Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes

I'm back, lovelies!  You'll have to excuse my absence last week, although I certainly appreciate the phone calls from my dad and mom making sure everything was okay throughout the lack of postings.  We finally moved in last Monday, and I spent the rest of the week unpacking boxes.  It's all done now, and looking more like a home than just an empty house.  Yay!  There is so much to share on here, so come back on Friday for a full update on the life of Abbi as a new Georgia girl.
Momentous occasions like the last cardboard box being cleared from the kitchen deserve some sort of celebration.  Yesterday morning, our first Sunday in the house with our copious amounts of stuff, I broke out my favorite pancake recipe.  Of course it comes from Joy the Baker, and is light, fluffy, and delicately flavored with lemon sugar.  These lemon poppy seed pancakes are a perfect foil for lots of syrup and a side of melon.  If you're truly celebrating something, you should probably serve these with a mimosa or bellini; alas, I had just a side of orange juice.  Still delicious!

Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes from Joy the Baker

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon zest

2 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 c. buttermilk (in a pinch, combine 1 Tbsp. white vinegar with 1 c. milk, stir, and let sit for 10 minutes.  This will give you 1 c. buttermilk)  

2 large eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Butter or vegetable oil for frying

Maple syrup for serving

1. In a large bowl combine granulated sugar and lemon zest. Rub together with your fingers until sugar is fragrant.  Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk to combine.  

2. In a separate bowl (or you can use a large liquid measuring cup), whisk together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients all at once into the dry ingredients. Add the poppy seeds and stir to combine. If a few lumps remain, that’s no problem.

3. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes while the griddle heats.

4. Place a griddle, or a nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Add a bit of butter or vegetable oil to the pan. A teaspoon of fat will do for a nonstick saute pan, a bit more fat may be necessary for a griddle. 

5. Dollop batter onto hot pan. For small pancakes, I use about 2 tablespoons for each pancake. For larger pancakes, I use about 1/4 cup of batter. Cook until golden brown on the bottom and and bubbling on top. Flip once and cook until golden brown on each side.

6. Place cooked pancakes on an oven-proof plate and place in a warm (about 150 degrees F) oven until all pancakes are cooked and ready to serve. Serve with butter and warm maple syrup.

Pancakes a l'Abbi

I love Sunday mornings.  It's perfectly lazy: I get to sleep in, we let Mia hop up into bed with us because it's laundry day, not too many plans.  I like to include some pancakes with my Sunday mornings, as it's easy to customize to the season (pumpkin in the fall, strawberries in the spring), and can tailor to everyone's taste (buttermilk, vegan, floppy, fluffy).  While browsing through the internet for a new recipe, I decided to be creative and come up with a great basic pancake recipe for what I was feeling in the moment.  The result?  Vegan milk, but full-fat butter.  Whole wheat flour with sweetened shreds of coconut.  What's your favorite Sunday morning meal?

Pancakes a l'Abbi
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. raw cane sugar
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl and whisk.

2 eggs
1 3/4 c. sweetened vanilla almond milk
2 Tbsp. melted butter
Whisk together in a small bowl, then pour into dry ingredients.  Whisk to combine, and add more milk if your batter is too thick.

1/2 c. sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 c. toasted almond slivers
Add to batter, and stir.

Heat griddle or frying pan to medium, grease with butter, and drop 1/3 cups of batter onto pan.  Cook until bubbly on top and golden and dry on the bottom, then flip.  Pancakes are done when both sides are golden brown.
Serve with blackberry jam, butter, and maple syrup (me) or maple syrup and pumpkin granola (John Paul).  Enjoy!

Thyme Pancakes

Brinner.  Breakfast+dinner.  It's the best invention in food history.
Who doesn't love pancakes, bacon and hash browns?  Every Sunday should involve breakfast ALL DAY LONG.
This Sunday, I tried out a recipe for Ricotta Infused Pancakes from Paula Deen.  Usually, I just throw some flour, sugar and butter together and call it a day, but this recipe is much tastier and savory.  Oh man, this is absolutely amazing.  They're light (from whipped egg whites), aromatic with fresh thyme, and mildly sweet with blueberries.  I didn't make the thyme-infused syrup, just topped it with plain ol' maple, and added some fresh blueberries to the batter.  It was a perfect match for the homemade hash browns JP made.  I just had a great weekend.  I almost didn't even want the week to start up!