Two Recipes: Pecan Pancakes and Brown Sugar Sweet Potato Cake

I've mentioned before that I love to save recipes.  They are saved in folders and files and binders, and many never see the light of the kitchen.

Some, on the other hand, demand to be made.... immediately.

This post is about two of those recipes.

I'm glad they were so insistent.  I have been well rewarded for having made them (queue the applause).

First up, Pecan Pancakes.  I stumbled across this one by clicking from one blog to the next. I will be forever grateful for the time to wander, as it landed me in the midst of such yumminess at 'Blogging Over Thyme' (here).

My son prepared this recipe, doubling it as I asked him to.  We're hungry around here.  I prepped the ground pecans the night before, so that he didn't need to use the blender and wake up the rest of the household-- he's the early bird!  I think he followed the recipe as written, except omitting the ground cloves.  He put in two whole cloves; I fished them out later :-).  He did split the flour-- half all-purpose, half white whole wheat flour as the blog (but not the recipe) suggests.  The pancakes were very light thanks to the buttermilk, but hearty and delicious.

The second recipe was made just four days after I found it:  Brown Sugar-Sweet Potato Cake from the Washington Post.  I had been telling the kids I was planning to make dessert over the weekend, then lost track of time and generally backed out of my commitment to them.

This went on for several days... until I found this recipe in the Wednesday Food section.

I made the recipe the following Sunday.  I was planning to halve it (who needs cake for 16 laying around the house?!) until I realized that I had a friend coming for coffee on Monday.  That would be the perfect excuse to serve cake in the morning, right?

My friend loves Bundt cakes, and as it turns out, had not had time to eat breakfast before coming over.  She had two portions of cake, and I am thrilled she enjoyed it.

The only change I made to this recipe was to use canned pumpkin, instead of sweet potatoes.  I am also unsure of the exact amount of molasses I used.... it's really sticky, and I was at the bottom of the bottle.  I measured one tablespoon, then dribbled the rest into the bowl, straight from the bottle.

I'm just crazy that way.

You may (or may not) want to know that the molasses was older than the child I was cooking with.  I don't use a lot of it, and am not certain if I'll buy another bottle to make this cake again, or just substitute something else.  Let me know if you decide to make a substitution.

Until next time.... Bon Appetit!

Thirsty Thursdays- Smoothies!

While I love to give my kids a choice of what to eat for breakfast (and have even developed a written menu of appropriate items), it's sometimes hard to make a decision first thing in the morning.   Once again, credit goes to my red-headed friend for the idea of themed breakfasts.

This blog's title ruins the surprise, so you already know that we have christened the day 'Thirsty Thursday'.  Here's how we make smoothies in my house:

Basic Smoothie Recipe
1 cup yogurt
1/3 cup milk
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 Tbsp chia seeds (undetectable, and good for protein, fiber and Omega 3s)

Then, choose from at least one:
7 frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
or.... another frozen fruit?  Maybe mango or blueberries?

My $50, ten year old blender does not handle ice well, but works fine blending frozen fruit.  This recipe contains a serving of fruit, which is more than my kids get most mornings- yogurt and milk supply calcium and protein, the cocoa adds anti-oxidents... and it's yummy. 

Use whatever brand/flavor yogurt your family likes.  My kids prefer it with bananas; I've been told that if you use a dark colored fruit, like blueberries, you can also add powdered spinach in order to up your intake of leafy greens.  Like the flax seeds, the powdered greens don't add to the taste of the smoothie, but they do add to the nutritional content.

Drink up!

Blueberry Pancakes

Nine-foot square screen full of drying garlic.  Yum.

It's been about 2 weeks since I've posted to this blog. Call me a slacker if you wish, but its been for a good reason. Mostly, I haven't been cooking... Duh.  For the first week, we were on vacation with family in Vermont. What a lovely green state!  Besides mostly good weather and nice accommodations, I had the good fortune to not have to think for the entire trip.

My son referred to these as 'bacon.'

Yup, it was a thought-free vacation. We got up in the morning and made our own breakfast from cereals, yogurts and such, or the kids helped my aunt cook. Then, the family gave us a plan for the day, and encouraged me to make a minor decision- which of two things to do first, or which of two restaurants to go to for lunch. After getting dressed, we all loaded up into our cars and followed my aunt and uncle to our chosen destination. I didn't even have to navigate for Mr. Unwired!

One of my kids took great pleasure in buying feed and sprinkling it out for the chickens.

After the days' adventures, we would go back to the house where the kids would play, hors d'oeuvres and cocktails were served, and then dinner appeared. My aunt is a wonderful cook, my uncle serves great drinks and the days just melted away.... 

Long story short, I didn't cook that week. And after coming back, I haven't been very motivated, so we've had a lot of simple meals like pesto pasta (prepared pesto sauce from Trader Joes), steak on the grill, and the like.  Except for one night, we ate what I call recipe-free dinners.

That one night was delicious. 

Mr. Unwired's car had to go to the dealer for some warranty work, and the drive to pick it up took longer than expected. My planned meal needed 30 minutes to prepare, which would have resulted in ultra-cranky kids. Needed something faster, but what?  The kids decided that 'breakfast for dinner' would fit the bill, so we had blueberry pancakes that night.

This recipe is my masterpiece. As a child, I made pancakes from scratch using the recipe from my mom's copy of Joy of Cooking. In making them as an adult, I didn't have that recipe, so I was forced to experiment. This recipe is the result- it was also the one that drove me to start documenting my recipes in a database, so that I would have them for ever and ever and ever!

In our house, one kid measures/mixes the wet ingredients in the 4 cup measuring cup, and the other does the dry in the large mixing bowl. One kid pours wet into dry, and the other gets to add the blueberries. Cooking with twins requires a lot of compromises, but with this recipe, it works beautifully!

Blueberry Pancakes
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1/2 Tbs baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs wheat germ
1/2 Tbs cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
3 Tbs sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 Tbs oil
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1  cup frozen or fresh blueberries

1. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in a large measuring cup, then add to dry ingredients.

2. Mix until combined. Add blueberries, and let sit for a few minutes to activate the leavening-- the batter will have a few bubbles. Once that happens, scoop the better out onto a hot, oiled griddle and cook.

French Toast Casserole

Ah, another weekend breakfast dish.  I feel bad posting this on a Sunday night- if your life is like mine, you won't be able to make this until Saturday morning at the earliest, which is a long ways away. 

This is one of those recipes I make as is, with only one teeny tiny change. Instead of challah/brioche, I use cinnamon bread.  The loaf I made for the recipe (yes, I bake much of the bread we eat) was 1.5 lbs.  Larger than what the recipe called for, but it worked well in a 9x13 pan.  There's no need to bake bread for this recipe, although I do caution you to start with unsliced bread.  I cut mine into 1-2 inch thick chunks and give it to the kids to break into bite size pieces and toss them into the pan.  Keeps them busy, and only minor vacuuming is needed after to clean up all the crumbs from the floor. If you start with pre-sliced bread, I think the bites will be too small as one dimension will always be defined by the slicer.

While my cinnamon bread would make wonderful 'regular' french toast, it is nice to have a breakfast where I'm not stuck at the stove. So here it is-- enjoy!  http://cooktj.com/french-toast-baked-casserole

Yogurt Pancakes

Mmmmmm, breakfast. This one is adapted from the recipe Your Favorite Yogurt Pancakes in Mollie Katzen's Honest Pretzels.  It's a wonderful cookbook for elementary school aged kids.  There are also two for preschoolers- Salad People  and Pretend Soup.  Even if the recipes don't do it for you, the thoughtful manner in which the instructions are laid out is an awesome guide for cooking with children.



We have banana yogurt in the house, so that's what we use for these pancakes.  I add cinnamon and nuts to compliment the banana flavor.  Vanilla yogurt matched with ginger and blueberries would be pretty good too.  Or maple yogurt with nutmeg and pecans?  Coffee yogurt with chocolate chips?  What's your favorite combo?

Yogurt Pancakes
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 cups yogurt (we use banana)
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 cup diced walnuts or pecans

1. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Set aside.

2. In a smaller bowl, break eggs and scramble.  Add milk and butter, mixing to combine.  Then, add the yogurt and make sure it's blended well.

3. Add wet to dry and combine well.  Cook on a heated griddle greased with butter or oil.  Unlike 'regular' pancakes, I don't get bubbles rising through the pancakes as they cook; without that cue, I find I need to keep a closer eye on these.

This serves the four of us, usually with four pancakes left over.  Those leftovers become Monday lunch for two people, in the form of pancake sandwiches.  My kids will likely choose to have these with peanut butter and cream cheese.  Personally, I would choose cream cheese and jam, but that's just the boring adult in me.

Oven Pancake

 I love weekend breakfasts.  My kids are woefully under-scheduled, so unless we've made specific plans for the weekend, there's no reason to leave the house before lunch.  This is one of our favorite meals for weekend mornings. 

Like most of my recipes, I can't take credit for inventing this one.  Unfortunately, the original is long lost to the ages.  I do recall it suggested candied walnuts or vanilla syrup or something sticky and sweet to go on top.  In our house, we've settled for sliced bananas, chopped walnuts and maple syrup.  A dusting of powdered sugar would be nice too, especially if you're trying to impress the person eating it.  After 22 minutes in the oven, we're usually too hungry for the niceties.

I don't recommend increasing the size of this recipe-- it serves four hungry people in our house. Because of the way the pancake rises, you're better off making 2 pancakes to feed more people.   If too much batter is poured into one pan, the result is more 'loaf of bread' rather than poofy pancake.

Oven Pancake
4  Tbs unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 bananas, sliced
maple syrup
walnuts, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Add 1/2 stick butter to 9" round pie pan and place it in the oven until butter is melted.

2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and spices together.  In a second bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla.  Add wet ingredients to dry, mixing until combined.  Pour batter into prepared pan, then bake in oven until pancake is fully cooked and has climbed up the side of the pan, about 20 minutes.

Poofy Oven Pancake

 3. Serve hot with sliced bananas, maple syrup and walnuts.