Kitchen

[Flatbush]

I am wondering if yellow corn meal and white corn meal are interchangeable in  recipes ?  I have a cookie recipe and it calls for yellow corn meal. That's why I am asking.

TIA

[Icegoddess]

I use white cornmeal in place of yellow all the time.  I prefer the white so that's what I have on-hand.  For cornbread I use the recipe on the pkg of White Lily and I get a more tender cornbread than I've ever had in yellow although I've never actually made yellow cornbread, so I don't know if it's the white cornmeal, that it's White Lily vs another brand, other people's recipe, or something else.

[loriqvc]

@Flatbush - In most recipes, you really won't notice much of a difference if you decide to substitute yellow cornmeal for white or vice versa—but if you're making cornbread, you'll want to choose the version that fits the flavor you're seeking. The color variations are due to the fact that each type of cornmeal comes from a different strain of corn; the yellow version has a slightly more pronounced corn flavor (and as a result sometimes seems sweeter) while the white version is a bit more neutral (and seems to be favored by Southern bakers/cooks, likely due to its association with grits).

Overall, it typically is more important to make sure you select the appropriate texture of cornmeal for your recipe—if it specifies finely ground and you use coarsely ground, the results are likely to be unexpected and unpleasant.

Happy baking!

[Flatbush]

@loriqvc 

Very interesting, useful  information.

Thank you.

[Sooner]

Yellow corn meal as a much more forward corn taste and seems somewhat a little more crumbly texture.  We use white meal most of the time and we also prefer white popcorn over yellow.  

[IamDoodles]

white cornmeal is favored in the South, yellow is favored up North.