They were also called journey cakes because they could be carried on long trips in saddlebags and baked along the way. ... Some historians think that they were originally called Shawnee cakes and that the colonists slurred the words, pronouncing it as johnnycakes.

What is the difference between Johnny cake and cornbread?

As nouns the difference between cornbread and johnnycake

is that cornbread is (us) bread made from cornmeal while johnnycake is (us) a dense, baked or fried flatbread made of cornmeal.

What are johnny cakes called today?

A modern johnnycake is fried cornmeal gruel, which is made from yellow or white cornmeal mixed with salt and hot water or milk, and sometimes sweetened. In the Southern United States, the term used is hoecake, although this can also refer to cornbread fried in a pan.