Week 21 - Blueberry Pancakes

This weekend, I wanted simple...again.  I feel like I often look for the simple recipe, but hey, when you have an 8 month old baby, simple is sometimes the best you can do.  And simple doesn't have to necessarily mean bad.  Simple is good.  So I had a handful of blueberries in the fridge and tossed them in to my simple pancake mix and voila!  Yummy pancakes for breakfast.  Jó étvágyat!

Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 cups "Simply Perfect" Pancake Mix (See week 5)
• Handful of blueberriers
• 1 stick butter, for greasing the pan

Directions

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

2. Whisk together the egg whites and the buttermilk in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.

3. 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.

4. Gently fold in the blueberries.

5. 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.

6. Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel. (No butter should be visible.)

7. 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.

8. Allow to cool slightly and serve with syrup.    

Week 20 - Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pancakes

Valentine's day is right around the corner and while I really don't like the holiday (I feel like it's just another made up Hallmark holiday.  Besides, I believe you should show your loved ones how much you care for them each and every day.  And, I find anniversaries to be much more meaningful and significant.  Anywho, I'll get off that soapbox and get back to the pancakes), I do like cooking and baking for the ones I love.  The things I think of when Valentine's day comes around are jewelry, boxes of chocolate, flowers, and chocolate covered strawberries.  

These pancakes are inspired by the chocolate covered fruit.  It's pretty simple actually.  Just take my "Simply Perfect" pancake recipe and add chocolate and cut up strawberries.  To make them a little extra special, I made my own whipped cream topping and garnished with more fruit.  Yum!  Make these for your sweetie on Valentine's day, or any other day you want to treat them to something special.  Jó étvágyat!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries Pancakes

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 cups "Simply Perfect" Pancake Mix (See week 5)
• Handful of sliced strawberries
• Handful of chocolate chips
• 1 stick butter, for greasing the pan

Directions

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

2. Whisk together the egg whites and the buttermilk in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.

3. 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.

4. Gently fold in the sliced strawberries and chocolate.

5. 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.

6. Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel. (No butter should be visible.)

7. 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.

8. Allow to cool slightly and serve with whipped cream (see recipe below) and more sliced strawberries.  It's important to allow the pancakes to cool slightly or else the whipped cream with melt in to a puddle of milk.    

Whipped Cream

Ingredients

-8 oz Heavy Whipping Cream

-2 tablespoons sugar

-Splash of vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  With a handheld mixer, whisk until stiff peaks form.

Week 19 - Nutella Pancakes

Did you know that Tuesday, February 5th was World Nutella Day?  Yup!  It is!  And I love me some Nutella.  What is it?  Nutella is a delicious Hazelnut spread that is great on bread, in desserts, and quite frankly, on a spoon all by itself.  So in honor of this tasty spread's day, I made pancakes with it.  I found two different recipes online and decided to make a combination of them both.  One recipe called for mixing 2 tablespoons of Nutella spread in to the batter, and the other recipe required sandwiching a layer of Nutella between the batter, making a stuffed" pancake.

The pancakes turned out delicious and decadent.  Even my husband who isn't a fan of Nutella (I don't understand this) liked them.  Hope you do too, jó étvágyat!

Double Nutella Pancakes

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 cups "Simply Perfect" Pancake Mix, see week 5
• 2 tablespoons, plus 1/2 cup Nutella
• 1 stick butter, for greasing the pan

1. Heat an electric griddle or frying pan to 350 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.

2. 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.

3. Melt 2 tablespoons of Nutella in the microwave (approximately 30-40 seconds).  Mix in to the pancake batter until it looks like a marble swirl, rather than completely mixing it in to the batter.   

4. 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.

5. Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel. (No butter should be visible.)

6. Melt 1/2 cup Nutella in the microwave (approximately 30-40 seconds).

7. Gently ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle.  Spread out the batter with the back of a spoon.  Pour some of the melted Nutella on to the pancakes.

8. Top pancakes with more batter to cover the Nutella.

9. 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.

10. Serve immediately with whipped cream and a drizzle of Nutella.  

Check out the gooey Nutella center!

So yummy!

Week 18 - Apple Cider Pancakes with Fruit Compote

So I'm a little behind with this blog.  A few weeks ago I came down with the flu and could barely muster up the energy to get up and make myself a pot of tea, so pancakes were out of the question.  Now that I'm feeling a bit better, I'm back at it with the pancake recipes and hopefully next weekend I'll be back to 100% and can make up for the missing week by whipping up two yummy recipes.  But for now, I'm just doing one this weekend.

With all the cold weather lately, I'm digging hot apple cider.  Plus, anything warm feels soothing to a sore throat.  So I decided to add this to pancakes and it turned out super yummy!  I topped the pancakes with an apple compote instead of using syrup and it was pretty darn good.  I used to think compote was something difficult to make and required a lot of time, but turns out it was quite simple.  I'll probably experiment with other types in the future.

My husband's only complaint with this recipe was that I didn't make enough of the compote.  So if you want lots of yummy apple goodness, I recommend doubling the recipe. Jó étvágyat!

Apple Cider Pancakes

Ingredients
3 eggs, separated
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 1/2 cups cider (or milk)
butter for the griddle

Directions
1. Combine the yolks, cider, and melted butter in a bowl and whisk well. Add all of the dry ingredients, and whisk till it’s nice and smooth.
2. Whisk the egg whites till they’re quite stiff and fold them into the batter.
3. Warm a frying pan or griddle. Put enough butter to coat it. When the butter is quite hot – just beginning to brown, add about 1/2 cup of batter. It should spread out all by itself. It’s important to makes sure the pan is hot enough, or the first pancake will stick. When the top of the pancake has lots of little holes in it, and looks slightly firmed up, flip it and cook the other side for a few minutes, till golden brown. The whole process will speed up as you go along.  Top with the apply compote (see recipe below).

Apple Compote
Ingredients
2-3 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped in to 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons brandy (I used pear brandy)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground connamon

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot.  Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender, about 30 minutes.