One of my best college friends got married this weekend. Well, there goes my "Who gets married first?" bracket. I wish Mikel and her new husband a life of happiness and Crossfit. So much Crossfit. I was gone at the wedding all weekend, bur have no fear, I still have many recipes hidden away for such occasions. This one is particularly appropriate.
Pancakes. I love pancakes. They are one of my favorite foods, and not only because they are little circles of breakfast-y goodness. I have some good memories around pancakes.
When I was a kid, pancakes were one of those fun weekend breakfasts that my mom would make and one of the first things I remember being able to make by myself. I'm sure I burned or undercooked many along the way, but it was those many failures that made me what I am today: a person who can make some damn good pancakes.
In college, pancakes were a cheap and delicious option when my friends and I wanted breakfast-for-dinner (which was all the time). We would go to the grocery store and get whatever struck our fancy as toppings, fruit, peanut butter, nuts, chocolate chips, whipped cream, and of course butter and syrup. We would then go back to my apartment and make us some pancakes. In those days, we used an enhanced version of the classic Bisquick recipe (I know, I'm a recipe blogger who used pancake mix, you are free to shame me), and even back then I threw in extras like spices and flavorings. One time I thought I was grabbing vanilla and accidentally made lemon pancakes. Still pretty good.
Even when they weren't homemade, I have good memories with pancakes. My college town, Hillsdale, had a diner called the Palace that was open all night on the weekend and had massive pancakes for around $3.50 each. This was heaven for a bunch of broke college students after a concert, performance, or big event. Inevitably after such an event, you could walk into the Palace and find at least two tables full of students, some still in stage makeup or formal wear, laughing and talking over some late-night breakfast food. Talk about quintessential college memories.
So, with my dear friend Mikel getting married, I though I would share this recipe in honor of her, being one of my primary pancake buddies. These pancakes are awesome, as pancakes should be. Now I'm all for a big splurge on some super unhealthy pancakes every now and again, but I want to have pancakes more often than every now and again, so this is a recipe for when I don't want to be in a food coma all day. These pancakes taste great and have a really nice texture. They are still properly fluffy, but a bit on the dense side. These are a hearty, filling pancake that doesn't taste like cardboard and sadness. Looking at this picture is making me want to make more of them. Like, right now.
Oh yes, look at those. Topped with strawberries, whipped cream, and extra cinnamon, and a side of eggs for a perfect sweet-and-savory brunch.
Okay, okay, enough of reminiscing and drooling (Note to self: stop blogging while hungry), it's recipe time!
Sprinkles of Kim:
-I didn't have quick oats, so I pulsed old-fashioned oats in a food processor to cut them up. This is a trick you can use any time quick oats are called for
-As I often do, I added extra cinnamon and a dash each of cloves, ginger, and nutmeg, which gives the pancakes a wonderful spicy flavor that has the bonus of making your kitchen smell amazing
-The flavor of these pancakes if fairly neutral, so any mix-in or topping should go well with them. I used sliced strawberries and whipped cream, with a dusting of cinnamon just because.
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