The Perfect Pancake

From Sunday, January 30, 2011

Last week's recipe yielded 6 delicious (and a bit gooey) cardamom scented pancakes. Over the course of the week I realized how handy leftover pancakes really are. I took a pancake with me to work every morning, tossed it in our office toaster oven, and had a hearty homemade breakfast on campus by 8 am.  Perfect. So I decided that this week I would make pancakes again, A LOT of pancakes.  Considering the time investment of making the mother load batch, I decided to stick to a tried and true recipe, one that I knew would not disappoint.

The first time I made this recipe, I was living on a farm in northern Minnesota. The mornings were early and cold - and we had plenty of winter squash on hand. So, naturally I started experimenting with winter squash recipes: winter squash ravioli, winter squash soup, winter squash bars, and the list goes on.  This creation is one of my favorites from that fall.

Also, on a side note, I used the immersion blender that dad and Beth got me for Christmas for the first time today. I LOVE it!  Perfect for puréeing squash. 

Winter Squash Pancakes

Yields about 3 dozen small-ish cakes (I will be freezing half of these and taking them out of the freezer like Eggo's to take with me to school)

2 c pureed winter squash (I used a mix of buttercup and butternut)

1/2 c oil

6 eggs

1 1/2 c milk (not skim)

2 t vanilla

2 c whole wheat flour

2 c white flour

2 T baking powder

2 t salt

1/4 c sugar

1 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

butter for griddle

Place the squash, oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the bowl. Mix to combine. 

Heat a large griddle on medium and grease with butter. Pour the batter into 3-4 inch circles (or whatever size you like).  The pancakes will not bubble up like most do, but they will puff up when they are ready to be flipped (about 5 minutes). Flip the cakes when they are golden brown. Cook until both sides are golden.

Enjoy!

p.s. I've got a sourdough stater fermenting, so the next recipe will be some sort of sourdough creation. English Muffins perhaps :)