The first Friday of the month is reserved for recipes. You can see additional First Friday Food posts here.
The Reason:
Although gingerbread kind of says “Christmas”, this is not a Christmas recipe per se, which is why it’s okay to post it in January. Anyway, I didn’t find this one until after the last food post was up, and it’s too good to keep it from you for a whole year.
And, pancakes.
The Journey:
I removed the brown sugar from the original recipe. It seemed like a lot of sugar on top of all of that molasses, but despite that the pancakes didn’t taste that sweet. Anyway, I get my sweetness by way of slathering on the maple syrup, which is much more directly on my tongue, so the pancakes themselves don’t need to be all that sweet. So I took it out and they were just as good without it, so you can thank me later. (Not to mention that I halved the salt like I usually do, so your heart can thank me later as well.)
Did I mention there was a lot of molasses?
I’m not sure I’ve ever really shown my full pancake setup here, but yeah, we’re kind of crazy. I mean, you guys know I’m obsessed with pancakes, but we usually make a triple batch for the 4 of us. I am not kidding.
And that’s just Evie’s plate!
The Verdict:
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so:
The Recipe:
Recipe adapted from Cookie and Kate (coincidentally, second month in a row!):
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar).
- In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg and then whisk in the milk, molasses, vanilla and melted butter. Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, stirring as you pour, until the flour is just incorporated.
- Heat a griddle, cast-iron pan or non-stick pan over medium-low heat. It’s hot enough when a drop of water sizzles against the pan. Grease the pan with a pat of butter or non-stick cooking spray. Give the bowl one more stir and pour 1/3 cup batter into the pan. Flip when the perimeter of the pancake is no longer shiny (these pancakes don’t develop many of the tell-tale bubbles around the edges so they can be a bit tricky). Serve the cooked pancake immediately or keep warm in an oven set to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Repeat with remaining pancakes, adjusting heat as necessary to achieve pancakes that are cooked through and golden brown on both sides.
Shane Halbach 