pancake weekends

A new tradition is brewing in the Lynch house. Pancake weekends! Sure, this is a pretty normal tradition in most families homes on the weekends, so this is nothing all that new or original. But in the past, unless I already had a box of Bisquick in the cupboard, making pancakes from scratch seemed like a huge pain.

However, I love baking. All things involving flour, yeast, mixing, etc is fun for me. I find it relaxing and a wee bit of "me time" when I am up to my elbows in batter. Before we had Piper we were up and moving really quick on the weekends. Heading to the beach, out for a hike, or up early to work on a huge house project that would take all day. So a long, leisurely, homemade breakfast on the weekend wouldn't really work out for us.

Now with Piper we are lounging more in the mornings. One of us will wake up with her (around 7:30ish) and go in the back room to play, read books, watch a DVD while the other one sleeps in a bit. So I've been playing around with fun pancake recipes. This past Saturday I kicked it up a bit and made two batches of pancakes: Peanut Butter Pancakes and Parmesan and Cornmeal Pancakes. The Parmesan and Cornmeal were really great and I definitely recommend them. The cornmeal adds a really yummy, crunchy texture and the scallions aren't overwhelming, but add another level of taste that sets the recipe apart from being just another pancake.I actually thought the Parmesan Cornmeal Pancakes could be used as some sort of fancy appetizer if you made them smaller, spread them with veggie cream cheese then rolled them up all crepe like.

The Peanut Butter ones were a bit overkill in the peanut butter department for Patrick and I, but Pip loved them so I guess they are better suited for the kidlets.

Since I'm trying to watch my calories a bit, I haven't been endulging in the pancake weekends as much as Patrick and Piper have. I'll have a 1/2 of a pancake and then a little container of Chobaini fat free greek yogurt (140 calories, no fat, tastes REALLY good). By the way, Piper can easily polish off 3-4 adult sized pancakes.

Parmesan Cornmeal Pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1 Tbsp. sugar (optional)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1-3/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. cooking oil
1/3 cup finely chopped green onion
Directions
1. In a bowl combine flour and other dry ingredients. In second bowl combine remaining ingredients. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until slightly lumpy.
2. Heat a lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat. For each pancake pour 1/4 cup batter onto griddle. Cook until golden; turn when tops are bubbly and edges are slightly dry (1 to 2 minutes per side). Makes about 16 pancakes.

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Peanut Butter Pancakes

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups milk
1/3 cup peanuts, finely chopped
Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl combine flour and other dry ingredients. In a medium bowl whisk together eggs and peanut butter until combined. Gradually stir in milk (mixture will be stiff at first but will thin when all the milk is added). Add peanut butter mixture to flour mixture. Stir just until combined but still slightly lumpy. Gently stir in peanuts. Batter will be thin but will thicken slightly after standing a few minutes.
2. Heat a lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat. For each pancake, pour about 14 cup batter onto griddle.
3. Cook over medium heat until pancakes are golden; turn when tops are bubbly and edges are slightly dry (1 to 2 minutes per side). Makes 16 pancakes.