A couple times a month, I make Sunday morning pancakes. I take my pancakes seriously and spent my childhood studying the art of the flapjack at my father’s elbow (he’s a former short order cook who spent years developing his own from-scratch pancake mix which you can find here). While I love pancakes simply for what they are (how does one describe the soul of a pancake?), I also look at them as platform for finishing off open jars of homemade stuff.
Take this last Sunday for example. I whisked together eggs, milk, a drizzle of grapeseed oil, a splash of vanilla extract and several scoops of my version of my dad’s mix. I greased and heated my perfectly seasoned, only used for pancakes griddle (I told you I’m no pancake lightweight) and made my dollops of batter. While the first side cooked, I sprinkled a bit of granola into the raw side. A little extra care went into the flipping, so as not to dislodge the granola. When they were done, my pancakes were studded with crisp bits and softened raisins.
This is such a good way to fancy up your pancakes without putting a whole lot of extra work into them. I’ve also done this with sliced bananas, chopped pecans or dried cranberries. It also works with canned fruit like peaches, pears and plums. They can’t be too moist, just drain them a bit and chop them fine. The fruit caramelizes when you flip the cakes to cook the second side, which tastes just wonderful in the finished product.
There are just a couple things to know you cook toppings into your pancakes. The first is that you need to use a light hand when sprinkling them in. Overwhelm the cake with add-ins and your disturb its structural integrity. Spread sparingly and evenly. The second is something I alluded to above. You’ve got to take care when flipping the cakes so that you don’t end up scattering the additional bits across your stove top.
Though I’ve flipped many a cake in my day, I never take the skill for granted. You’ll need to access your meditative center during the frenzy of breakfast making, at least just for a moment. Slide the spatula under the cake (make sure to have a solid grasp on the handle) and lift. Center it back over the space where it needs to land. Take a deep breath and empty your head of any nagging worries. Finally, flip with confidence, following through with your wrist. Success!
Finally, once all your pancakes are cooked, spread them with jam (though my husband can’t be swayed from a puddle of real maple syrup) and dig in.
Best idea ever!
Gosh, thanks Kimberley!
we are a bit pancake obsessed here as well, in fact we had pumpkin pancakes (made from spelt flour) with blueberries in them for lunch today 🙂
Next time we make pancakes, I will try your dads recipe
Yum, that pancake looks quite hardy and delicious. Yum.
Thank you for posting this! Ever since I saw granola pancakes featured on an episode of Diners, Drive Ins & Dives I have been wanting to make them, but unsure how. Now I’m embarrassed seeing how easy it is. Thanks!
These look great and I have a bunch of homemade granola sitting around waiting to be eaten. Thanks for the great idea.
I’d never thought to do this! I love the little crispy edges of pancakes, and adding in granola means more crispy in the pancake. I’ll be giving this a whirl the next time I make pancakes.
So your father is the king of pancakes and your mother the queen of granola. Now this is a regal baby! I attempted to make PB granola with your mother’s granola recipe by subbing PB for all the honey/syrup. It turned into more of a muesli because it didn’t clump up [my fault]. I now have about a handful left, less than a meal’s worth, so I think I know what I’m having for breakfast on Sunday!
This is yet another sign that I need to get up early enough tomorrow (ooops, it’s already past midnight, so I really mean today!) to get to the market for eggs and cheese and a couple of slices of ham so that I can make egg and cheese pancakes. Where I’m from pancakes are the crepe types and when I was younger they came once a year (on Pancake Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday) with a squeeze of lemon juice and a liberal sprinkling of sugar. And then I moved to Germany and discovered things like cheese (I was a very unadventurous child and teenager who basically ate meat and potatoes and not much else). The method you describe above is almost how I learned how to make ham and cheese pancakes except a few small bits of ham are put on the pan first, then slightly smaller bits of very thinly sliced cheese placed on top of the ham, and finally, after a few seconds, when the ham is starting to crisp and the cheese is nearly melting, you pour the batter over them, just enough to barely cover and make a thin pancake. Flip and cook the other side and try to make them faster than you eat them!
While trolling around the blogs today, I came across a very clever use for our canning jars while we’re “between seasons” like we are now. I hadn’t seen this gal’s blog before, but she made some lovely whole wheat herb rolls and baked them in jars:
http://bakedbree.com/herb-rolls-baked-in-a-jar
This is such a cool idea – I’ve got tons of granola and some new jars. Btw, I have a question and I don’t know if you’ll find the comment I left in a much earlier post of yours on lemon juice. I made a tomato/marinara sauce out of 15 lbs tomatoes, 1 onion and 6 cloves garlic. After my mixture was done, it was VERY sour (my sister said they were “wince-worthy”!) so I added some sugar and spices (italian seasoning, black pepper, salt) and it tasted much better. So when I was told to add lemon juice, I figured I’ll only do 3/4 of the amount. (It called for 1 Tbsp for pint jars, and I used half-pint jars so I put in almost a full 1/2-tbsp measuring spoon). I didn’t want my sauce to come out too sour! I just want to know if they’re ok? My jars are more than 24 hrs after being processed (water boil). If they’re not safe, how long will it take to show signs of spoilage? I was planning to give as gifts in 2 weeks so I hope I know before then! Thanks so much!