Peanut butter pancakes and raspberry swirl pancakes :-)

It seems I've reawakened by inner pancake glutton since writing the last blog on coconut pancake. I'd actually forgotten just how good they can be! And the thing about Irish/American/drop scone whatever you want to call them pancakes as opposed to crepes (thin pancakes) is that there is virtually no way you can mess up cooking them.

Crepe are amazing but take a skilled cook with LOTS of practice. The pan needs to be smoking hot and the batter needs to be spread wafer thin. 

I find that the pans I have at home don't seem to conduct the heat properly for this kind of pancake and what I usually end up with is a pancake stuck to the pan, in a heap on a plate having had to scrape it off the pan or one too thick in the hope that the extra batter will somehow make it cook better. Save yourself the stress. The thicker pancake is the way to go for the home cook!!

They are also awesomely tasty. I mean, if they weren't would there by a huge corporation making millions out of them every year? (I'm talking about 'The International House of Pancakes - anyone who has been to the US will know what I'm on about)

I remember on my first trip to the States my father's cousin and her husband brought us out for breakfast on our first morning there (well, it was actually a second breakfast as they had already stuffed us with Danish pastries from a local Jewish bakery which were amazing) So when we got to IHOP I wasn't that hungry. But I was interested. I really didn't think there'd be a business in a restaurant serving only pancakes. I mean, even McDonalds to things other than burgers. I was wrong. The place was heaving. We had to wait to be seated (for those of you from Limerick, think of the queue in old Eddie Rockets in The Cresent).

 When we did eventually get a seat it took a good 20 minutes to read through the extensive menu. Extensive is an understatement. It was like St.Paul's epistle to the Romans...long. I ended up having a short stack (how american?) and basically spent the meal experimenting with the various syrups that were left on the table. I particularly liked  the loganberry, I haven't been able to find it here in Ireland but it was kinda like raspberry (I'll just have to get dad to grow me some). 

Check out what you can do with pancakes and where I got my inspiration!

So following on from the coconut experiment which got a thumbs up from family I decided to make pancakes to celebrate Shrove Tuesday with some of my other favourite flavour, namely peanut butter and raspberry jam (not together you understand though they'd be just as nice aND I think you'd be able to mix and match these recipes to suit your own tastes)

for the peanut butter pancakes you will need: (makes 12 small (4inch) pancakes

110g plain flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

113g peanut butter

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large egg

1 cup skimmed milk

method:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl mix together the peanut butter, oil together until smooth. Add in the egg and beat again. Finally add in the milk and mix well to combine. 

3. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well to form a batter.

4. Heat a pan, add some butter (only a small amount - prefer to use coconut oil as it has a higher burning point) and once on a medium heat at tablespoons of the batter to the pan. Cook on one side until small bubbles begin to form on the pancake, then flip over using a slice. 

5. Keep warm in the oven until all pancakes made. 

6. Serve with maple syrup or honey roasted peanuts coarsely chopped or chocolate chips.

For the raspberry swirl pancakes:

110g plain flour

2tbsp sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp bread soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

250ml buttermilk

1 egg

1tsp vanilla extract

2tbsp low fat melted butter

Raspberry jam, heated.

method:

1.Whisk together all the dry ingredients

2.In another bowl whisk together all the wet ingredients.

(try not to make such a mess as I did :P )

3.Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and mix well to form a batter (it can be kind of lumpy)

4.Heat your pan on a medium heat with a small amount of butter.

5. Put the raspberry sauce in a pipping bag

6. Drop tablespoons of the batter onto the pan, 

7. Swirl some of the raspberry sauce on the surface of the pancake and cook on one side until bubbles begin to form, then flip over. Its a rule of thumb to give 1-2 mins per side. 

EAT AND ENJOY :-)