George Washington ate the same thing every morning, according to the children's book George Washington's Breakfast ; three Johnny cakes, swimming in butter and honey.

Johnny cakes, also known as hoe cakes, are a traditional Southern breakfast. We thought a batch of these simple cornmeal pancakes would make a fine President's Day weekend brunch, so we set out to find a good Johnny cake recipe.

Mount Vernon's own website gives a bit of background about the Johnny cakes, as well as a “modern adaptation” of a Johnny cake recipe, but the recipe calls for nearly 9 cups of cornmeal, and requires mixing up the batter the night before.

So unless you're expecting a small army for brunch, you'll do better to follow the far simpler (and smaller) recipe we found at Cooks.com. No overnight wait, and only 2 cups of cornmeal. I used Bob's Red Mill stone ground whole grain corn meal, medium grind. The recipe takes only four ingredients: corn meal, an egg, salt and milk. The Johnny cakes were so basic and easy to make, it took all of ten minutes from start to finish.

The end result was a pleasantly corn gritty sort of pancake, much more dense than the cornmeal pancakes we make nowadays. I can see why Washington submerged his Johnny cakes in butter and honey; without at least a pat of butter and a dollop of honey, they'd be a bit plain and boring.

The recipe's so basic, a President could make them himself. Of course, as Mount Vernon's website points out, Washington had a team of enslaved workers who did all the cooking. Thankfully, there's no need to slave over a hot stove to enjoy these easy Johnny cakes.

Image credit: George Washington by James Peale – National Park Service