Happy Halloween with Pumpkin Pancakes!!!

Happy Halloween! Just a last minute recipe with an idea that turns ordinary pancakes into a festive treat. I have wanted to try pumpkin pancakes for a while now, and I started thinking about how to make them more Halloween-oriented - why not use chocolate chips to make them into jack-o-lanterns? My mom used to make pancakes in Mickey Mouse shapes and used chocolate chips for the face, so this concept is virtually the same.

In my opinion, pancakes should be light and fluffy, but too often the pancakes I order in restaurants are heavy and dense. Like the pumpkin waffles, this recipe uses the technique of whipping up egg whites to fold into the batter; I think this creates a super fluffy pancake. We really loved these pancakes, although they could use more pumpkin spice flavor. Next time I'll probably double the pumpkin pie spice.

Have a spooktacular day!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Servings: 2 - 3

Ingredients:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (double this to bump up pumpkin spice flavor)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, pumpkin puree, egg yolks, melted butter, and vanilla extract together, whisking to blend until smooth.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing with a spatula until just combined.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until thick and stiff.

5. Gently fold the egg whites into the pancake batter until fully incorporated.

6. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium heat.

7. Lightly spray the pan with cooking spray or use butter or butter substitute (we like Brummel & Brown). Pour batter onto pan in 1/4-cup increments (I like scooping it with a 1/4 cup measuring cup and using the bottom of the cup to smooth out the thick batter).

8. Cook each pancake until lightly browned on each side, about 1 minute per side. Air bubbles will start to reach the surface of the pancake and escape, indicating that it may be time to flip.

9. Transfer each cooked pancake to a warm plate (or one in the microwave to prevent cooling) and repeat with the remaining batter.

10. Serve with your favorite pancake toppings.

Source: Adapted from The Curvy Carrot, originally from Bon Appetit via Epicurious

Some deviled eggs my mom made with black olive spiders on top! :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Blueberry Buttermilk pancakes

To be honest, I don't usually care for homemade pancakes, and I certainly don't like pancakes from restaurants. My favorite pancakes are actually Aunt Jemima's Complete Buttermilk Pancakes, but not made the way the box recommends. I like them with more water, so the batter is very pourable, making for a very fluffy, light pancake. This may sound like breakfast blasphemy to some, but like I said, I'm just being honest :)

Several weeks ago I had some leftover buttermilk from another recipe, and I decided to search for a buttermilk pancake recipe. Because I had an abundance of Michigan blueberries in my freezer, I went with Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes. These pancakes were great! They were light and fluffy and had a delicious buttery flavor. As much as I love blueberry pancakes, I'd love to make these without the blueberries too. These just might have been better than my beloved Aunt Jemima Pancakes!

In the mood for some unique pancakes? Check out these Ricotta Pancakes or Blue Cornmeal Pancakes!

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Yields 2 to 3 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

2 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter, plus some for frying

1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. Beat the eggs with the buttermilk and melted butter. Combine the dry and wet ingredients into a lumpy batter, being careful not to overmix (Overmixing results in flat, heavy pancakes!).

3. Heat some butter in a skillet over medium heat. Spoon 1/3 cup batter into the skillet and sprinkle the top with some of the blueberries. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes on each side.

4. Serve with maple syrup or topping(s) of choice.

Source: Adapted from Food Network

Blue Cornmeal Pancakes

My sister and her boyfriend Steve spent New Year's with us in Chicago. They have been talking about these blue cornmeal pancakes for a while, so I convinced Steve to make them for us. It was a big pain actually finding the blue cornmeal - I actually wasn't able to find it in Chicago at all. Luckily a grocery store back home carries it so I picked up a bag over Christmas. The brand we used is Bob's Red Mill.

Apparently the blue cornmeal is manufactured separately from all the other Bob's Red Mill products, so just because your store carries the products doesn't necessarily mean they will have the blue cornmeal. I've heard it's easier to find in the southwestern U.S...

If you do find it, these pancakes are fantastic! And really you could make them with regular cornmeal and I'm sure they'd taste practically the same. The texture reminded me of the blueberry ricotta pancakes in that it was very soft and light, but you still get the firm pieces of cornmeal. For a new twist on pancakes (and a pretty blue color) these were great!

If you're wondering what to do with your leftover blue cornmeal, I just discovered that the Bob's Red Mill website has other recipes too!

Blue Cornmeal Pancakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup blue cornmeal (medium grind) OR traditional cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 cup boiling water

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

3/4 cup unbleached white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the blue cornmeal, salt, and sugar. Stir in the boiling water until all of the ingredients are wet. Cover, and let stand for a few minutes.

2. In a measuring cup, combine the milk, egg, and melted butter. Stir the milk mixture into the cornmeal mixture. Combine the the flour and baking powder in a small bowl. Stir this into the cornmeal mixture until just mixed. If the batter is stiff, add a little more milk until the batter flows off of the spoon thickly, but smoothly.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and grease with a dab of oil or butter. Use about 2 Tablespoons of batter for each pancake. When the entire surfaces of the pancakes are covered with bubbles, flip them over and cook until golden.

4. Serve immediately with maple syrup or fruit preserves.

Serves 4 (we had a few leftover so it may actually serve 5)

Source: Bob's Red Mill blue cornmeal package label

Ricotta Pancakes - Two Ways

A couple years ago Bob's parents saw a recipe for ricotta pancakes on Food Network. They made them for us when we were visiting, and they were so good. Several weeks ago I decided I wanted to make some ricotta pancakes. Not sure exactly which recipe they used, I went to the Food Network website. I found this one by Bobby Flay and this one by Giada de Laurentiis. Not able to decide between them, I decided to have a face off between the two recipes. I didn't make them on the same day, but I've included my review of each recipe below. For the Lemon Ricotta pancakes, I made a blackberry syrup, given the recent sales on blackberries. Giada's Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes come with a recipe for honey syrup, so I made that. While these recipes are quite different, their common ingredient ricotta cheese makes for a nice, airy pancake. I really don't like dense, heavy pancakes, so this was a big plus in my book. And both pancakes are great served with some delicious Oscar Mayer turkey bacon!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Butter, for griddle

Directions:
1. Preheat a nonstick griddle.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and sugar in a small bowl. Whisk together the cheese, eggs, milk, and lemon juice and zest in a large bowl.

3. Whisk the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.

4. Brush the hot griddle with butter. For each pancake, pour approximately 1/4 cup measure of the batter on the griddle and cook until light and golden. Repeat until no batter remains.

Review: These pancakes cook up light and fluffy. We liked the taste, although the lemon flavor may be a bit too prominent. I knew when I saw nutmeg in this recipe that I should have just omitted it. Nutmeg is fine in apple pie, and I think it's cute when Bob says to me "You're a nut, Meg," but I tend to find it odd in other food. For these pancakes the nutmeg is a bit too over-powering. Maybe cinnamon might have been better, or nothing at all. Overall, we liked these pancakes and I think this recipe has real promise, with a few minor adjustments to suit our preference. To be fair, I did not serve them with the lemon curd and fresh raspberries as Bobby suggests but rather a blackberry syrup (see below).

Source: Bobby Flay

Blackberry Syrup

Ingredients:
Original recipe:

3 cups fresh blackberries
3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1/3 cup water

Scaled down:

3/4 cup fresh blackberries

3 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 1/2 Tablespoons water

Directions:
1. In a heavy saucepan, combine blackberries, sugar, lemon zest, and water. Mix gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves.

2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally until fruit is soft.

3. While cooking 2-3 minutes more, gently mash fruit against sides of pan with a wooden spoon or a spatula.

4. Cool to lukewarm. If desired, strain syrup by pressing through a fine-mesh sieve. Original recipe reportedly yields 2 cups with pulp, or 1 cup strained syrup.

Review: This syrup was absolutely delicious, but from 3/4 cup fresh blackberries, all I got was what is shown in the picture - about a tablespoon of syrup! This is because I strained out the seeds through a fine-mesh strainer. I think it might be worthwhile to puree the blackberries before heating them up because so much of the possible syrup is lost during straining. Also, I probably could have thinned the syrup with a little more water. It was more like a jam in the end.

Source: Adapted from Cooks.com

Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes

Ingredients:
For the honey syrup:

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup honey

For the pancakes:

1 2/3 cups water

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups pancake and waffle mix (Giada recommends Krusteaz; I like Aunt Jemima)

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese (I used part skim b/c I'm a rebel!)

2/3 cup frozen blueberries

Melted butter

Directions:
Make the honey syrup: Stir 1/3 cup water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stir in the honey. Set aside and keep the honey syrup warm.

Make the pancakes:

1. Using a rubber spatula, stir 1 2/3 cups water and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the pancake mix and stir until just moistened but still lumpy.

2. Stir in the ricotta to gently incorporate but maintain a lumpy batter. Fold in the blueberries.

3. Heat a griddle over medium heat. Brush with the melted butter. Working in batches, spoon 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake (I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup).

4. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.

5. Serve with the honey syrup.

Review: I made these for my mom, sister, Bob, and myself, and we all really liked them! Again the ricotta makes for a light and airy pancake (which I love!). If you've never had a ricotta pancake before and worry that you will taste cheese, don't, because you probably would never know there was ricotta in there unless someone told you. All of us thought the honey syrup was a nice change from the typical maple. The blueberries were delicious too. While these pancakes are more 'semi-homemade' because of the mix, they take less time to make, which is always a good a thing! Giada recommended Krusteaz mix, so I went with her suggestion. For straight up pancakes and waffles, I like Aunt Jemima's complete mix because it's more airy than say Hungry Jack or Bisquick, but I thought that it might end up being too light mixed with the ricotta. I think the important thing is just to use a complete pancake/waffle mix, rather than one that requires other add-ins like eggs.

Source: Giada De Laurentiis

To summarize, although both recipes put up a good fight, we have to declare Giada's as the winner!!!