Engagement Banana Pancakes

I'm sorry I haven't posted a recipe yet...

We have been SO busy with our engagement :)

Therefore, I declare it "Wordless Wednesday"...

So enjoy these Engagement Banana Pancakes with someone you love :)

Here ya go, folks: Fluffy, Spiced Brown Butter-Banana-Buttermilk Pancakes, Homemade Cinnamon-Pecan Compound Butter, Honey Fried Bananas, + Bourbon Maple Syrup.

someone stole my bacon...

For the Cinnamon-Pecan Compound Butter:

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Extremely Soft

3T Brown Sugar

½t Vanilla

1T Cinnamon

¼C Toasted Pecans, Finely Chopped

 

For the Fried Bananas:

2-3 Bananas, Sliced into Thick Rounds

Canola Oil, For Frying

2-3T Honey

Cinnamon

1-2T Rum

For the Fluffy, Spiced Brown Butter Buttermilk Pancakes:

2C AP Flour + ½C Whole Wheat Flour, Sifted

¼C Light Brown Sugar

1T Baking Powder + 2t Baking Soda

½t Fleur de Sel & Cinnamon

Pinch of Nutmeg, Allspice, & Cardamom

3C Buttermilk, Well Shaken

2 Large Bananas, Mashed with a Fork

2 Large Eggs

4T Brown Butter, Melted & Slightly Cooled

1T Bourbon

1 Vanilla Bean, Split & Scraped for Seeds

Pancake Toppings:

Toasted Pecans, Finely Minced

Fried Banana Rounds

Homemade Bourbon Maple Syrup, Warmed

Homemade Cinnamon-Pecan Compound Butter, Room Temperature

Directions:

1. For the Compound Butter: In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until the mixture is smooth, then slowly add in the cinnamon and toasted pecans, and beat until just combined. Chill until ready to serve, and then let it warm to room temperature for easy pancake spreading.

2. For the Fried Bananas: Lightly drizzle the oil in a skillet and heat over medium heat. Place the bananas in an even layer and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side until golden brown & starting to crisp. Meanwhile, whisk together the honey, 2-3T water, cinnamon, and a pinch of cardamom & salt. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the honey mixture over the banana, followed by the rum. Remove them from the pan onto a plate until you are ready to layer them between the pancakes.

3. For the Banana Pancakes: Preheat a griddle or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Whisk together the AP flour, WW flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and spices in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, mashed bananas, brown butter, bourbon, and vanilla bean. In the bowl of the dry ingredients, create a well using your heads or a spoon. Pour the wet mixture into the center of a well, and using a rubber spatula or a fork, gently whisk the two together to form a batter. This should be a relatively smooth, thick batter, but with small lumps still remaining. Set the batter aside to rest for 30 minutes before using. Next, using a ½C measure, pour the patter in to pools on the heated griddle. When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2-3 minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on the bottom, about 1-2 minutes. While you finish cooking the other pancakes, keep the finished pancakes warm in the oven until serving.

4. For Serving: Stack the banana pancakes on to a plate, making sure to layer rounds of fried honey bananas, toasted pecans, and compound butter between the pancake layers. Garnish the top with more fried bananas, pecans, butter, & a generous drizzling of homemade bourbon maple syrup. Enjoy with your honey, for breakfast in bed, on a rainy Sunday morning.

source: fried honey bananas.

Funfetti Birthday Cake Batter Pancakes with Vanilla Glaze

Happy Birthday to my Mountain Man :) I love that our birthdays are so close because we get to celebrate them together. He's officially an old man... he's turning the big 25 today. Geeze, they just grow up so fast. It's depressing honestly. Anyway, I always make him a big birthday dinner and a delicious cake, but this year, I decided to wake up a little earlier than him, and whip up some birthday cake batter pancakes. I made them extra-festive by adding lots of sprinkles, mini m&m's, and different colored dyes for a tie-dye effect. These rainbow pancakes are then drizzled with a simple vanilla glaze and garnished with even more sprinkles. I can't think of a better way to be woken up in the morning... I mean, getting dessert for breakfast in bed? Perfection. This might have to turn into a birthday tradition. They are just too cute. I'll post the other recipes from this dinner in the next few days!! Enjoy :)

Funfetti Birthday Cake Batter Pancakes with Vanilla Glaze

Lots of Sprinkles... 

So many pancakes :)

For the Pancakes:

1 ½C AP Flour

2/3C Cake Mix

1T Sugar

¾t Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

2 Eggs

1t Vanilla

1 ½C Milk

Sprinkles & Mini M&M’s

For the Vanilla Glaze:

1C Powdered Sugar

½-1T Milk

½t Vanilla

Sprinkles, For Garnishing

Directions:

1. For the Pancakes: Combine the flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl and mix. Add the milk, egg, and vanilla and stir until smooth. Preheat a skillet on medium heat. Fold in the desired amount of sprinkles and mini M&M’s into the batter. Pour the batter in ¼C measurements onto a skillet and let it cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook for another minute.
2. For the Glaze: Mix the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar until a thick glaze forms. You may need a little more sugar or milk to reach the desired consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the pancakes and garnish with more sprinkles.

source: cake batter pancakes.

Peaches & Cream Dutch Babies

Last week when I came across this recipe for German Pancakes, a million childhood memories came rushing back to me. When I was a kid, Peej used to make these all the time for us, especially after sleepovers, and I just loved them. However, we didn't call them German Pancakes, but Dutch Babies (so that's what I'm going to call them because I can). These Dutch Babies are like baked, thick crepes that are crisp on the outside, but slightly soft & chewy on in the inside. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to top them with, but we had some fresh peaches that we had bought at the farmer's market on the way to the beach yesterday, so I just immediately thought of making Peaches & Cream Dutch Babies. This was Mountain Man's first Dutch Baby, and he liked it a lot... look at him growing up soooo fast. Hah, anyway, I made the sugar & spice batter with a blender and poured it into cake pans and let them bake up until fluffy. I then topped them with powdered sugar, peaches, and fresh mascarpone-whipped cream. Obviously if you don't have peaches and cream, then you can always top it with just some maple syrup, fresh fruit, or even nutella. Mmmm I love nutella. Enjoy :)

Peaches & Cream Dutch Babies

For the Sugar & Spice Dutch Babies:

4 Eggs

1T Sugar

½t Salt

2/3C Flour, Sifted

½t Cinnamon

Pinch of Nutmeg

2/3C Milk

2T Soft Butter

For the Mascarpone Whipped Cream:

4oz Mascarpone Cheese

½C Confectioners’ Sugar

Pinch of Salt

½t Vanilla

¾C Heavy Whipping Cream  

Confectioners’ Sugar, For Dusting

Fresh Peaches, Cut into Pieces

Directions:

1. To Make the Dutch Babies: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and butter two cake pans well. Put the eggs into a blender, cover and process at “stir” until a light yellow color appears. Push the “mix” button and remove the cover, and then add in the remaining ingredients, processing until smooth. Pour into the prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes. Once baked, slide onto hot plates. Serve the pancakes with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar and top it with the Mascarpone Whipped Cream and fresh peaches.

2. To Make the Mascarpone Whipped Cream: In a medium bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Stir together until smooth, and then set aside. In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form (but don’t over beat). And then, fold in the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture until light and fluffy.

*Check out Sweets for a Saturday for this recipe, as well as many others!!*

Carrot Cake Pancakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Filling & Pecan Praline Maple Butter

Well here's another recipe of "dessert for breakfast". I really need to stop. But, we had all the ingredients, so why not? Well these pancakes are really like carrot cake. They are thick & dense, yet still light and fluffy. And they are studded with grated carrots and flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger (all the carrot cake essentials). The pancakes are then layered with a toasted coconut cream cheese filling and then covered in a pecan praline maple butter. I really need to break this habit of making such a decadent breakfasts because then I have to work out for the rest of the day to get back to even, haha. Oh well, they were delicious and totally worth it, I promise! Enjoy :)

Carrot Cake Pancakes with Toasted Coconut Cream Cheese Filling 

Here Comes the Pecan Praline Maple Butter Waterfall :)

Carrot Cake Pancakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Filling & Pecan Praline Maple Butter

For the Carrot Cake Pancakes:

1C AP Flour

1C Whole Wheat Flour

2t Baking Powder

2t Cinnamon

¼t Nutmeg

½t Ground Ginger

¼t Salt

2T Sugar

¼C Brown Sugar

2 Large Eggs, Separated

2C Buttermilk

2t Vanilla

4T Butter, Melted (plus more for cooking)

2C Grated Carrots

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

1 8oz Block of Cream Cheese, Softened

¼C Butter, Softened

½C Powdered Sugar

½t Vanilla 

½C Toasted Coconut

Pecan Praline Sauce:

½C Maple Syrup

4T Butter

¼C Chopped Pecans

 

Directions:

1. To Make the Pecan Praline Sauce: Heat the maple syrup in a small pot over medium-high heat, bring it to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Add 1T of butter at a time, whisking constantly, making sure each tablespoon is thoroughly mixed through before adding the next. Keep warm while you make your pancakes. Add in the pecans before serving and just heat them through.
2. To Make the Cream Cheese Filling: In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, syrup, and nuts and beat until fluffy. Set this aside until ready to spread in between the pancakes.
3. To Make the Pancakes: Preheat a griddle over medium heat. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the egg yolks, buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter, and whisk to combine. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet mixture into the center of the well, and lightly whisk with a fork to combine (there will sill be some lumps). Next, fold in the shredded carrot. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks, and then lightly fold these into the batter. The batter should have small to medium lumps. Using a ½C measure, pour the patter in to pools on the heated griddle. When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2-3 minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on the bottom, about 1 minutes. While you finish cooking the other pancakes, keep the finished pancakes warm in the oven (around 250 degrees) until serving.
4. To Assemble the Pancakes: Stack one warm carrot cake pancake on the plate and spread a heaping dollop of toasted coconut cream cheese filling on to the pancake and smooth out evenly, and repeat this process with as many pancakes as you want. Serve with the Pecan Praline Maple Butter. 

Check out Sweets for a Saturday for this recipe, as well as many others!!

Peach Cobbler Crumble Pancakes with Peach Syrup & Cinnamon Butter

The Fourth of July is just around the corner, which if I may add, it's my favorite holiday. So in honor of it, I have been planning our cookout menu for tomorrow. We couldn't really decide on a dessert... it was between peach cobbler, mixed berry shortcakes, mixed berry trifle, apple pie, banana pudding, or banana pudding trifle (we ended up picking the banana bread trifle, so I'll be posting that soon in the upcoming week). Anyway, I just couldn't get over the fact that we weren't going to have peach cobbler for dessert because that is what I always had when I was a kid. Anyway, so in honor of not having this classic dessert,  I made some Peach Cobbler Crumble Pancakes. When I was coming up with the concept I couldn't decide how I could make these pancakes really "peach-cobbler-esque" besides adding some spices and fresh peaches. So I decided to do a hybrid between a cobbler and a fruit crumble. So the pancakes act as a the peach cobbler topping and then put in some chunks of fresh peaches & sprinkled over some crunchy crumble topping. I also topped it with a Peach Maple Syrup & Cinnamon Butter (and of course some more fresh peaches on top). The pancakes were light and fluffy, but crunchy at the same time. Surprisingly they weren't overly sweet, which you would expect with all of the components. This definitely fulfilled my peach cobbler holiday craving! Enjoy :)

Fryin' the 'Cakes

Before Drizzlin' the Peach Syrup

Peach Cobbler Crumble Pancakes with Cinnamon Butter & Peach Maple Syrup

For the Cinnamon Butter:

1 Stick of Butter, Softened

3T Brown Sugar

½t Vanilla

1T Cinnamon

For the Crumble:

4T Butter, Melted

6T Raw Sugar

½C Oats

½C AP Flour

Pinch of Salt

2T Almonds, Sliced

 

For the Peach Cobbler Crumble Pancakes:

2C AP Flour

2t Baking Powder

1t Baking Soda

1t Cinnamon

½t Salt

3T Sugar

2 Large Eggs, Separated  

3C Buttermilk

1T Vanilla

4T Butter, Melted (plus more for cooking)

1C Fresh Peaches, Cut into Small Bite-Size Cubes

Prepared Crumble Mixture

For the Peach Syrup:

2C Maple Syrup

2C Fresh Peaches, Chopped

1 Stick of Butter

Pinch of Cinnamon

Directions:

1. To Make the Cinnamon Butter: beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla until the mixture is smooth, then slowly add in the cinnamon and beat until combined. Chill until ready to serve.
2. To Make the Crumble: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a pan with Pam and then set it aside. Melt the butter and stir in the sugar, then oats, then flour, salt, and almonds until large clumps form. Put this into the prepared pan, in an even layer, and bake for 20-30 minutes until the crumble is crisp. Pull the pan out of the oven and break it into pieces and put it in a bowl, saving it for the pancakes.
3. To Make the Peach Syrup: In a small pot, heat the maple syrup on medium heat until warm. Bring the maple syrup to a boil and add in the fresh chopped peaches. Cook them until the peaches begin to break down (about 30 minutes to an hour), and then reduce the heat to let it thicken. Next, melt 1T of butter into the syrup while slowly whisking it in (making sure each tablespoon is completely incorporated before adding the next). Whisk constantly until all the butter has been melted, and then add in the pinch of cinnamon. Mash the cooked/softened peaches into the syrup (I used a potato masher). Set this syrup aside until ready to pour over the cobbler pancakes. It’s better when hot, so keep that in mind.
4. To Make the Pancakes: Preheat a griddle over medium heat. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the egg yolks, buttermilk, and melted butter, and whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks, and then lightly fold these into the batter. The batter should have small to medium lumps. Using a ½C measure, pour the patter in to pools on the heated griddle. Add a handful of the cubed peaches and sprinkle on some of the prepared crumble mixture, pressing them in slightly.  When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2-3 minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on the bottom, about 1 minutes. While you finish cooking the other pancakes, keep the finished pancakes warm in the oven until serving.

Pretty Little Peach Pancakes

Ahh... The Glamour Shot

source: pancake 101. breakfast crisp.

Check out Sweet As Sugar Cookies Blog & Well Seasoned Life Blog for this recipe!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread Pancakes with Peanut Butter Maple Glaze

I love Jack Johnson. His music is just so relaxing and happy. One of my favorite songs is Banana Pancakes. This song got me thinkin'... I really want banana pancakes. Not just any banana pancake, but a hearty pancake with peanut butter. Because peanut butter and banana is one of my all-time favorite combination (well besides coffee + chocolate). So I searched the internet and came across a banana bread pancake recipe that everyone was raving about, so I decided to use that base of the pancakes, but add peanut butter chocolate chips and a peanut butter maple glaze. Of course, Clayton claims these are his favorite pancakes... but he does that every time. These pancakes are really good though. They are huge and thick unlike some pancakes that are thin and flat. I mean they really do taste a lot like banana bread. So if you love peanut butter + banana, then this will definitely be right up your ally!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread Pancakes with Peanut Butter Maple Glaze

For the Pancakes:

1C Whole Wheat Flour

1C AP Flour

2t Baking Powder

¼t Salt

¼C Brown Sugar

1t Cinnamon

¼t Nutmeg

2/3C Milk

1T Vanilla

3 Large, Ripe Bananas, Mashed

2T Butter Melted

½C Peanut Butter Chips

For the Peanut Butter Maple Glaze:

½C Maple Syrup

½C Peanut Butter

1C Powdered Sugar

3T Milk

1t Vanilla

Directions: 
1. To Make the Banana Bread Pancake Batter: In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Measure out the milk and add the vanilla extract to it. Whisk together the dry ingredients and add in the milk & vanilla, stirring to combine. The mixture will still be dry. Add in the mashed bananas and mix. Add in the melted butter and stir until the batter is somewhat smooth.
2. To Cook the Pancakes: Heat a skillet or grill on medium heat. Using a 1/3C measure, spoon batter into rounds and cook until bubbles form on the top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for another minute or two. Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve hot with butter and syrup, or the peanut butter maple glaze.
3. To Make the Peanut Butter Maple Glaze: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Pour over the hot pancakes. 

source: banana bread pancakes-how sweet it is. 


*Please check out, Sweets for a Saturday for my link, as well as many others!!

Breakfast Sliders with Spicy Syrup

So, I've been studying away... barely any cooking at all unfortunately. But this morning, we decided to whip a simple breakfast that is really just a little cooking and more assembling. You can really make it as easy as you want. These Breakfast Sliders taste almost exactly like a sausage, egg, & cheese McGriddle from McDonald's... but better and with a nice kick. It really doesn't take any time at all, so if you're in a rush, this recipe makes a lot of food in a short period of time. Enjoy :)

Breakfast Sliders with Spicy Syrup

Sweet Pancakes with Salty Sausage Patties, Melty Cheese, Fluffy Eggs, & Spicy Syrup

For the Pancake Buns:

1 ½C AP Flour

3 ½t Baking Powder

1t Salt

1T Sugar

1 ¼C Milk

1 Egg

1t Vanilla

3T Butter, Melted

For the Spicy Syrup:

½C Maple Syrup

¼C Honey

1T Chili Powder

For the Breakfast Sliders:

20 Pancake Buns, Silver Dollar-Sized

10 Sausage Patties, Cooked

5 Scrambled Eggs, Cooked & Formed into 10 Small Patties

5 Slices of Cheese (Each slice cut into quarters/fourths)

Prepared Spicy Syrup

Directions: 

1. To Make the Pancake Buns: In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix until smooth. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Pour or scoop a scant ¼C of the batter onto the griddle. Brown each pancake on both sides, about 2-3 minutes.

2. To Make the Spicy Syrup: Whisk together the maple syrup, honey, and chili powder until completely incorporated and smooth.

3. Assemble the Breakfast Sliders: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and spray a baking dish with Pam. Stack 1 sausage patty, 1 scrambled egg patty, and 2 quarters of cheese on top of one pancake bun.  Once all of the sliders have been assembled (leaving the top pancake bun off), put the baking dish in the oven to heat the slider and melt the cheese, about 5 minutes. Once the cheese has melted, place the heated sliders on to a plate and drizzle the spicy syrup all over them (do this to taste). Finally top with the other pancake buns. 

4. Serve warm and enjoy!

source: ancho honey. classic pancake batter.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Ebelskivers

Have y'all ever heard of ebelskivers? I hadn't until Clayton, Peej, & I went on a day trip to Charleston and we went into one of my favorite stores ever, Williams-Sonoma. It is like my mecca. I mean I can spend hours in there just looking at all the gadgets and cooking utensils. So while we were shopping around I saw a small section for ebelskiver-making. There is this small pan that has hollowed out holes where you pour in the batter to make filled pancake balls. The possibilities are really endless for batters and fillings. I ended up buying the pan, the wooden skewers (for flipping), and some ebelskiver mix to make it a little easier on me. So I thought, why not do a southern twist on a Danish pancake classic? Well, what's more southern than Red Velvet Cake... I'm convinced that nothing is. It's just my favorite dessert in the world. So using the store bought mix, I added some ingredients to make it a like a traditional red velvet cake batter. The only thing that I couldn't decide on was what I would fill them with. I knew it had to be some sort of sweetened cream cheese mixture, but I wanted something a little more substantial, so that when you ate the cooked pancake balls, the filling just wouldn't run out every where and all over your new dress you just bought. Then I had my eureka moment, I would get cheesecake and form them into small pieces to place in the middle of the batter. I just bought 2 slices of cheesecake from the grocery store (and I cut off the graham cracker crust). Each piece of cheesecake made about 10 bites. The cheesecake held up extremely well, but was still nice and gooey without being too runny. And the red velvet cake batter isn't overly sweet, so you get a nice pocket of sweet cream cheese to balance all the flavors. I dusted mine with powdered sugar for garnish. These were awesome and a perfect way to celebrate a southern brunch :) enjoy!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Ebelskivers Just Waitin' to be Eaten

The First Glorious Bite of Red Velvet Cheesecake Ebelskivers

The Pillowy-Pocket-Goodness of Creamy-Fluffy-Cheesecake

For the Ebelskivers:

1 ¼C Ebelskiver Filled Pancake Mix (I used Williams-Sonoma’s mix)

1t Cocoa Powder

2 Eggs, Separated

1C Buttermilk

1T Melted Butter

1t White Distilled Vinegar

½t Vanilla

Drops of Red Dye (to the color of your liking)

2 Small Slices of Classic Cheesecake (I used store-bought cheesecake)

Pam (or melted butter), For Spraying the Pan

Confectioners’ Sugar, For Dusting

Directions:

1. Prepare the Ebelskiver Batter: Put the pancake mix & cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, buttermilk, melted butter, vinegar, vanilla, and red dye (as much as you want) together. Whisk the red mixture into the pancake & cocoa powder mixture until well combined.

2. Finishing the Batter: Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisks attached beat the egg whites on high speed until just stiff (not dry peaks) for roughly 1-2 minutes. Gently fold the stiff egg whites into the red ebelskiver batter in two intervals, folding in half of the stiff egg whites completely before adding the other half, so that they are equally incorporated throughout (do not over-fold or you will lose the airiness of the beat egg whites).

3. Prepare the Cheesecake: Remove the slices of cheesecake from the refrigerator, cut off all of the graham cracker crusts, so that only the cheesecake filling remains. Cut each slice of cheesecake into about 10 pieces, roughly the size of a teaspoon each. Lightly roll each cheesecake piece, so that they are more compact. Put the pieces in the refrigerator to chill until ready to serve.

4. Cooking the Ebelskivers: Heat the ebelskiver pan over medium heat and spray lightly with Pam (or brush with melted butter). Fill each well with 1T ebelskiver batter, then place one cheesecake piece (about 1t in size) directly in the middle, and then top it with another 1T of ebelskiver batter. Cook until the bottoms are lightly golden, about 3-4 minutes. Using two wooden skewers, turn the ebelskivers over and cook another 3-4 minutes until this side is also lightly golden brown. Transfer the cooked ebelskivers to a plate. 

5. Garnishing the Ebelskivers: Dust the Red Velvet Cheesecake Ebelskivers with the confectioners’ sugar and then enjoy!

Clayton Diggin' Into the Ebelskivers

He's very happy about the results... (he's going to kill me for putting this up)

*Please check out, Sweets for a Saturday for my link, as well as many others!!

Lemon-Blueberry-Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup & Sweet Blueberry Butter

Hello lovelies :) I hope you're having a wonderful Sunday morning/afternoon!! It's been a long week and it's going to be an even longer day unfortunately because I have to study for my first Pathophysiology test that's tomorrow morning. I can't wait till I have one exam out of the way. But, here are a few pictures from this weekend. Forsyth Park hosted an end of the year concert in honor of the SCAD seniors. They arranged for the Cold War Kids to do an outdoor concert in the park. It was a lot of fun... I just love when they have activities planned for the weekend, just so much fun.

Me & Clayton at the Cold War Kids Concert at Forsyth Park

Here's My Little Munchkin Helpin' Mama in the Kitchen

Anyway, as most of you know, I love Sundays. Mainly because I love the hustle & bustle of how social Sunday Brunch is here in Savannah. It seems like just about everyone is dressed in their Sunday best, going to all the restaurants that have yummy brunch specials and well, more importantly, bottomless mimosas... um, yum!! Well normally we decide to go somewhere for our meal, but while I was at the Farmer's Market this Saturday, I bought a whole bunch o' blueberries, and I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to make with them, but they just looked so good. So, we ended up wanting to make some blueberry pancakes for breakfast because we happened to watch Throwdown with Bobby Flay this week, and the challenge was Blueberry Pancakes against Clinton Street Baking Co.

Here's Our Breakfast: Lemon-Blueberry-Ricotta Pancakes with Turkey Bacon & Home Fries

I really liked both concepts of the pancakes. But I decided to kind of do a hybrid between the two recipes. I used Bobby's pancake recipe as a base, but I kind of tinkered with it a little. Bobby made lemon-blueberry-buttermilk pancakes with a blueberry-cassis relish & blueberry maple syrup. His recipe called for like 8-10 cups of fresh blueberries, which we only had 2 cups... and they were still amazing! We also halved his recipe to make about 10 pancakes instead of 20 (because I cannot let Clayton eat that much, so feel free to double my recipe to feed a family). Bobby also topped his pancakes with a ricotta mixture, but I wanted to do something a little different. I had heard of someone making pancakes with ricotta curds (not the creamy ricotta because it makes the batter too runny), and those sounded delicious. So instead of having a ricotta topping, I wanted to fold it into the batter. However, being in Savannah, you can't always find the "specialty" ingredients that you always want. I have been spoiled by my home city of Atlanta, where you can almost find anything. Because I couldn't find the large, dryer ricotta curds, I decided to get some large-curd cottage cheese. And I know some of you will probably think that adding cottage cheese to pancakes will be disgusting and gross, and I feel you because I am an avid-cottage cheese-hater, as well as Clayton, but just give it a shot. I took the cottage cheese out when i first started cooking, and I put it into a strainer over the kitchen sink and ran cold water (hot water will just melt them) over the curds to remove the creamy mixture holding the cottage cheese together. If you don't rinse the cottage cheese curds, then it will make the pancake batter too runny and your pancakes just won't set right. Surprisingly we really liked the tang that the curds provided; it balanced out the sweetness of the blueberries, syrup, and sweet butter. And the curds melt a little from the heat and turn into little pockets of creamy, cheesy goodness that you otherwise don't expect in just a plain 'ole pancake. It reminded me somewhat of a blueberry cheesecake pancake, and what doesn't sound good about that. If you are able to find the large, dry ricotta curds, then definitely try it because I think it will be a less tangy flavor that some people would probably prefer. When I am in Atlanta next, I'm going to try and find some and make these pancakes again, so I can compare and decide what we think is better. But, I warn you, these pancakes are decadent, and I know that it is a kind of a long recipe with a lot of different components, but it's worth it. I promise. It might not be the breakfast you want to try and whip up all the time, but it will be a perfectly special surprise that will break up the monotony of just your every day kinda breakfast. I'm sure this will hit the spot every time you make it! Ok, ok... I'm sorry I've been rambling, let's just get to the pictures & the recipe already!! Enjoy :)

Lemon-Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup & Sweet Blueberry Butter

You See that Right There? That's the Blueberry-Maple-Syrupy-Goodness Just Spilling All Over the Pancakes 

Ahhhh... Glorious Blueberry Maple Syrup Waterfall

For the Blueberry Maple Syrup:

½C Maple Syrup

4T Butter

¼-½C Fresh Blueberries (depending on how much blueberry flavoring you want in your syrup)

For the Blueberry Butter:

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Softened

¼t Salt

1 ½T Confectioners’ Sugar

Pinch of Cinnamon

¾C Fresh Blueberries

For the Pancakes:

1C AP Flour

3T Sugar

½t Baking Powder

¼t Baking Soda

¼t Salt

1 Large Egg, Separated

1T Vegetable Oil

½C + 3T Buttermilk

1T Lemon Zest

1T Lemon Juice

½t Vanilla

Pinch of Cream of Tartar

1C Blueberries

½C Ricotta Curds (use a dryer ricotta, such as Gioia) or Cottage Cheese (drained & dried)**

4T Butter, Cut into Tabs

Directions:

1. For the Buttery Maple Syrup: In a small pot, heat the maple syrup on medium heat until warm. Bring the maple syrup to a boil and add in the fresh blueberries. Cook them until the blueberries burst and the syrup starts to turn a purple color, then reduce the heat to let it thicken. Next, Melt 1T of butter while slowly whisking it into the maple syrup (make sure each butter tab is completely incorporated before adding the next). Whisk constantly until all 4T of butter has melted, and then set aside until ready to pour over the blueberry pancakes. It’s better when hot, so keep that in mind. 

2. For the Sweet Blueberry Butter: Combine the butter and the sugar. Mash the blueberries with the butter until the butter is lightly colored from the blueberry skins. You still want to maintain a lot of nice blueberry chunks, so be careful not to over mash. Set aside until ready to spread over the blueberry pancakes (make sure to keep the butter kind of soft, so that it's easy to spread).

3. For the Blueberry Pancakes: Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl, and then set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, oil, buttermilk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture. Mix together slowly (with a fork) until the flour mixture is just incorporated (do not over-mix, it's ok if the batter is a little lumpy). In another small bowl, using a hand-held mixer, beat the egg white with a pinch of cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter until just incorporated (do not mash). Let the batter sit for 15 minutes. Then gently fold in the ricotta curds (or cottage cheese curds) & fresh blueberries. 

4. To Cook the Pancakes: Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat, and then add a pat of butter and heat until the butter just begins to sizzle. Scoop roughly ¼C of the blueberry pancake batter into the pan and cook until bubbles appear on the top surface and the bottom is golden brown (about 1-2 minutes). Flip over and cook until the bottom is lightly golden brown (about 1 minute). Repeat with the remaining batter. I turned my oven on to the warm setting, so that I could keep the already cooked pancakes warm while I finished cooking the others. Serve with the Blueberry Maple Syrup & Sweet Blueberry Butter, then garnish with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar and some fresh blueberries on top. 

5. Devour immediately!!

And We Definitely Devoured These Goodies

**I explained in my introduction to this recipe on what you should do if you decide to use the large cottage cheese curds. Please do not skip this step or your batter will be runny and will not set up right. 

source:bobby's pancakes. blueberry butter.