Blueberry Pancakes

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you'll know that I loathe boxed pancake mixes. Pancakes are about the easiest thing on the planet to make. And it takes the same amount of effort to measure out 1 cup of pancake mix as it does to measure out 1 cup of flour. Yes you have to add some baking powder and salt, but that only takes a few seconds. Anyhow, here's my pancake recipe with some fresh blueberries since they're in season! You can also make waffles with this recipe too. Enjoy!

Blueberry Pancakes
Makes: about 10 pancakes

2 tbsp flour
1 cup blueberries, rinsed & dried
1 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter or vegetable oil

• Toss the blueberries in the 2 tbsp of flour and set aside. The purpose of doing this is that it will keep the blueberries from staining the batter purple. This is a trick that you can use in any blueberry recipe such as muffins, scones, etc.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
• Add the milk, egg, and melted butter and whisk out any lumps.
• Gently fold in the blueberries.
• Preheat a skillet or griddle on medium heat.
• Spray the skillet with some non-stick spray, then use a spoon to scoop up about 1/3 cup of batter. Spoon the batter onto the skillet and spread it out a little bit into the shape of a circle (the batter will be a little bit thick). Get as many onto the skillet as you can fit, leaving at least 1" in between pancakes.
• Cook for about 2 minutes per side until golden brown.
• Hint: you'll know the pancakes are ready to flip when bubbles start to form and pop.

Blueberry Cheese Blintzes

In case you missed it, here's my first post about cheese blintzes which gives a little bit of background. Matt was begging me to make cheese blintzes again so I finally decided to oblige him. This time, I happened to have some dried blueberries hanging around so I decided to make blueberry cheese blintzes. The results were delicious!

Blueberry Cheese Blintzes
Makes: 8 cheese blintzes

Crepes:
2 cups milk
6 tbsp butter, plus more for cooking
3 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup flour

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese (1 brick), softened
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp dried blueberries

Topping:
1 egg plus 1 egg white
1/4 cup brown sugar

  

• To make the crepes, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt until the eggs are pale and fluffy, about two minutes. Set aside.
• Combine the milk and butter in a small sauce pan. Place over medium heat and stir constantly until the butter in melted.
• In a slow steady stream, gently pour the hot milk mixture into the eggs while whisking constantly.
• Add the cup of flour to the egg and milk mixture. Gently whisk until just combined.
• Preheat a skillet over medium-medium high heat.
• Once the pan is very hot, add a small amount of butter to the pan, then ladle in about 1/2 cup of batter. Swirl the batter around in the pan so that it spreads to all edges.
• Cook for about one minute per side until dark brown.

• Once all of the crepes are cooked, make the filling. Whip together the cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixture or in a bowl with a hand mixer on medium until light and fluffy.
• Add the egg yolk and vanilla (save the egg white for later). Mix until well combined.
• With a spatula, fold in the dried blueberries.

• Place two tablespoons of filling in each crepe, about the size of a golf ball. Spread the filling along the middle of the crepe, then fold it in half. Then fold the ends in and continue rolling up the crepe; just like you would with a burrito.
• Now whip together the egg white and another egg.
• Once all of the crepes are assembled, hold the crepe with the seam side toward you. Dip the crepe in the egg, then the brown sugar.
• Lay the crepes, seam side down (sugared side up) in a lightly greased 13" x 9" glass baking dish.
• Bake at 375° F for 25 minutes.
• Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. These are actually best served room temperature... If you can wait that long!

Crepes with Brie & Raspberry

Brie is such a wonderful cheese. It's soft, slightly pungent, and wonderfully melty. One of my favorite party foods is Brie en croute - topped with fruit jam or compote, covered with puff pastry, and baked. The sweet fruit pairs so well with the stinky cheese - and like any good cheese, it does smell like stinky feet haha! Anyhow, I thought I would make a variation of this little appetizer by combining it with one of my other loves: crepes!

If you don't like raspberry, you could use apricot, strawberry, blackberry, or any other kind of jam.

Crepes with Brie & Raspberry
Makes: 8 crepes

2 cups milk
6 tbsp butter
3 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
raspberry jam
brie

• In a small saucepan, combine the milk and butter. Heat over medium until the butter has melted but the milk is not boiling. Remove from the heat.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt. Whisk until pale and fluffy.
• In a slow, steady stream, carefully pour the hot milk into the eggs whisking constantly. Once you've added about half of the milk, you can just go ahead and dump the rest in and whisk to combine. - This process is called "tempering" where you slowly bring up the temperature of the eggs to prevent them from cooking from the hot liquid.
• Now add the flour; whisk until smooth.

• Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Once the pan is very hot, add a small piece of butter to the pan; the butter should brown immediately.
• With a ladle, add some batter to the hot pan, immediately swirl the pan around so the batter spreads to all of the edges.
• Allow the crepe to cook for about one minute until it is dark brown and cooked in the center. Flip the crepe and brown it on the other side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Repeat with the remaining batter.
• Slice the brie into thin slices. The rind is edible so don't worry about cutting that off, just leave it on.

• Take each crepe and spread about 2 tsp of jam down the center, then place a slice of brie on top of the jam. Roll up the crepe, tucking in the ends like a burrito.
• Transfer the crepes to a lightly greased glass baking dish.
• Bake at 375° F for 10 minutes.
• Allow to cool for 2 minutes then serve.

You can make one heck of a grilled cheese with the left-over brie. Just throw some apple slices in there. Yum!

Lola is my little Art Director ;-)

Homemade Waffles

Two breakfast posts in a row?! Yup!

I love making breakfast on Saturdays. It's kind of my celebration that it's the weekend - before all the chores start that is ha! Homemade waffles are super easy and I guarantee you won't be buying that boxed nonsense ever again.

Have I mentioned that I like customizable recipes? You can make these special by adding: chocolate chips, blueberries (fresh or dried), diced strawberries, diced apples and cinnamon, etc.

Homemade Waffles

Makes: 8 square waffles

1 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp melted butter

• Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together in a bowl.
• Add the egg, milk, and butter.
• Gently whisk until the ingredients are just combined. Don't worry about getting out all of the lumps. They will dissolve when you let the batter sit while the waffle iron is heating up. If you over-whisk, the waffles will come out tough and chewy.
• Heat your waffle iron. Mine doesn't give an option to control the temperature. If yours does, set it to high.
• Lightly spray the waffle iron with some cooking spray to prevent sticking.
• With a measuring cup or large serving spoon, pour some of the batter into waffle iron. Mine makes two square waffles at a time.
• Close the lid and allow to cook for 3 - 4 minutes until golden brown.
• Repeat with the remaining batter.

Nutella & Banana Crepes

Mmmm... Is there anything better than Nutella? I love dipping pretzels and fruit in it and I love spreading it on toast or even a plain shortbread cookie. So far, I haven't been able to get a recipe to work out that actually has Nutella in it (such as cookies for example) but maybe that's just me.

One of the best flavor combinations - in my humble opinion - is Nutella and bananas. These are two very sweet flavors but somehow they go really well together. I actually made these crepes for dinner (I like to live dangerously) but they're also great for breakfast or even dessert!

Nutella & Banana Crepes
Makes: 8 crepes

2 Cups milk
6 Tbsp butter + 2 tbsp for cooking
3 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 pinch salt
1 cup flour
3 bananas
Nutella

• Combine the milk and butter in a sauce pan. Heat until the butter is melted but the milk is not boiling.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until they are light and fluffy.
• Very slowly pour a gentle small stream of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking the entire time. (This process is called "tempering." You're slowly bringing up the temperature of the eggs versus just dumping the hot milk right into the eggs which would give you a bowl full of scrambled eggs and milk. Not fun.)
• Add the flour and salt to the egg and milk mixture. Whisk until smooth.
• Heat a saute pan over medium-medium high until very hot.
• Add a small pat of butter to the pan then ladle the crepe batter into the center of the pan. Lift the pan from the heat and swirl it around so that the batter spreads to all edges of the pan.
• Cook for about 30 seconds to one minute until brown. Then flip and cook another 30 seconds until the other side is also brown.
• Repeat with the remaining batter.

 

• Once the crepes are cooked. Spread some Nutella on half of the crepe.
• Then distribute the bananas on one quarter of the crepe (as pictured to the left).
• Fold the crepe in half, then in half again so that you have a triangle shape.
• Repeat with the remaining crepes.
• Top with whipped cream or cool whip if desired.

By the way, just how much is a pinch of salt? It's generally accepted that a pinch is about 1/8 tsp. It's literally so small it's not even worth measuring. You can easily eye-ball a pinch because it will fit into the palm of your hand when you shape your hand into a cup. Like so: 

Pancakes

This is my tried and true recipe for pancakes and waffles.  I haven't made an adjustment to it in years because, honestly, it's perfect.  I made heart shaped pancakes for my two sweet hearts (Matt & Lola) this morning for Valentine's Day.  I never understood why anyone would buy a box mix for pancakes or waffles.  They're almost as easy to make and a hundred times better.  So, without further ado...

Pancakes:

1 1/2 Cups flour

2 1/2 Tsp baking powder

1/2 Tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 Cup milk

2 Tbsp melted butter

• Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.

• Add the egg and milk and stir just until combined.  Then add the melted butter and whisk out any lumps.
• Allow the batter to sit while you heat up your griddle for pancakes or waffle iron for waffles.
• For pancakes:  Cook on medium heat until bubbles form.  Flip, then cook about 1 more minute until browned on both sides.
  For waffles: Cook on medium heat for 2 - 3 minutes until browned on both sides.

PB&J Crepes

I actually have to give credit to my husband for this one.  I always make some variation of pancakes, waffles, or crepes on Saturday mornings.  Yesterday, he had the great idea of trying PB&J crepes.  They turned out great!  Some other toppings I like to use on crepes: nutella and bananas, some lemon juice and a sprinkle of sugar, strawberries and whipped cream, the possibilities are endless!

PB&J Crepes

1 1/2 Cups flour
1/2 Tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Cups milk
2 eggs
3 Tbsp melted butter

Creamy peanut butter
Your favorite jelly - I used raspberry because that's what we had on hand

• Combine the flour, salt, and sugar.  Then add the milk, eggs, and melted butter.  (Don't worry about mixing the wet ingredients in a separate bowl; I've found it works just fine to add them straight to the dry ingredients in this recipe).
• Whisk the ingredients together until there are no lumps.  It will be extremely runny - that's what you want.
• Set the batter aside in the refrigerator for 1 hour.  This will allow the gluten from all that mixing to loosen up so you have tender crepes, not chewy!
• Heat a large fry pan over medium to medium-low heat.  Once the pan is hot, you can spray it with a little cooking spray to prevent sticking.
• Ladle the batter into the center of the pan.  Then quickly pick up the pan and swirl it around so that the batter spreads to all edges of the pan.
• Allow to cook completely on one side, about 1 - 2 minutes.  You will know the crepe is finished when there are no more wet, pale spots on top.
• Remove the crepe from the pan.  You only need to cook it on one side.
• Spread peanut butter on one side of the crepe, then jelly on the other.  You can use as much or as little as you like.  Personally, I prefer toppings to be sparse on crepes.
  
  
  
  
  

• Fold the crepe in half, then in half again.  Then serve!
  
  
  
  
  

Cook's note:  If you are trying to be health conscious, you can substitute the melted butter with canola oil or even Smart Balance.  You can also use this recipe to make savory crepes, just leave out the tablespoon of sugar.