My Favorite Pancakes

Sorry it has been awhile since I have posted anything.  Life got a bit hectic so I took a break from couponing and blogging.  Last week I visited a friend who gave me a huge pile of coupons to go through and after clipping coupons yesterday I am excited to get back into my old routine - which includes blogging.  And since today is my birthday I'm going to share my favorite pancake (and breakfast) recipe.

The original recipe came from Whole Foods online recipe finder.  I was looking for breakfast ideas with protein sources other than meat or eggs.  And that is when I came across this "Fluffy Cottage Cheese Pancake" recipe.  I was very hesitant to make them as I was not a cottage cheese fan and had tried a recipe for "Orange Cloud Pancakes" from the King Arthur Whole Grain cookbook, which contained cottage cheese and I did not enjoy them at all!  After the recipe sat on my recipe stand for awhile I decided to finally give it a try as the comments on the website were all very positive.  The whole family gobbled these down so quickly that they soon became a family favorite and I've been working on making them a bit healthier with whole grains and less cholesterol than the original recipe.  Before we discovered this recipe our favorite pancakes were homemade buttermilk pancakes, but to make the breakfast substantial we always made sausage, eggs, or bacon to go along with it.  Now I make a double batch of these and freeze them for easy midweek breakfasts.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white wheat flour*

1 Tbslp ground flax seed (optional)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tblsp sucanat (or sugar)

4 eggs

1 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbslp canola oil (or other lightly flavored oil)

Canola oil cooking spray

Preparation:

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients (flour through sugar).  In a separate bowl whisk together wet ingredients (eggs through canola oil).  Combine wet and dry ingredients and whisk until completely blended.

Spray large skillet or griddle with cooking spray then heat over medium heat.  Pour 1/4 cup of batter on to skillet for each pancake.  Cook pancakes for two and a half minutes per side, until they are golden brown and cooked through.  Transfer to plates and serve.  Makes 12 pancakes, serves 4.

Side Notes:  I have tried King Arthur's white wheat flour in this recipe with not a lot of luck.  Lately I have been really enjoying Eagle Mills White Wheat - I can substitute nearly all white flour for this wonderful white wheat in most recipes.  

The picture at the top has the cottage cheese pancakes served with homemade blueberry maple syrup (left-over from some Blueberry Stuffed French Toast).

Recently I tried making my own granola bars and we loved them!  I've been experimenting with the recipe, trying to find things that you may already have in your house, but once I get the best result I will share the recipe with you - it's really not that hard to make your own.  Also look for my favorite salad recipes and the first recipe that I devoted to memory, actually I don't think I ever had a written recipe for it and still don't!

What to do with old bread?

Does anyone else have the problem of too much bread in your freezer? I rarely ever buy bakery bread anymore, but when I did we never seemed to use all of it before it got old or hard. So, I'd throw it in the freezer for some later use. Now I tend to make my own (check out the book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day) or my grandma gives me day old Panera bread from the senior center. The Monday after Christmas she picked up a ton of bread because there weren't many other seniors getting bread that day. She gave me a grocery bag full of bread. Awesome, now what do I do with it? Some of it I shared with other family members and some of it I froze for future use. One loaf was a gigantic whole grain bread that immediately made me think of French Toast. The first batch of French Toast was greatly lacking, so I started looking for more ideas. I had just picked up two pints of blueberries that were on sale so that helped me in my quest for a great recipe! I found a wonderful Overnight Blueberry French Toast recipe on allrecipes.com, but of course it needed some tweaking to make it healthier.

If you don't happen to have a ton of old bread in your freezer, you can usually find day old bread at a reduced rate in most grocery stores or at bakeries if you ask. For this recipe try to find something that has at least a bit of whole grains in it. Wheat, oat, quinoa, etc. The first time I made this it was just for our family, so I cut the recipe in half. It was so incredible that I had to make it for MOPS. But when I made it for MOPS something seemed different. I later realized that when I cut the recipe in half for our family, I did not cut the syrup recipe in half. So it essentially needed more of the blueberry syrup. I'm going to give you the half recipe because the full recipe is more than you would need for a typical family on a weekday. But for special occasions or guests, you may want to double my recipe below. And yes, you can make this in the middle of the week! Do the prep the night before, keep it in the fridge overnight and when you wake up take it out of the fridge to warm up to room temp and then throw it in the oven. My son (21 months) loved this so much he licked his plate clean! (He doesn't know that's bad manners yet.)

Blueberry Stuffed French Toast (1/2 recipe)
6 slices day-old bread (1-inch thick)
1 cup fresh blueberries
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup egg whites (about 5 large eggs)
1 cup low fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tbsp maple syrup
dash or two of cinnamon

Filling:
4 oz cream cheese (I use lowfat/neufchatel)
1/2 cup cottage cheese (1% or 2%)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tsps maple syrup

Syrup:
2 Tbsp water
1 pint fresh blueberries
1/2 cup maple syrup

Lightly grease a 9x9 inch baking dish. Combine filling ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Arrange half the bread slices flat on the bottom of the dish, and top with filling. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese filling, and cut remaining bread into 1-inch cubes before covering the blueberries.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover with plastic wrap, weight down and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Cover with foil, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.

In a medium saucepan, mix the water, blueberries and maple syrup. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes or until blueberries begin to split. Pour over the baked French toast or reserve the syrup on the side to be poured over individual pieces.

Side Notes: I tried both flat slices of bread and cubed bread for the bottom of this dish and I would recommend the flat. When I did the cubed bread I had three different kinds of bread I was using, so I wanted to mix it up, but it was harder to spread the filling over the bread cubes. I did, however, find that the bread cubes made for a nicer presentation on top than the bread slices. I also thought about trying orange zest or lemon zest in the cream cheese filling in place of the vanilla, but haven't done this yet. Let me know if you try it.

You may have noticed that I eliminated all white sugar from this recipe and replaced it with real maple syrup (not corn syrup) - my preference is Grade A dark amber, but whatever you can get a hold of at a good price is best. I have found that Sam's club has the best price per ounce and since we use it often I don't mind having a large bottle around.

I have not tried this with frozen blueberries, but it might work just fine. We have had some amazing sales on blueberries lately - and in the middle of winter I jumped on these even though they were not organic (I try to stick to organic on the dirty dozen). When I don't buy organic I try to soak my fruits and veggies in cold water with a bit of vinegar. And I recently came across a Do-It-Yourself Veggie Wash, but in place of the fresh lemon juice I like to use four drops of lemon essential oil. That way you don't have to keep the spray in the fridge.

And if this is the first recipe of mine that you have checked out, you are probably wondering why the cottage cheese? Well, it's available in low fat and has lots of protein compared to cream cheese, sour cream, or even yogurt. I whip it up in my food processor and use it as a filling, a spread, a dip, or in place of sour cream on tacos. If I want a sweet filling I add maple syrup, if I want to use it as a spread on my bagel I might combine it with some all fruit preserves, as a dip you could add Ranch seasoning or try making your own (less preservatives that way) and for a sour cream replacement add a bit of fresh lemon juice. Today the kids had it as a snack on some graham crackers - YUM!

Can't Make These Fast Enough!

A couple of years ago I had a craving for Swedish pancakes. The only time I can think of having them was at IHOP when Ryan ordered them. But I am so glad that I had that craving which made me look up recipes. The one I decided to try was courtesy of Emeril Lagasse on the Foodnetwork website, but I have since made changes to his recipe. And I can't tell you enough how much my family (and guests) have enjoyed these tasty little treats! We automatically make a double batch now and I would recommend tripling it if you have more than four in your family, have teenagers or are having guests. The only problem is that they may take awhile; since I use a crepe pan - I can only make them one at a time. Next time maybe I'll try making them in a skillet in addition to the crepe pan. But they are totally worth the wait! The other thing I'd like to try is cutting out the all-purpose flour altogether. I may have to do that when Ryan isn't around, not sure he will be happy with my experimentation. I'm thinking that spelt flour and white wheat flour might work out okay. If you decide to experiment with the flour choices, let me know how it goes.

The beauty of these is not only the pancake, but the accompaniments. The original recipe called for sour cream, but we use blended up cottage cheese with a bit of maple syrup. Cottage cheese may sound strange to some of you, but it is one of my favorite ways to get lowfat protein into our breakfasts! When I was nursing my second child I realized the importance of getting enough protein throughout the day and I swear cottage cheese is a miracle food. It comes in lowfat and it has TONS of protein compared to cream cheese or yogurt or sour cream. I just throw it in my food processor and blend it up until smooth and creamy. Then it is ready to be made into a dip, sour cream replacement on your tacos, filling for crepes, etc. If you are hesitant to try the cottage cheese, I beg you - try it, you will be pleasantly surprised. The other accompaniment is something that you likely do not have in your cupboards, but is so worth finding! Lingonberry jam. It is the perfect combination of sweet and tart for these delicious pancakes. Without further ado, here is the recipe.

Swedish Pancakes
Ingredients
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup +1 Tbsp all-purpose flour (I like to use half white wheat flour and half all purpose)
1 tablespoon sugar (this can be eliminated all together, we usually cut it in half and I use sucanat)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons melted butter
Oil, for griddle
Blended cottage cheese, as accompaniment (1 cup cottage cheese + 1 Tblsp maple syrup)
Lingonberry jam, as accompaniment

Directions
Preheat a Swedish pancake pan (round, cast-iron pan with shallow 3-inch indentations for pancakes) over medium heat.

Since we do not have a Swedish pancake pan, and I'm guessing you don't either, I would recommend a 8 or 10 inch skillet with low sides for easier flipping. I use my cast iron crepe pan - a gift from Ryan our first Christmas. (Aww, how sweet he wants me to make crepes for him:) But seriously I love the pan and the recipe book he gave me with it - he knows I love to cook!

Beat the egg and milk in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the milk mixture, stirring to make a thin batter, being careful not to overmix. Fold in the melted butter.

In case you do have a Swedish pancake pan, follow these directions. Grease each round cup in the pan with oil. Pour about 2 tablespoons of batter into each of the greased cups and cook until bubbles form on the top, about 1 minute. Turn with a spatula and cook on the second side until golden, about 1 minute. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining batter.

If you don't have a Swedish pancake pan, still grease the pan with butter or oil - my cast iron skillet only needs this once after preheating, but a non-stick pan may need it after each pancake depending on how new or old or well cared for your non-stick pan is. Remember, never use Pam or spray oil in a can on your non-stick pots and pans (it will eat away the non-stick surface and contains ingredients that are not healthy for you) instead consider investing in an oil sprayer and fill with your choice of oil (I recently got a second one for Christmas so I could use them for two different oils) or put some oil on a cloth or paper towel and wipe the surface of your pan. I use a pourable batter bowl to pour enough of the batter to cover the pan in a thin layer, lift and tilt the pan to move the batter around the pan to the edges.

Serve hot with blended cottage cheese, and/or lingonberry jam. You can roll them or fold them or eat them flat with syrup if you prefer. But please, do try them and ENJOY!

Next week's recipe will be: Blueberry Stuffed French Toast. So, take advantage of the Roundy's blueberry sales going on right now and pick up two pints! And see if you can find some day old whole grain bread somewhere and I will give you another way to use more of that cottage cheese, hope you bought a large container of it!