Potato Pancakes

When you are looking for a different type of pancake or unique potato side dish - this is the one! Even easier than it sounds. 

Soft Potato Cakes
1 cup hot mashed potatoes
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup grated raw potato
1 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until well combined (you may need to knead the mixture with your hands).
Form the mixture into small balls about the size of golf balls. Flatten into large, flat pancakes.
Fry in hot oil until golden on both sides.

Easiest Pancakes

Easiest Pancakes

1. 1/3 cup fruit purée
2. 1/2 cup grain
3. 1/4 cup liquid
4.  sweetener of choice, to taste
5. flavoring, to taste
6. optional add-ins
7. salt, just a pinch, if desired

Examples:

1. Mashed banana, applesauce, mashed avocado
2. whole wheat flour, rolled oats, multigrain hot cereal blend
3. non-dairy milk, water
4. sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, agave
5. vanilla extract, almond extract, coffee extract
6. chocolate chips, blueberries, chopped nuts, raisins

Combine all ingredients together well. You can do this by hand for a pancake with more texture, or use a blender or hand blender for a much smoother batter. Cook as regular pancakes (in a frying pan or on a skillet, use oil or spray, make them mini or big).

My Recipe:

1. Mashed banana
2. hot cereal blend
3. almond milk

I mixed by hand to retain the texture of the cereal, made them miniature, and topped with peanut butter and molasses.

Chocolate Nutella Pancake Stacks

Chocolate Nutella Pancake Stacks
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon granulated (white) sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
1/3 cup milk
2 Tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Nutella
fruit
hazelnuts

Heat a little oil in a small frying pan over medium heat.
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center.
Add the milk, oil, and vanilla to the well and mix until smooth. Drop small spoonfuls of batter into the frying pan (in batches if needed) and cook for a minute or two per side until firm.
Assemble the stacks by sandwiching four pancakes together with plenty of nutella between the layers. Garnish with fresh fruit and hazelnuts. Makes two stacks or eight miniature pancakes. Alternately you could make one large pancake and spread it with nutella, fruit, and hazelnuts. 

Here is the second nutella breakfast addition. This makes one serving of pancakes - so you can make a hot breakfast just for yourself or for a loved one. You can make either the batter or the pancakes in advance and cook or reheat them in the morning. 

Pear Buckwheat Pancakes with Pear Caramel Sauce

Perhaps I should have featured this pear dish first - breakfast. However, it is sweet enough to be served as a dessert as well, but dessert will follow tomorrow. This recipe is spiced pear buckwheat pancakes with pear caramel sauce and mascarpone cream. The pancake recipe is a basic buttermilk pancake recipe, with the addition of a little buckwheat flour for some extra heartiness and some chopped pear into the batter. They are then topped with a sweet, decadent pear caramel sauce - which is basically a caramel sauce made with honey and candied ginger, with again some chopped pear. Alternately, a pear compote could be used instead. The pancakes are then topped with some mascarpone cream, which is really simply a mixture of mascarpone cheese and heavy cream whipped together with a little lemon zest. For an attractive presentation, use a long plate and layer the pancakes on the plate. Drizzle with the caramel sauce and top each pancake with a swirl of the cream and a twirl of lemon zest. 

Oat Milk Pancakes

Oat Milk Pancakes
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup milk (of any type)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce or melted coconut oil
1 Tablespoon molasses or honey
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch salt

Preheat a greased griddle or frying pan over medium heat.
In a large bowl, pour the milk over the oats and let stand for about five minutes. Mix in the egg, applesauce, and honey. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook the pancakes for about 2-3 minutes per side, until golden, using about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Makes about ten pancakes of this size.

This are healthy, wholesome pancakes that are thick and tasty. Nutrients stem from whole grain oats, flour, and milk. They may be a bit heavier than regular pancakes, but make a great base for a variety of toppings, sweet or savory. Try berries, egg, jam, nuts, yogurt, etc. 

Sunny Morning Pancakes

Sunny Morning Pancakes
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons oats
1 scant Tablespoon each: shredded coconut, sesame seeds, chopped pecans
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons frozen blueberries
1 Tablespoon raisins
1/2 Tablespoon ground flaxseed + 1 teaspoon water
1/3 cup milk

Heat a little oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. In a small bowl, mix together the first seven dry ingredients. Add the flax and milk mixture and mix until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan, this can make one big pancake or several small ones. Cook for a few minutes on each side until golden.
For crispy pancakes: Heat the pan to medium-high and spread the batter thin.
For soft and fluffy pancakes: Keep the pan on medium and make the batter thicker. 

Spread with: yogurt, nut butter, honey, maple syrup, molasses, or jam.
Top with: fresh fruit, nuts, chocolate chips. 
These are sort of like a morning glory muffin, but with less tropical flavors. Different fruits and nuts may be substituted as desired for different flavors, but the principle idea here is a pancake with some texture, crunch, and lots of flavor. They are hearty and tasty and make one good-sized breakfast serving. 

German Potato Pancakes

This is the first of a few posts regarding a little exploration on world cuisine. The cuisine featured here is German. I have made two German dishes, the first one is given in this post. I will also share a little information about German cuisine in general, staple foods, dietary habits, customs, health status, and locally grown foods.

German Potato Pancakes
3 medium russet potatoes, shredded
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 large egg, beaten
1 Tablespoon all-purpose (plain) flour
1 Tablespoon oil
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
salt and pepper

Heat a little oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. Drop by spoonfuls into the prepared pan. Cook for a few minutes per side until golden. These can be made as thick or as thin as you wish, cooking time will vary accordingly. It can also be made into one large pancake. 

This is a simple and tasty dish. It is basic and plain, but could certainly be jazzed up in many different ways. It can also be served with your choice of dip - ketchup, horseradish, sour cream, hot sauce, or mustard. It is a great side dish that goes with a variety of main courses.

Blueberry Pancakes For One

Here is another tasty, quick yet special breakfast for one. It is somewhat similar to the Single Blueberry Muffin I recently posted. Because these pancakes are made in a small batch with whole wheat flour, they are not as light and fluffy as normal pancakes would be, but they are hearty and delicious. I use a little flax and water in them, which serves as an egg replacement in baking, in order to achieve a better texture, just like with the muffin.

Blueberry Pancakes For One
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
2 Tablespoons oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch salt
1/2 Tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 teaspoon water
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat a little oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. 
In a medium bowl, mix together the first six dry ingredients. Mix together the flax and water and add along with the milk and vanilla. Mix well. Spoon batter into prepared pan, I made four small, thick pancakes. Cook until golden on both sides.

Pancake Supper

Pancakes for supper are a regular occurrence for my family. In fact, we rarely eat them for breakfast. We commonly enjoy waffles for supper too. Often these are served with pan-fried ham and scrambled eggs. Having breakfast-style meals for supper is quick, easy, and tasty. It also makes a very well-balanced meal that doesn't require a lot of preparation work and uses ingredients on hand. These are the pancakes that my mother has been making for as long as I can remember. Mom likes to make small pancakes, about four inches in diameter, instead of large plate-sized pancakes. That way we can eat a lot more, and they fit on the plate and in your mouth better. Everyone enjoys different toppings on their pancakes, common toppings in our house include butter, syrup, jam, peanut butter, and applesauce. Cooking pancakes on a griddle makes the work go a lot faster - we can fit up to ten pancakes on our griddle at the same time. That means a lot less batches, and a lot less cooking time. Griddles are also very easy to use and clean. Here are some pancakes that were cooked up for supper tonight!

Pancakes

Since I haven't posted a recipe on here for awhile, I am going to share with you my master recipe for pancakes. These are simple, unflavoured pancakes, but both chocolate chips and blueberries can successfully be added to the batter. In our house we like to make our pancakes small, about the size of a standard cookie, and we can fit up to six in our frying pan at once. That way we can eat a bunch of pancakes instead of just one that takes up the entire plate. We often eat pancakes for supper with pan-fried ham and scrambled eggs. In our house, I hold the record for trying the most different toppings on these pancakes. I have tried butter, pancake syrup, pure male syrup, peanut butter, molasses, corn syrup, icing sugar, brown sugar, yogurt, Nutella, cinnamon, applesauce, jam, cinnamon sugar, honey, and several combinations of those. They are all quite good.

Pancakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. granulateed sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp. cooking oil
1 1/2 cups milk

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium size bowl.
Beat egg slightly in small bowl. Mix in oil and milk. Add to dry ingredients. Stir. A few small lumps in batter are preferable. Add more or less milk to have thicker or thinner pancakes. Pan is ready when drops of water bounce all over it. Drop batter by spoonful onto lightly greased hot pan 380◦F. When bubbles appear and edges begin to dry, turn to brown other side.

Paré, Jean. "Pancakes." Recipe. Muffins and More, Edmonton Alberta: Company's Coming Publishing Limited, 1988. 133.