Toffee Pumpkin Whole Wheat Pancakes

Wow, it has been an outrageous amount of time since my last post, my sincerest apologies! Things have gotten really crazy around here, and I just haven't had the time or energy to not only write a post, but also actually make some interesting and new dishes. I've been stuck making things that are easy, convenient, and not necessairly always the healthiest. Between massive amounts of school work and intense assignments (getting close to the end of the semester), the pup, getting a cold (although minor), dealing with iron deficiences (partly my fault- I'm terrible at consistently taking my iron pills), and attempting to work through some interpersonal problems, my life has been pretty hectic! When I have some time to relax, I usually veg-out in front of the tube.

But enough of that, here's something really delicious! If you like pancakes, and if you like pumpkin, this is totally up your alley! Simple, healthy (for the most part), and appealing to your sweet tooth with the toffee bits... you gotta make these! They're also do really well frozen and reheated as a quick breakfast option- but the absolute key to reheating frozen or refridgerated pancakes is you MUST toast them. This brings back the crispiness of the pancake so you're not left with something dull and floppy. That's just gross.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup canned or pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix from the can)
1 large egg
2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
toffee skor bits to taste (optional- trust me though, you want to include them)

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine your flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a seperate bowl, mix together your pumpkin, egg, buttermilk, vanilla and oil.

Combine your wet and dry ingredients until just mixed (do not overmix, it's ok if there's some clumps left).

Heat a skillet to medium low heat and spray lightly with cooking spray. Spoon batter into skillet, and sprinkle a small handful of toffee bits on top of pancake prior to flipping.

Cook for a few minutes until the pancake fills with bubbles and the edges start to dry and appear lightly brown. Flip and cook second side for 1-2 minutes. Pancakes will be fairly solid and easily moved when done.

Pancakes can be served immediately, but also store well in the fridge or freezer. Let cool completely before adding to a freezer style bag to store.

Source: slightly adapted from Love From The Oven Pin It

Lemon Pancakes with Wildberry Sauce

It's Tuesday morning, which means a) I have to do grocery shopping this morning which I do NOT want to do, as it requires going out in the cold rain and, let's face it, not being lazy and b) 2 more shifts before my weekend! Am I excited? Sadly, no. I'm actually dreading tomorrow. I think that I've mentioned I volunteer, and sometimes my volunteering requires me to do an overnight shift. Ugh, the dreaded overnight. So what I get to look forward to is a full work day tomorrow (remember that I work in the afternoon/evening) and then I get to go almost straight into a full 8-hour overnight shift. I may just be a different person Thursday morning. Delusional and experiencing hallucinations? Very possible. Sigh... gotta do what you gotta do. Besides, I'm giving my time for a good cause... at least that's what I have to tell myself in situations like these.

So, I've mentioned before that pancakes aren't my strong suit. But I'm getting better at them. You'd think that for someone who is in the kitchen so much, making a simple pancake wouldn't be such a problem. I think the problem is a) my stove is really awful and b) I wasn't cooking them on the one side long enough before flipping them, which would result in an uncooked pancake (probably the more important). So what is necessary when using my piece of crap stove is patience because it has to stay on a low temperature so that it doesn't burn. See this post if you want to get a look at my ghetto oven/stove here. Then you can understand that I only have basically 4 temperature settings, which can make things tricky at times.

Long story short, I rocked these pancakes this morning. Not only did I cook them perfectly, but I made them from my own recipe! That's right, this is a Michelle original. No sourcing today. I took a look at maybe 4 different pancake recipes, got the basic proportions of ingredients needed, threw them together and hoped for the best! And it totally paid off, which is one of the best feelings ever! Cooking something like soup is different; it's easy to put ingredients together that you're pretty sure will meld together, but baking/pancake making is another story. You need the correct formula for things to work out. Anyways, I'd just like to say that I feel pretty awesome about my pancakes. They had a fantastic light and delicate lemon flavour that complimented the wildberry sauce perfectly. If you don't have a 4-berry mix like I had, this would work out well with just raspberries, blueberries or blackberries.

Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup vanilla or plain yogurt
1/2-3/4 cup milk, depending on thickness preference (I used 3/4)
1 egg
butter for pan

For Sauce:
1 cup 4-berry blend (thawed if from frozen)
1/8-1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water, or juice from thawed berries
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:
Combine berries and sugar in a small pot and heat on low. Allow the berries to simmer on low and reduce for about 20-25 minutes. If there appears to be a lot of liquid, as was my case because they were from frozen, drain a couple teaspoons and reserve aside. Once the berries start to break down at around the 20 minute mark, mix the cornstarch in with the reserved berry juice or water. Add to the berry reduction. Keep on heat for another few minutes, stirring frequently and being careful not to burn. Keep on very low heat or set aside.

For the pancakes, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in a medium bowl and whisk together. Add in the lemon juice, yogurt and milk, stirring briefly. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add more milk if your preference is to have a thinner batter.

Heat a large pan on medium and allow approximately 1 teaspoon of butter to melt. Add the batter in 1/4 cup increments. Flip the pancakes when bubbles have appeared and the surface no longer looks "wet". If you are waiting to cook all before serving, heat your oven on low so that you can keep them warm in the meantime.

Serve with the warm wildberry sauce spooned over and enjoy!

Source: A Sweet Treats & Healthy Eats Original

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Banana Pancakes

I'm not a huge breakfast person. That's not to say that I don't enjoy breakfast; in fact, at times it can be my favorite meal of the day. It's just that I'm often too lazy or unmotivated to make anything more complicated than a fried egg sandwich. Every so often I'll make something that takes a little more effort on the weekend, such as pancakes. Oddly enough though, pancakes do not seem to be my strong suite. Give me a boxed mix and I'm good to go, but making them from scratch? For some reason I have a tendency to under cook them, which leads to a mushy middle. Ask Sean, he can attest to my failed, but still tasty, attempts.

Fortunately enough, this recipe worked out well for me. In my own defence, I have one old school oven. Before moving into my apartment, I had never even seen something like my current oven. Rather than having a dial for the different temperatures, it has buttons. The buttons are: off, warm, low, 3, 2, and High. Huh? Well, see for yourself:

I understand if you're gaping in confusion at this picture. Perhaps a close-up will help clarify things.

So this is what I have to work with. I recognise that my inability to make a perfect pancake lies somewhat with me- but can you blame me when I'm working with this? The problem is that the ideal temperature lies somewhere in between 2 and 3, as 2 cooks the pancakes too fast and results in burning, and 3 goes way too slow. I end up flipping 2 on for half a minute before turning it back. And if you turn the oven on... that changes everything. As a result, everything burns much hotter. So number 3 can turn into 2 or even 1. And you better watch yourself- touch the top of the stove (not on the element unless it's off of course) when the oven is on, and you will burn yourself. It becomes outrageously hot and raises the temperature of my tiny apartment by several degrees. That also might have something to do with the fact that the door doesn't shut properly.

Anyways, now that I've whined about my inadequate appliances, I'll get back to the banana pancakes! These babies miraculously did turn out as hoped. They had a lovely banana flavour, and topped with sliced bananas and warm maple syrup they made a tasty and filling breakfast, that is what I like to think somewhat healthy! In the future I may even substitute half the flour for whole wheat flour, which is something I often do in breads or muffins.

Yield: about 10 pancakes
Ingredients:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing the pan
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
2½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 small ripe banana, mashed
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Additional banana slices, for serving
Maple syrup, whipped cream, etc. for serving

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 150˚ F. Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl; set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; whisk together to combine.
In a another bowl, combine the mashed banana, milk, eggs and vanilla and whisk to blend. Add the melted butter and the banana mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix gently with a rubber spatula until just blended (the batter will be slightly lumpy).

Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Grease lightly with butter. Drop the batter in 1/3 cup portions onto the heated cooking surface. Cook until a few bubbles form in the top surface and the bottom is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip the pancake over and cook on the remaining side until golden brown, 1-2 minutes more. Transfer finished pancakes to a plate in the warm oven while you use the remaining batter, re-greasing the pan as needed. Serve warm with maple syrup and sliced bananas as desired.

Source: Williams Sonoma

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