Week 13 - Egg Nog Pancakes!

I don't know about you, but I love Christmas, particularly relaxing with the ones you love and eating amazing food.  I could honestly do without all the stress of holiday shopping and finding the "perfect gift".  To me, a well prepared meal made with love is all you need.  To get in the Christmas spirit, I made Egg Nog Pancakes this weekend.  

I love Egg Nog, so I thought I'd substitute buttermilk for the stuff in this weekend's pancakes.  I actually made two batches to see which one would turn out better.  In the first batch I substituted all the buttermilk with EggNog.  Then thinking that this may be too heavy, I made a second batching using half buttermilk, half egg nog.  I added a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg so I didn't lose that nice little flavor boost by cutting the egg nog in half.

Full Egg Nog on left, half and half on right

The smell that filled my kitchen when the batter hit the hot griddle was amazing.  It reminded me of the smell of freshly made donuts or a yummy bakery.  I wish I had a candle that captured this smell!

Taste Test

So after having my husband do a blind taste, he chose the recipe with all egg nog and no buttermilk.  I agreed with his choice, I found the half and half recipe to be a bit bland.  Surprisingly the egg nog didn't make the pancake dense or heavy.  Just make sure you really whip the egg whites with the egg nog until they start to become frothy.  Also, room temperature eggs whip up better than really cold egg whites.  Below is the winning recipe.  Jó étvágyat!

  EGG NOG PANCAKES:

• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 cups Egg Nog
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 cups "Instant" Pancake Mix
• 1 stick butter, for greasing the pan

1. Heat an electric griddle or frying pan to 350 degrees F. Heat oven to 200 degrees F.

Whisk together the egg whites and the Egg Nog in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.
2. Combine the Egg Nog mixture with the egg yolk mixture in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the pancake mix. Using a whisk, mix the batter just enough to bring it together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.

3. Check to see that the griddle is hot by placing a few drops of water onto to the griddle. The griddle is ready if the water dances across the surface.
4. Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel. (No butter should be visible.)
5. Gently ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle.  When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake and the griddle-side of the cake is golden, gently flip the pancakes. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set.
6. Serve immediately or remove to a towel-lined baking sheet and cover with a towel. Hold in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes.

Week 12 - Hot Chocolate Pancakes

This weekend we picked out our Christmas tree.  It was a nice chilly night and usually, we grab a cup of hot chocolate to warm up.  But, we forgot this time, so I though I'd make up for it by making hot chocolate pancakes.
The turned out pretty good; whipping the egg whites until they're nice and white and frothy helps make the pancakes fluffy.  I sprinkled mini marshmallows on the batter once on the hot griddle.  I don't recommend mixing them in to the batter because they will likely just melt right in to the batter.  Although once you flip the pancakes, they melt into the batter then too.  But there are still a few pockets of marshmallow gooey-ness.  I used 2/3 cup of sugar in this recipe, but you could probably add more if you want it to be sweeter.
Once the pancakes were done, I topped them with homemade chocolate syrup (see recipe below) and more marshmallows.  Jó étvágyat!

Hot Chocolate Pancakes
Ingredients
2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for the pan/griddle
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, separated
Mini mashmallows
Chocolate syrup (recipe below)

Directions
1. Mix together the dry ingredients.
2. Whisk together the butter, buttermilk, and egg yolks.  Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until white and frothy.  Mix in to the buttermilk mixture.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix.
4. Preheat and pan or griddle over medium high heat and coat with butter.
5. Ladle pancake batter onto pan/griddle, top with mini marshmallows.  Cook for 2-3 minutes or until bubbles form around the edges.  Flip and cook for 2-3 more minutes, or until browned.

Looks like the top of a cup of hot chocolate!

You get funny little nooks and crannies in the pancakes as the marshmallows melt in to the batter.  Kinda neat.

6. Top with chocolate syrup and more mini marshmallows.

Chocolate Syrup
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Combine sugar, water, cocoa powder, and salt in a saucepan and cook over low heat.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently until it starts to thicken.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.  Put it in to a condiment squeeze bottle.  Serve warm.  Refridgerate if not using until later.

Week 11 - Cranberry Walnut Pancakes

There are so many things I love about this time of year; the Christmas spirit, lights, Christmas trees, hot chocolate, cold weather, and the food.  Then there are things I like not so much; shopping, the crowds, and rude people who are more concerned about snagging the gift or getting through lines than being nice, courteous human beings.
With all the things I love about this time of year, my creative cooking juices are flowing.  So I wanted a pancake that captures the spirit.  Cranberries and walnuts came to mind.  I added a bunch of each to the Simply Perfect pancakes, and topped with toasted walnuts and syrup.  If you don't want to be overloaded with cranberries and walnuts, you may want to scale back on the amount of each in this recipe.  But I liked getting a bite of each in every forkful. Jó étvágyat!

Ingredients:
5 oz. dried cranberries
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:
1. Prepare pancake batter per instructions from Week 5.
2. Using a wooden spoon, mix the dried cranberries and walnuts into the batter.
3. Brush melted butter on to a griddle/pan over medium-high heat.  Ladle the batter onto the griddle/pan.  When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake, gently flip and continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned.

4. Meanwhile, toast chopped walnuts in a pan.  Top pancakes with the toasted walnuts and syrup.

Week 10 - Cinnamon Bun Pancakes

Going in to this weekend I had no clue what to make for breakfast.  This week has been pretty hectic for us, so I completely forgot about what the next pancake recipe would be.  That is, until late Friday evening.  My creative juices weren't flowing, so I did a quick internet search and came up with there Cinnamon Bun pancakes.  Just the kind of comfort food we need after a pretty stressful week.

The recipe was also perfect in that it required a little more work, which is just the kind of stress relief and distraction I could use right now.  One of my favorite ways to unwind is cooking and baking.  But, if you're looking for a simple recipe, you may want to save this for another time.

For this recipe you make the Perfectly Simple Pancake, add in a swirl of cinnamon, and finally top with a cream cheese glaze.  For the cinnamon swirl, I recommend making it ahead of time, allowing it to cool.  By cooling it, the swirl holds its shape better and doesn't mix completely with the batter.  The swirl adds a nice burst of flavor and a little crunch to it too.  The warm, gooey cream cheese frosting also is a great compliment to this pancake.  All together, the final product is just like a cinnamon bun in pancake form.  Jó étvágyat!

Ingredients: 

CINNAMON FILLING:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, just melted (not boiling)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. To prepare the cinnamon filling, stir together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a condiment squeeze bottle and allow to cool so it reaches the consistency of a paste (you could use a ziploc baggie but I find the bottle to be far less messy and easier to control).   

Squeeze bottle of cinnamon goodness :-)

Not to nice swirl using a plastic bag

2. To prepare the glaze, heat the butter over low heat until melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cream cheese until it is almost smooth. Sift the powdered sugar into the pan, stir and add in vanilla extract. Keep warm until ready to serve.
3. Prepare pancakes as described in the Perfectly Simple Pancake post.
4.  Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat and brush with melted butter.  Ladel the batter onto the pan.   
5. When bubbles form around the edges of the pancakes, swirl the cinnamon mixture on top of the pancake.   

Pretty swirl design

6. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, flip, and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.  

7. Serve with the swirl side facing up and drizzle with the cream cheese glaze.

*Make sure you wipe the pan clean before cooking up another batch, otherwise you will end up with a sticky cinnamon-y mess. 

Post-cinnamon swirl and flip.  Lots of gooey cinnamon.  Hence the need for cleanup before the next batch.

Bonus pancake - Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

I mentioned in an earlier post that I bought a griddle for myself.  So as is the case with most new purchases, it has become my new favorite kitchen appliance.  I was feeling inspired so I decided to make some mashed potato pancakes using up the leftover spuds from our Thanksgiving dinner.  I've been feeling a little bored with the usual leftovers and heard about making pancakes out of mashed potatoes. So after some research, I came up with my own recipe.  They turned out pretty tasty, crispy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside. 

They're great on their own, as a side, or top them with your favorite holiday leftovers.  I topped mine with shredded turkey, gravy, and cranberry sauce.  Jó étvágyat!

Ingredients:
-1 cup mashed potatoes (mine had chopped chives in it)
-1 egg
-1 Tbsp flour
-Salt and pepper to taste
-Cooking spray or canola oil for griddle/pan

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Heat the griddle or pan over medium-high heat.  coat with either cooking spray for oil.  Spoon the mixture on to a hot griddle or pan, cook for approx. 4 minutes, or until it turns golden brown on the bottom.  Flip and flatten the pancakes a little with a spatula.  Cook for another 4 minutes.

3. Top with any leftovers you may have such as shredded turkey, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce.

Week 9 - Sweet Potato Pancakes

11/25/12 - Thanksgiving just passed and as usual, we had enough food to feed an entire hungry football team after an intense game.  And there were only 5 of us, one of which is a 5-month-old infant who cannot yet partake in the feast.  But even with the bountiful spread we had, I realized after dinner that we forgot to make sweet potatoes.

So this is my attempt to make up for the missing potato on Thanksgiving.  I adapted this recipe from the Food Network.  They're pretty tasty, just make sure the sweet potato is cooked very thoroughly so it's easy to puree and blend in to the batter.  These pancakes also aren't sweet at all, but the maple syrup makes up for it.  Or if you prefer, use more brown sugar, maybe about 1/4 cup worth in the batter.  Alternatively, mix some brown sugar with butter, spread on pancakes and top with maple syrup. Jó étvágyat!

 Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (I recommend using more, such as 1/4 cup)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch nutmeg
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 4 teaspoons melted butter, plus more for greasing skillet
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 sweet potato, cooked until tender, peeled and pureed, approx. 1/2 cup
• Maple Syrup, for serving

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  
2. Mix the buttermilk with the egg whites.  In a separate bowl whisk together the melted butter and egg yolks.  
3. Combine the egg white mixture with the egg yolk mixture.  Mix this in to the dry ingredients. Serve with pecan butter and maple syrup.

Let them eat (pan)CAKE!

So up until now, I've been making pancakes on a tiny skillet.  Cooking pancakes on a tiny skillet stinks.  Here's why:
1. You can old make 3 at a time.
2. Trying to flip a pancake in a skillet with high, rounded sides is difficult
3. By the time you finish making pancakes, the first batch is cold.

So, I finally purchased my very own 22' Presto Griddle!

I went from this...

 To this...

*Angels singing*

Week 8 - S'Mores pancakes

11/17/12 - Now that we are well in to fall, I think more about heartier meals that really warm you up.  And sitting by a toasty fire does just that.  So that quickly led me to think about S'mores because let's be honest, no outdoor fire is complete without some toasted marshmallows.

I found a graham cracker pancake recipe, made a few tweaks, mixed in some chocolate chips, and sprinkled mini marshmallows on top.  I have had a bag of mini marshmallows (not the kind you get that are soft and chewy, but the tiny harder ones you find in instant cocoa powder packets) in my cupboard for what seems like forever.  Finally, a good way to use them up!

Hope you enjoy these, we sure did.  As seems to be the case each week, these are at the top of my husband's favorite pancake list!   Jó étvágyat!

Ingredients
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup graham crackers, crushed, plus more to sprinkle on top of the pancakes
1Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, separated
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2Tbsp butter
3-4 handfuls of chocolate chips
1/2 cup marshmallows

1. Mix the flour, 3/4 cup crushed graham crackers, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whit with buttermilk.
3. In another separate bowl whisk together the egg yolk and butter.  Combine the egg white and egg yolk mixture, then pour over the dry ingredients.  Mix the batter just enough to bring it together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.  Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Lightly butter a hot griddle or pan and ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle.  Sprinkle mini marshmallows on top and gently press them in to the batter.  

5. When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake and the griddle-side of the cake is golden, gently flip the pancakes. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set.  Serve with syrup.

 

Week 7 - Pancakes for our Veterans

11/11/12 - After last weekend's candy-filled (and calorie-stuffed) pancakes, I have been craving something on the lighter side.  So fruit came to mind and with it being Veteran's day, I whipped up some patriotic looking pancakes with cut up strawberries and blueberries.  I topped it off with the raspberry syrup I made a few weeks back and voila!  A lighter and healthier pancake to balance out the sugar rush we got from last week.

Now you could try to argue with me that pancakes aren't healthy, and you're pretty much right.  But don't forget all the antioxidants that are packed in blueberries!  And I'm sure strawberries have some great benefits to them too, I just can't remember what it is.  And while the syrup, which is full of sugar may not help slim you down, it is better than the store-bought pancake syrup that has some questionable ingredients.  Have you ever looked at the back of an Aunt Jemima bottle?  Cellulose gum?  Who wants gum topping their pancakes?  Or are there people who do?  Hmmm...potential pancake recipe?  :-)

So I used the same base for the pancakes as week 5, but mixed in some fruit.  God bless Alton Brown for this simple and delicious base.  Why mess with a good thing, right?  Although I won't stick to this recipe for the next 40-some weeks, I don't think it'll work so well with some of the recipes I have in mind.  But it's great to use as a base and mix in what you like.  This week I made sure to have buttermilk on hand because last week when I used plain milk the cakes were pretty flat.  Buttermilk really does make all the difference.  Jó étvágyat!

Ingredients:
6 oz.blueberries
10-12 large strawberries, sliced (set aside 1-2 sliced berries)

Directions:
1. Prepare pancake batter per instructions from Week 5.
2. Using a wooden spoon, mix the blueberries and strawberries into the batter.

3. Ladle the batter onto the griddle/pan.  When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake, gently flip and continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Top with homemade raspberry syrup and freshly sliced berries.

Week 6 - Trick or Treat Pancakes

11/3/12 - For some reason every year for Halloween, I buy way more candy for trick or treaters than we need to.  I guess I don't want to be that house that runs out of candy and has to shut off its lights halfway through the night.

So every year I have the dilemma of having a lot of leftover sweets.  Usually, I just take it in to work to share with people, but this year I thought I'd do something different.  Since I'm on this 52 pancake mission, why not find a creative way to use some of the candy?  So here's my take on Halloween flavored pancakes.
I used M&Ms (afterall they're great in cookies), Whoppers (will add a nice surprising crunch), and Heath bars (just curious what this would be like).  My husband's favorite was the Heath bar pancake, you just need to make sure you don't over cook it or the candy will burn.  I was rather fond of the Whopper pancake because of the nice crunch it had.  The M&M pancake was tasty too, but the candy coating melted pretty quickly in the batter.  It did give the batter a nice swirl of color though.

Colorful swirls in the M&M pancake

I used the same pancake base as last week (see week 5's post) only I ran out of buttermilk and used fat free milk instead.  I think this was a mistake as the batter was runnier and the pancakes were nowhere near as fluffy as last week.  But I do recommend experimenting with various candy you may have left over and enjoy a little sugar high this weekend.  Jó étvágyat!

Candy overload!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup M&Ms
1/2 cup Whoppers
1/2 cup Heath bars

Directions:
1. Prepare pancake batter per instructions from Week 5.
2. Divide batter into 3 separate bowls.
3. Mix the M&Ms into one of the bowls of batter.
4. In a food processor pulse the whoppers until crumbs form.  Put the Whoppers in a bowl and set aside.
5. Pulse the Heath bars in a food processor and mix into one of the bowls of batter.
6. Heat a griddle or pan on medium heat and use butter to coat the griddle/pan.
7. Ladle M&M batter onto the griddle/pan.  When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake, gently flip and continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes being careful not to let the candy burn.  Do this until you run out of the M&M batter.
8. Ladle the plain pancake batter onto the griddle/pan and sprinkle the ground up Whoppers on top.  When bubbles set around the edges, gently flip and continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes.  Again, be careful not to let the candy burn.  Repeat until you run out of the batter.
9. Ladle the Heath bar batter onto the griddle/pan.  When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake, gently flip and continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes being careful not to let the candy burn.

Week 5 - Perfectly Simple

10/27/12 - So far these past 4 weeks have been fun trying new pancake recipes, but I realize it's been a guessing game as to which recipes will turn out the best.  I even took a crack at personalizing and making up my own recipes.  But after last week's  peanut butter fiasco, I think it would be prudent to get a good plain pancake recipe which I can use as my base to build from.

So when it comes to understanding recipes and ingredients, and getting a great recipe, I like to turn to Alton Brown.  He's never let me down and I love his scientific approach to things.  Yeah, that's a little of my inner geek coming out.

First, I love the idea of having a bunch of pre-made, homemade mix on hand.  All I have to do in the morning is get the wet ingredients together and make the pancakes.  Although the directions for the wet ingredients is different.  Never have I seen instructions to separate the eggs, mix with another ingredient and then combine.  I think it may because eggs whites can be whisked in to a nice froth that will add to the fluffiness of the pancakes.

So the end result?  Amazing, light, fluffy pancakes.  I also love that slight tart flavor the buttermilk gives the pancakes.  This recipe is definitely a keeper and will likely be the base to many of my pancakes.  Alton, you never disappoint.  Thank you.  Jó étvágyat!

 Ingredients

• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (check expiration date first)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients in a lidded container. Shake to mix.

Use the mix within 3 months. (I don't think that will be a problem)

 

"INSTANT" PANCAKES:

• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 cups "Instant" Pancake Mix, recipe above
• 1 stick butter, for greasing the pan

Heat an electric griddle or frying pan to 350 degrees F. Heat oven to 200 degrees F.

Whisk together the egg whites and the buttermilk in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.
Combine the buttermilk mixture with the egg yolk mixture in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the pancake mix. Using a whisk, mix the batter just enough to bring it together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.
Check to see that the griddle is hot by placing a few drops of water onto to the griddle. The griddle is ready if the water dances across the surface.
Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel. (No butter should be visible.)
Gently ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle.  When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake and the griddle-side of the cake is golden, gently flip the pancakes. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set.
Serve immediately or remove to a towel-lined baking sheet and cover with a towel. Hold in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes.

Week 4 - It's Peanut Butter, Jelly time!

10/20/12 - Who doesn't love a PB&J sandwich?  So why not try it as a pancake?  At first I thought about putting peanut butter and jelly into a pancake but then that may be too much liquid for a pancake or you may just end up with just a hint of PB and jelly flavor.  And if I'm going to have PB&J for breakfast, I want to know it!  You know?

So, the idea came to make peanut butter pancakes with a jelly or berry syrup sandwiched between the pancakes.  Now I could just go the lazy route (and honestly there's nothing wrong with that) and slather on some store-bought jelly and call it a day.  But, I'm only 4 weeks in to this and still have the energy and drive to go all out for these weekend breakfasts.  

I turned to the trusty internet for recipes and what do you know, other people have thought of this breakfast concoction as well (insert not so shocked face here)!  I'm pretty sure no matter what pancake idea I come up with during this journey, someone else has already dreamed about it as well and created a recipe for it.  But that's okay, I like tweaking recipes and making them my own.  So that's what I've done here.  I found a ton of different peanut butter pancake recipes and liked this one the best because it seemed to use the most peanut butter.  Remember what I said earlier about really wanting to know I'm eating peanut butter?  Plus, I have an industrial-sized tub of peanut butter from Costco that I want to use up.     

Turns out, you may just be able to have too much peanut butter.  The batter was incredibly thick so I added some extra milk as the recipe had suggested.  My first batch of 3 pancakes were very dense and dry, so I added even more milk and an extra tablespoon of oil.  It was actually thick enough to hold up as a piece of bread.  SO I guess you could leave the recipe as is and layer on some jelly to make a true sandwich.  No batter should be able to maintain it's shape and form the way this did.  I also noticed that as the batter cooks it doesn't bubble up and dry around the edges as most batters do.  You really need to keep an eye on the pancakes and check for when to flip.  And when you do flip, make sure to push down to flatten out the pancakes.

Most of the PB&J pancake recipes didn't have the syrup-y component to the jelly part of the sandwich, so I searched for a separate recipe to make my own raspberry syrup.  It was surprisingly easy, but be warned, you really do have to stir constantly to prevent the syrup from bubbling over. 

 
Pancake recipe

Ingredients: 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk, plus extra for thinning batter

1 cup creamy peanut butter, melted briefly in the microwave

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

butter, for coating pan 

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, peanut butter, and vegetable oil.

3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.  If batter feels too thick, add a little extra milk.

4. Heat a large non-stick pan or griddle over medium-low heat and melt a pat of butter in it. 

 5. Ladle the batter into the pan and cook until it starts to dry and bubble around the edges.  Then flip.  They won't bubble like regular pancakes due to the peanut butter. 

6.  Top with raspberry syrup (see recipe below) or spread jelly on pancakes.

Raspberry syrup recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh raspberries

1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1. Combine berries, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until berries begin to break down and release their juices, about 4 minutes.

2. Add 1 1/2 cups cold water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then immediately turn down to a simmer and skim off any foam that bubbles to top. Cook for 15 minutes.

3. Strain into bowl through cheesecloth-lined strainer, pressing on fruit to squeeze out juices. Return the liquid to the pan and add 1 1/2 cups sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Week 3 - Apple Spice and Everything Nice

10/13/12 - Last week I had trouble deciding which pancake to make to embrace the arrival of fall.  Pumpkin won, but apple still has a place in my heart, and belly.  Plus, I still have 50 different types of pancakes to make. :-)  So I decided to concoct a recipe for an apple spice pancake.  It turned out great.  The light brown sugar and applesauce make it a super moist and denser  pancake.  I especially love the chunks of apple that seem to melt in your mouth.  My husband even said these are his favorite pancakes so far, then again, he said that last week and we're only in to week 3.  But I'll take the compliment.  

I highly recommend making your own applesauce for this recipe.  It's super simple and better than any store-bought applesauce.  Just simmer some peeled diced apples in a little bit of water until soft and mash/puree until you reach your desired consistency.  No need to add any sugar.  You can season with cinnamon, lemon juice, etc. 

After breakfast my husband and I sat around the table coming up with ideas for the next 49 weeks.  He throws out some ideas, sometimes a little out there, and I take on the challenge of coming up with recipes for his ideas.  We have a pretty nice list of ideas for the next several weeks, especially things to make around the holidays.  But you'll just have to follow along to see what we came up with. 

Jó étvágyat!

Ingredients:
 
1-1/4 c. all purpose flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat and 3/4 cup all purpose flour to kick up the nutritional value)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg, freshly grated
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. applesauce
 1 large egg
3 Tb. canola oil
1 apple, finely chopped
Butter for the griddle

Directions:
In medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices; whisk to combine.  

In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, applesauce, egg, and oil.  Once thoroughly combined, mix in the chopped apples. 

Melt butter on a skillet or griddle and ladle pancake batter on to cooking device.  Flip once the pancake starts to cook around the edges.  Enjoy with some syrup!