on your science fair!
Kevin
I'm really excited to try these. The corn cookie mix from TJ's (which I *think* was a copycat of Milk Bar's corn cookie) was one of my faves, and I've missed it since it was discontinued.
burntapple
Yeah! Please let me know how you like them!