Do you ever have food flashbacks? You know, when you’re just minding your own business and you suddenly think of a food from your past? Sometimes the flashbacks are so strong, you can almost still taste the food, even though you haven’t had it in 20 years. I, for one, think quite often about Keebler’s Magic Middles. And long for them to come back to my grocery store. From what I remember, they were the best cookie ever.
There are actually lots of recipes for Magic Middle-similar cookies out there and some day I will conquer one. But I’d really like to have the originals back, so I can compare. Why on Earth did they ever get rid of these in the first place? Silly little elves in their trees.
And sometimes you just happen upon a recipe and realize it totally reminds you of something from your childhood. When I saw this recipe for Wild Blueberry Cornmeal Cookies on 5 Star Foodie’s blog, I immediately thought of an old breakfast favorite of mine. Thomas’ Toast-R-Cakes. The blueberry variety. Remember these?
Allegedly, they still make them, but I haven’t seen the blueberry Toast-R-Cakes anywhere lately. But now I can actually bake them myself! The recipe I followed calls them cookies, but I’m calling them cakes because they are so incredibly similar to the cakes from Thomas’.
Blueberry Cornmeal Cakes:
• 3/4 C corn flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill found at Whole Foods)
• 1/4 C all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 C unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 C sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 t coconut extract
• 1/2 C wild blueberries (fresh of frozen)
(pre-heat oven to 350 degrees)
Whisk together the corn flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. I used my stand mixer. Don’t call me lazy.
Add the egg and coconut extract and blend well. The second I read that there was coconut extract in this recipe, I remembered the slightly coconut-y taste from the Thomas’ cakes.
Then combine the flour mixture slowly into the butter mixture.
Stir in the wild blueberries.
I love how the colors blend together.
Place scoopfuls of batter onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, about an inch apart.
Put the cookie sheets in the fridge for at least 10 minutes… You can pop them in while you’re pre-heating the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake the cookies for about 12-14 minutes, until the edges start turning golden brown.
And voila! You have your blueberry cornmeal cookies. But really, these are more like toast-r-cakes. In fact, when I told Chris I made cookies, he said “those aren’t cookies!” and said they were more like muffin tops. And he’s right. That’s why I’m calling these cakes.
They really do taste like the Toast-R-Cakes I remember. Talk about a food flashback!
And since I’m sitting here comparing them to Thomas’ Toast-R-Cakes, that means they’re most definitely acceptable to eat for breakfast.
Warmed up and spread with lots and lots of butter.
What’s in a name anyway? A cookie (cake, muffin top) by any other name would be as sweet.
Do you have a food from your childhood that you totally miss? Will you ever try to recreate it?
Next, I totally need to figure out how to make these:
Why did they get rid of all the good cookies from the 80s?
Don’t forget to enter our Sugarbush Ski/Snowboard Gift pack Giveaway! It’s pretty sweet 🙂
[Sues]
OMG, Magic Middlles were amazing! I kind of feel like I only had them once or twice because they were a real treat.
ha, this is so creative! wow, this totally makes me think of all the snack foods I used to LOVE and eat on a regular basis!
Creative idea here- looks wonderful!
Yum – corncakes & blueberries are such a great combo. Total flashback when I saw those ‘Giggles.’ They were a staple when we’d come home from swimming lessons in elementary school :).
Magic Middles!!!! I LOVED those too!!!
holy cookie flashback
magic middles were my favorite. I remember knocking over a toilet paper tower display as a child running to get a package for mom to buy. instead i got a smack on the head for running in the store.
I love the blueberry cornmeal cakes!
I’ve never had these (or heard of them) – they ddidn’t have them in Moldova 😉
… BUT they look amazing! I think I need to make them this weekend 😀
Ah Giggles!! I can’t believe I forgot about those things – they really do need to bring back all of these 80s cookies.
Random ? – Do you think you could grind cornmeal in a food processor to turn it into corn four?
TOTALLY forgot about Magic Middles and giggles. One of my favs growing up was dunkaroos too. These cakes look tasty. They remind me of a muffin top (aka the best part of the muffin). I so want to make this with a different fruit (Josh isn’t a blueberry fan…bah!)
omg! totally remember Giggles! well, i didn’t remember the name, but i definitely remember eating those and thinking they were awesome. AAHH memories!
I used to love pop tarts! I keep seeing homemade pop tarts at Farmer’s Markets and bakeries. I wouldn’t mind giving that recipe a go…
Oh man, I used to love toast r cakes. they had them in a raisin bran flavor too.
These look so yummy. I love the combination of blueberry and corn-bread.
Giggles! I always tell people about those cookies and they don’t know what I’m talking about. I would swoon if Nabisco brought those back!
yummm.
and my brother was bemoaning the loss of magic middles just mere weeks ago. they WERE the best cookies ever!
Haven’t thought about Magic Middles in years – I forgot they even existed! Ahh they were sooo delicious!
oh i remember those cookies… love giggles too..they are just so cute! and thanks for sharing this recipe it sounds really awesome:)
Damn it Sues…now I’m seriously craving both Magic Middles and Giggles. Aren’t the Keebler elf cookies with the chocolate middles still around? Closest thing to Giggles I can think of.
i loooved toast r cakes! i got the corn muffin ones recently because i had a craving for them! these blueberry cornmeal cakes sound delicious though!
i don’t think i ever ate magic middles…but i definitely had tons of the chocolate in the middle elf cookies. 🙂
and your cakes now have me craving blueberries!
Now I want magic middles AND giggles. Talk about a flashback! 🙂 My favorite line from this post: “Silly little elves in their trees.” Love it.
I’ve seen the Toast-R-Cakes…but not blueberry. Those look really good.
Oh gosh, Giggles and Magic Middles are giving me a major cookie flashback! These are cookies, but do you remember O’Boises? Thick bubbly potato chips. The blueberry cornmeal cakes look mighty delicious!
Allegedly? I buy Toast-R-Cakes all the time at my local Market Basket!
So great of you to make these from scratch. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the blueberry ones too.
Oh I miss Giggles and Magic Middles. Ahh memories!
OMG Giggles!!!! Those just brought a rush of memories back. I tell people all the time that I wish we still had Crystal Pepsi.
Whoa, this post totally transported me back to childhood! I actually some of the regular Toast-R-Cakes about a month ago because I hadn’t had them in YEARS and I loved them so much. And OMG, I forgot all about Magic Middles AND Giggles, but now I want them again!
Oh… Giggles… that just made me sad and nostalgic for elementary school… I hadn’t thought of them at all since then and it all came rushing back!
hehe, middles and toaster pastries?! total flashbacks 🙂 and thus these little cakes would be very much enjoyed!
I love those Toast-R-Cakes! I used to have them in the AM before school. They were like part toast-part pancake. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
i don’t remember any of those cookies! guess i was too young… but they look fun 🙂
I remember those cookies – and the toast-r-cakes! Do you remember the microwavable s’mores? they sold them in the freezer section of the grocery store…..I loved those.
Great recipe my husband loves them. I did 1 thing different though -I lightly dredged my dry blueberries in a little flour before adding them to the batter. and they look awesome just like Thomas Toaster cakes but better because they are yours. Oh I have not seen blueberry toaster cakes on the store shelves for awhile only the plain corn toaster cakes.
Thanks
Psst! I am eating Nature Valley Breakfast Biscuits in Blueberry and I started thinking, these remind me of something, and sure enough, I end up searching for Thomas Blueberry Cakes. That’s it! The texture of the biscuits is different, but the taste is such a throwback.