Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes (alliteration bonus +5)

Oh wow it's been a while. In my defense, I was in England for most of the summer. And then I was home and was lazy and didn't feel like making anything more complex than cereal for breakfast. But that all changed last week.

Last week I went to a local bakery (When Pigs Fly, for all you Somerville-ites) and bought a glorious bottle of pumpkin butter. I won't lie to you: I definitely ate a third of it on a spoon. It is delicious, and it's finally fall, dammit, so I wanted to make something with pumpkins in it.

So, naturally, I decided to make pancakes out of it. And guess what: it actually came out good! I know. I'm as shocked as you are.

So I thought I'd include a recipe in this post. These pancakes could easily be made vegan by substituting margarine for the butter, and almond milk for the whole milk (you could probably use soy as well, but I've never particularly cared for its taste in baked goods). Anyway, I modified a base recipe I got from Alton Brown's show Good Eats, which I'll include as well.

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes

makes about 1 dozen pancakes, depending on size

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Pumpkin Butter

4 Tbsp Butter (or margarine), melted

2 cups Whole Milk (or other substitute)

2 cups Dry Mix (recipe follows)

1 Tbsp Cinnamon

1 pinch each Ground Ginger and Nutmeg

1/4 cup Chopped Pecans

Begin heating a pan (cast iron, nonstick, whatever you like to use) over medium heat.

Mix together all the wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients onto the dry ingredients (don't pour the dry onto the wet; it makes it more difficult to mix in properly) and add the spices. Whisk until just combined (don't over-mix; Alton suggests whisking for 10 seconds max). Fold in pecans.

Brush pan with a little vegetable oil on a paper towel. Ladle out your first pancake, and spread to an even thickness. Let cook until bubbles form around the edges (about 2 minutes), flip (carefully) and cook the other side, about another 2 minutes. Repeat until there is no more batter.

Serve garnished with pecans, and maple syrup.

Dry Mix

makes a little over 6 cups

Combine together:

6 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

_____________

I had pictures (they weren't very good; after all there were pancakes), but for some reason they won't load on my computer. So you'll just have to take my word for it that they were beautiful.

The Disaster of the Strawberry Pancakes, or, The Silent Dangers of Buttermilk

Before I begin my harrowing tale of disaster, strawberries, and buttermilk, I'd like to provide a brief introduction:

Hi. My name is Alison. I love pancakes. Probably to an unhealthy degree.

I only recently began making pancakes myself at home; I rarely ever did before, mostly due to a lack of the knowledge that Bisquick is not required to make them (bro tip: it's not required!) So if you are looking for a blog that will help teach you to make the perfect pancakes, this probably isn't the place to start; not for a while anyway. Ever since I started making pancakes myself, it has been a journey of experimentation, one which only occasionally results in mild success. But I am getting better. And this blog is a place where I am going to chronicle my adventures in pancake making, whether they are a smashing success or an utter failure.

Now, on to my story. I bought a pre-seasoned cast iron skillet yesterday, since I'd heard from several people a lot of really nice things about cooking pancakes on cast iron, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I had also visited the farmer's market yesterday and bought a pint of the sweetest strawberries it has ever been my pleasure to devour. So, I had a brilliant idea: "Hey!" I thought, "I haven't tried making pancakes that aren't plain yet. What if I put strawberries in the pancakes?!" And I went to bed content in the idea that, in the morning, I would be delightedly stuffing strawberry pancakes into my face.

Little did I know, naively dreaming away of strawberries and pancakes, that it would all go horribly wrong.

Alright I can't keep this up anymore. Spoilers: it wasn't really that bad. I didn't burn my house down or anything, the pancakes just didn't turn out particularly good. I'm not really sure where I went wrong. I diligently followed all the directions I received with my cast iron skillet, but when I plopped on the first pancake, it went from under-cooked to burned in the span of probably 10 seconds. The second one I tried completely stuck to the skillet.

I stood there, staring in defeat at the black, sticky mess on my kitchen stove for a few moments. Then I pulled out my aluminum non-stick skillet and tried that. And lo: I made three perfect strawberry pancakes.

Or so I thought. When I cut into them and took my first bite: squishy. Plain. Buttermilk.

I'm all for buttermilk pancakes, but this was bordering on disgusting; just about all I tasted was the buttermilk. And those amazingly sweet strawberries I mentioned before? The buttermilk had made them all tangy and kind of gross. On the plus side, I just doused them in maple syrup and they were salvageable; maple syrup makes everything better (I would wear that on a t-shirt, I love maple syrup that much).

All in all, a disappointing first post, but a necessary one. I'm chocking this one up as a learning experience; I get the feeling there will be many of these before this little thing is over. And maybe next time I'll use whole milk instead...