Travels with George and Marta

I used to use a mix for making pancakes and waffles. Most were very thin and tasteless. Okay… not completely tasteless – more like cardboard. There was one mix that I really liked was the buckwheat pancake mix from Bette’s Ocean View Diner. I can’t find it locally any longer so it was time to make buckwheat from scratch.

I picked up some buckwheat flour from Bob’s Red Mill and went in search of a good recipe. I really had to search because buckwheat is non-gluten so there were many ‘healthy’ recipes or recipes which used all buckwheat. I wanted something a bit more like a buttermilk pancake but with the added flavor of buckwheat. Nice and fluffy.

I found two recipes that looked like what I wanted. The Buckwheat-Buttermilk Pancakes on Herbivoracious had a lot of good tips on buckwheat pancakes. The quantity was too large for just the two of us and his recipe is not easy to half. I also came across a recipe for a Blueberry Buckwheat from Sunset Magazine which combined three flours – wheat, buckwheat and corn. It sounded interesting but I wasn’t in the mood for corn – plus I mainly had only course cornmeal in house.

I ended up making it very similar to the recipe in Sunset but reduced the leavening. They were yummy. It made 6 large pancakes.

Buckwheat Buttermilk Pancakes

1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk

Butter, maple syrup. Blueberries – optional

In a bowl, whisk together buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together egg yolks and buttermilk; Stir into dry ingredients making certain not to overmix.

In a deep bowl, whip egg whites with a mixer on high speed just until whites hold stiff peaks. Gently fold whites into batter.

Heat skillet over medium heat. When hot, add a small dab of butter and pour 1/3 cup of batter. Shake pan lightly and cook until edges are dry and bubbles start to break in middle. Flip and cook until done.

Serve with plenty of butter and warm maple syrup. They are also good with a spoon of warmed blueberries.

Batter after stirring in wet ingredients

Folding in the egg whites

Finished pancakes

Aloha! It is almost time to travel to Hawaii. This week’s pancake is a tasty flapjack favored from the islands – Banana Macadamia Pancake. I’ve been reading about the pancakes at Boots & Kimo’s in Kailau – Banana pancakes with a Macadamia nut sauce. I was looking for a different type of pancake to make next and found a recipe on Epicurious for Banana Macadamia Pancake. Purrrrfect!

These were very similar to the previous buttermilk pancakes with the addition of a tablespoon of melted butter. You also folded in chopped banana and macadamia nuts. I couldn’t decide if I should mash up the banana or not. I decided not to and instead quartered the banana and added small slices. It was perfect. The cake was able to cook around the fruit. Sometimes if the fruit is too large, the pancake will be raw around the fruit. We enjoyed the crunchiness but they are very rich with the nuts and extra butter. I also made the orange butter which was very good but I highly recommend using unsalted butter. I only had salted and it detracted from the flavor.

These pancakes will definitely “break your mouth”

Banana Macadamia Pancakes with Orange Butter
Gourmet | December 2002
Yield: Makes 15 (4-inch) pancakes

Ingredients
For orange butter
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh orange juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

For pancakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ripe large banana
1/2 cup salted roasted macadamia nuts (2 1/2 oz), chopped

Accompaniment: maple syrup

Preparation
Make orange butter:
Stir together all orange butter ingredients in a small bowl until combined well.

Make pancakes:

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together buttermilk, 2 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined. Cut banana into bits and fold into batter along with nuts. (Batter will be very thick.)

Brush a 12-inch nonstick skillet with some of remaining tablespoon melted butter and heat over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of 3, pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake into hot skillet and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip pancakes with a spatula and cook until golden brown and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a large plate and loosely cover with foil to keep warm, then make more pancakes, brushing skillet with butter for each batch. Serve with orange butter.

Batter will be a little more lumpy than regular pancakes

Risin’ high and fluffy

It is Sunday and time for more pancakes. I wanted to make the pancakes I made several weeks ago but didn’t blog about. I remembered that they had sour cream but completely forgot buttermilk was also in the recipe. There was no way that I was going to run to the store this morning so I tried the ’emergency substitution’ recipe for buttermilk – combine 1 cup of 1% milk with a 1 TBS of white vinegar or lemon juice. I decided to use white vinegar and it worked fine. You do need to remember to put the tablespoon of vinegar in a cup first and then add milk to make 1 cup. Let it stand for about 5 minutes and it will slightly curdle. The main thing was to make certain the batter had enough acid for the two leavening agents the recipe called for – baking soda and baking powder.

I love this recipe. The pancakes are thick, fluffy and very tender. The thickness and fluffy texture comes from both the buttermilk and sour cream while the sugar adds to the tenderness and flavor. I don’t use the full amount of vanilla – just a few drops.

It is very easy to make. Whisk together the dry ingredients. Whisk together the wet. Combine until all the flour is mixed in but not too much. I left it lumpy.

One thing I did learn this time was to not try to make these too big. I usually use about 1/3 cup of batter. I made one with about 1/2 cup and it was not only difficult to turn but also ended up with one side a little raw. Stick with using 1/3 cup of batter and I shake the pan a little bit to even the batter. I usually cook them until the top edges are dry and bubbles start to break in the middle of the batter.

I recommend cutting the recipe below in 1/2 but even then it will make 5-6 large thick pancakes so make certain you are hungry.

Buttermilk Pancakes
Bon Appétit | March 1999
Yield: Makes about 18

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups sour cream
2 large eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in another large bowl. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until batter is just blended but still lumpy (do not overmix).

Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter on griddle over medium heat. Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto griddle, spacing 2 inches apart. Cook until bubbles break on surface, about 3 minutes. Turn pancakes over. Cook until bottoms are golden, 3 minutes. Transfer to plates. Repeat with remaining batter, adding butter to skillet as needed.

Serve pancakes immediately with butter and Blueberry Compote.