Maize Buttons – a Buttery Snack

BH and I are huge fans of the Liaden universe. Theo, one of the pilots, loves Maize Buttons. So Maize Buttons are mentioned in many of the books.

Now usually I have some kind of idea of the real world equivalent of a food in a fiction book. But this one had me stumped. I got the idea to try to make something that seemed to me to be a Maize Button.

How are Maize Buttons described? They are eaten at breakfast, for a snack, and can accompany dinner. They are a comfort food, something that people think of with fondness when they are away from home. They are easy to make. You can slide a tray of Maize Buttons into the oven to cook while preparing other food. They are eaten plain, with cheese spread, or with jam. They are buttery tasting, crisp outside, soft inside. They are relatively small; you might nibble 3-6 as a snack.

With that to go on, I set out on a quest to make Maize Buttons.

Maize is corn, so the basic recipe should be based on corn meal, corn starch, or corn flour. While I could have used corn meal, in my imagination a Maize Button is not coarse textured like cornbread, but something lighter. I decided on masa harina (corn flour). I wanted gluten-free, and cornbread recipes typically include wheat flour. So I went looking at South American appetizers for inspiration. Arepitas looked like a good starting point for what I imagined.

The basic recipe is masa, salt, and water. I knew I wanted butter as well so I put in a little. This first trial was very dense and did not have much flavor. But now I had something to start with.

I added baking powder to lighten the texture and a lot more butter – almost a teaspoon per Maize Button! This worked much better, but the buttons were not getting brown. So I added just a bit of sugar to bring out the corn sweetness and help the browning.

Finally, I have something that matches my imagination of what a Maize Button should be. Crisp bottom, soft and light center, very buttery, and just a hint of sweetness. See if you agree!

And if this does not match your vision of a Maize Button, feel free to experiment with this. In the books, Theo and her crew were always trying new versions. So there is no one right way to do this.

Have fun!

June 2022 – I have not visited this recipe for a while and decided to refine it a bit. I thought the original recipe had a bit too much salt and baking powder. So I have reduced each of those and adding a little more sugar. I also made a version with corn meal to make maize buttons that are a little more like corn bread. That version is in the notes at the end of the recipe. See what you think!