These Blueberry Corn Toaster Cakes are a cross between a cookie and a cake and will remind you of the Toast-R-Cakes you grew up with. Breakfast or dessert, anything goes with these homemade toaster cakes!
(This recipe for Blueberry Corn Toaster Cakes was originally published in January 2011, but was updated with new photos in 2018).
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. I'm sure it would be easy enough for me to make my own version of Magic Middles cookies, 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 a recipe for Wild Blueberry Cornmeal Cookies on the now defunct 5 Star Foodie's blog, I immediately thought of an old breakfast favorite of mine. Thomas' Toast-R-Cakes.
They still make them, but I haven't seen the blueberry variety around lately and those were always the best! I made some adjustments to the recipe I found and ended up with a final product super close to those delicious Toast-R-Cakes.
I'm calling them Blueberry Corn Toaster Cakes, though you could certainly spend some time arguing over whether these are cookies or cakes. Also, whether they're dessert or breakfast. Let's just agree with the fact that anything goes with these little treats, OK?
Ingredients for Toaster Cakes
There's nothing too complicated about these blueberry corn toaster cakes and potentially aside from corn flour (more on this below), everything should be super easy to find. Ingredients needed are:
- corn flour (more below)
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- egg
- coconut extract
- wild blueberries (fresh or frozen)
What is Corn Flour
While we're all likely used to baking with cornmeal, we see corn flour around less frequently. But what's the difference between cornmeal and corn flour? It's really just that corn flour is ground to a much finer texture than cornmeal.
That means, when you bake with it, you don't end up with the gritty texture that you do with cornmeal. I'm lucky that my grocery store has all of the Bob's Red Mill products, so I had no problem finding their corn flour, but if you can't find it, you can easily use cornmeal instead. Your final cakes will have a grittier texture, but honestly, that's not always a bad thing and doesn't bother me at all.
You can also put your cornmeal in a blender to process it a bit more and get closer to the corn flour texture.
Blueberry Corn Toaster Cakes Recipe
These blueberry corn toaster cakes are just as easy to make as a regular old cookie, but the final product is much more cake-like than cookie-like. They're nice little pillows of softness and don't have any crunch to them.
The batter is quick and easy to prepare and the cookie cakes only need to bake for 12-14 minutes before they're ready to enjoy.
Cookies... Cakes... Some might even say muffin tops. No matter what you call them, I love how the blueberries give them a pretty little pop of purple.
You can enjoy the cookie cakes immediately with a nice pat of butter. Or let them cool completely and enjoy like you would a cookie.
Of course, they're not called toaster cakes for nothing. Let them cool and then pop them in the toaster to warm up whenever you're in the mood.
These cookie cakes really do taste like the Toast-R-Cakes I remember. Talk about a food flashback! I think a lot of it has to do with that little touch of coconut extract. It didn't even hit me that the toaster cakes from my childhood always had a little coconut taste to them until I smelled the extract.
Take me back!
And if we're going to be comparing these to Thomas' Toast-R-Cakes, that means they're most definitely acceptable to eat for breakfast. Because when else would you eat a toaster cake? Plus, those wild blueberries are crazy healthy!
What's in a name anyway? A cookie (cake, muffin top) by any other name would be as sweet. And these homemade toaster cakes, my friends, are delicious!
Do you have a food from your childhood that you totally miss? Can you recreate it?
Next up, I totally need to figure out how to make Giggles Cookies. Why did they get rid of all the good cookies from the 80s?
If you like these blueberry toaster cakes, try these Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins or my Raspberry, Mango, and Ginger Muffins. I also can't wait to try these Blackberry Yogurt Cakes from Country Hill Cottage!
📖 Recipe
Blueberry Corn Toaster Cakes
Ingredients
- ¾ cup corn flour (see notes below if you can't find corn flour)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon coconut extract
- ⅓ cup wild blueberries, fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together corn flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer or whisk, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg and coconut extract and mix to combine.
- Slowly pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the wild blueberries.
- Place scoopfuls of batter onto prepared baking sheet, about an inch apart. Place cookie sheet in fridge to chill for about 10 minutes. While cakes/cookies are chilling, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes, until the edges start turning golden brown.
- Let cool on the pan for a couple minutes and either eat warm (with a pat of butter!) or move to wire racks to cool completely.
Lauren at KeepItSweet says
OMG, Magic Middlles were amazing! I kind of feel like I only had them once or twice because they were a real treat.
Simply Life says
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!
Blog is the New Black says
Creative idea here- looks wonderful!
Christina says
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 :).
Lexi says
Magic Middles!!!! I LOVED those too!!!
Daisy says
holy cookie flashback
Monique says
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!
Elina (Healthy and Sane) says
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 😀
Erin @ Cooking and the City says
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?
Erica says
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!)
Karena says
omg! totally remember Giggles! well, i didn't remember the name, but i definitely remember eating those and thinking they were awesome. AAHH memories!
Beth @ DiningAndDishing says
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...
Elizabeth says
Oh man, I used to love toast r cakes. they had them in a raisin bran flavor too.
Shannon says
These look so yummy. I love the combination of blueberry and corn-bread.
Julie says
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!
emily @ the happy home says
yummm.
and my brother was bemoaning the loss of magic middles just mere weeks ago. they WERE the best cookies ever!
Brynne says
Haven't thought about Magic Middles in years - I forgot they even existed! Ahh they were sooo delicious!
blackbookkitchendiaries says
oh i remember those cookies... love giggles too..they are just so cute! and thanks for sharing this recipe it sounds really awesome:)
To Kiss the Cook says
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.
Katie says
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!
emily says
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!
Di says
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.
Nicole says
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!
Raquelle says
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!
fashion therapist says
OMG Giggles!!!! Those just brought a rush of memories back. I tell people all the time that I wish we still had Crystal Pepsi.
Jess says
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!
Jena says
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!
Shannon says
hehe, middles and toaster pastries?! total flashbacks 🙂 and thus these little cakes would be very much enjoyed!
Maris (In Good Taste) says
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!
sarah k. @ the pajama chef says
i don't remember any of those cookies! guess i was too young... but they look fun 🙂
Alicia Fidalgo says
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.
Nancy says
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
Sarah says
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.
Marjory says
These cakes/cookies sound amazing. I must of missed these in my childhood...but, I'm definitely making them now! Yum!
Jenn says
I love that these are a homemade version of the store bought favorite - such a fantastic idea and so tasty too!!!