By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
The fall season takes me to one of my favorite books—cookbooks. One of my favorite treats is pancakes for breakfast—or any snack or meal. While thumbing through recipes, I thought I’d share a few of my go-to pancake recipes.
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Servings: Servings: 8
Ingredients:
1-3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbl. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Kosher Salt
1-1/2 cups Buttermilk
2 ea. Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Tbls. Vegetable Oil
2 cups Fresh Ricotta Cheese
4 Tbls. Granulated Sugar
2 Tbls. Lemon Zest (minced)
2-1/2 tsps. Vegetable Oil
Directions:
Place the flour, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir all the ingredients together until evenly combined. Set aside.
Pour the buttermilk into another mixing bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla, and oil into the bowl.
Add the ricotta cheese, sugar, and lemon zest into the bowl with the buttermilk. Using a wire whisk, gently stir the ingredients together until evenly combined.
Add the flour mix into the bowl with the buttermilk and ricotta cheese. Continue to fold the ingredients together until evenly combined with a few small lumps remaining in the batter. Do not over-mix the batter.
Heat 1/4 tsp. of vegetable oil on a griddle or in a large non-stick pan. Using a 4 oz. ladle, pour the batter onto the griddle or into the non-stick pan, forming one pancake that is 6” in diameter.
Cook the pancakes for approximately 2-1/2 minutes or until the edges begin to dry and puff up with little air bubbles that will start appearing over the top surface of the pancakes.
Flip each pancake over and continue to cook for another 1-1/2 minutes or until done.
Primary Source: https://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/recipes/lemon-ricotta-pancakes
Pumpkin Pancakes
Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 5 to 10 mins
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups (149g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 tablespoons (25g) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (227g) milk
1/3 cup (74g) pumpkin purée, homemade or canned
2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted, or 2 tablespoons (25g) vegetable oil
1 large egg
Directions:
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, spice, and salt until evenly incorporated.
In a separate bowl or measuring cup whisk together the milk, pumpkin, melted butter, and egg.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just until evenly moistened.
Heat a large pan over medium heat or preheat a griddle to 350°F; the surface is hot enough when a droplet of water skitters across it. Lightly grease the pan with butter or vegetable oil.
Spoon the batter, 1/4 cup at a time, into the pan; a scone and muffin scoop works well here.
Cook on the first side until the edges of the pancakes start to look dry, about 2 to 3 minutes, then flip the pancakes over, and continue to cook until the bottoms are brown, an additional 2 minutes.
Serve immediately or transfer cooked pancakes to the oven to stay warm, if desired.
Looking for a gluten-free version of this recipe? Find it here: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pancakes.
Source: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/pumpkin-pancakes-recipe
The following recipe is perhaps my favorite because I can make them in any number of varieties – depending on my mood.
Perfect Pancakes
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Servings: Yield: 4 servings | Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups milk, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more as needed
Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and then whisk in the milk and vanilla.
Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat.
Whisk the butter into the milk mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, and whisk until a thick batter has just formed.
Keeping the skillet at medium heat, ladle about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the skillet, to make a pancake. Make 1 or 2 more pancakes, taking care to keep them evenly spaced apart. Cook, until bubbles break the surface of the pancakes*, and the undersides are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip with a spatula and cook about 1 minute more on the second side. Serve immediately or transfer to a platter and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter to the skillet as needed.
I’m not certain where I got this recipe.
Now for the good part. Personalizing your pancakes!*
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Chocolate chips
- Chopped apples
- Chopped apples and walnuts
- Sliced bananas
- Sliced bananas and walnuts
- Sliced strawberries
- Substitute half of the milk for apple or orange juice
*Procedure for adding fruit to pancakes: Once the bubbles break the surface of the pancakes, scatter the surface with sliced or diced fruit, or chocolate chips, nuts, etc. Or fold the ingredients into the batter.
Don’t forget the Toppings!
- Nothing beats pure maple syrup
- Chopped pecans
- Whipped cream
- Ice Cream
When creativity swirls through your imagination, use your favorite muffin mix or recipe—you just may need to add a little more liquid.
Now, your turn. What is your favorite pancake recipe?
