Saturday Morning Pancakes

According to Jo Frost, Supernanny, toddlers thrive on little rituals.

I think a lot of people thrive on little rituals. The world is enough of an adventure; having boring little weekly rituals gives children such a sense of home and place and security.

One of our family rituals is Saturday morning pancakes.

We even have a playlist dedicated to it. 

 

Here are our favorites:

 

 

 

Mom's Flannel Pancakes

 

These make a great mix if you withhold the milk, butter and eggs; when we were kids we made 1/2 million of these and packaged them in brown paper bags with bottles of real maple syrup for Christmas gifts for neighbors and acquaintances.  (Actually, Mom just kept them in a basket by the door and anyone that walked through got one.  That is classic Mom.) I like to use 1/2 whole wheat.

 

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1/4 t. salt

2 cups milk

 

Fry on a hot  griddle!

 

 

Cornmeal Pancakes

 

From Taste of Home, these are the lightest, fluffiest pancakes I've ever made.

 

1 1/3 cup flour

2/3 cup cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups milk

1/4 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

 

Mix together and fry on electric griddle. 

 

 

Oatmeal Pancakes Smitten Kitchen Style

These are the kids' favorite and probably the softest pancakes I've ever had; they're like velvet.  Delicious with raspberry syrup! I changed the recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen's site, so these are totally ours.  :) We double this recipe. 

 

1  3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon Kosher or coarse salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (plus extra for the pan)
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 cup cooked oatmeal

1 tablespoon honey

2 eggs

 

Fry on electric griddle and serve hot with your favorite toppings.

 

crescent roll egg bake

This is a great super easy recipe from my friend Phoebe:

 

it's the go-to dinner on a super hectic night

 

or we suddenly have overnight company breakfast

 

or let's just have a special brunch

 

kind of yummy treat

 

and with crescent rolls it's hard to go wrong.

 

1 tube crescent rolls

 

2 cups  shredded cheese

 

12 eggs, beaten, salt and pepper to taste

 

*see variations

 

 

Unroll crescent rolls in greased 9 x 13 pan, sprinkle with cheese, pour eggs over.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until eggs are puffy and done.

 

 

 

*Phoebe sprinkled sausage as the base, then crescents, then cheese.

 

*I made it all summer with crescents, cheese, and then precooked bacon strips lined up on top

 

*pictured below: fresh veggies, fried potatoes, sausage, cheese, bacon, then crescents + eggs = perfect quick dinner with a big green salad!

 

enjoy!!

 

 

Grandma's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This morning was just one of those golden mornings, the kind you wanna circle on your calendar and paint with glitter glue. . .

Eli and Cambria were blissfully playing together and I decided to sneak in a shower. 

I tiptoed to the bathroom with perfectly brewed Starbucks in my favorite MFD mug, iPad belting my Pandora Marry Me (Train) station tucked under my arm and shut the door.  I need a shelf in the shower for my coffee.  It's truly the very best way to wake up, a hot shower and hot coffee.  It'll make anyone a morning person.

Anyway, I knew everything was way too good to be true, and sure enough, it was. . .  my mug fell in the shower and shattered everywhere. 

Yup, there we go, that's more like real life.

Anyway, the day wasn't ruined, because we had Grandma's sour cream coffee cake to enjoy all day.

This is just the best. . .

I called Grandma tonight to see if she remembered where she got the recipe. . . thought maybe there would be a great story. There wasn't anything earthshaking, just simple neighborly kindness that is such a thing of the past.

"It was Mary's," she said, and Mary lived behind Grandpa's greenhouses and would bring this coffee cake every once in awhile to them over their breaks.  I love stories like that and I never would have known if I didn't ask. . . *go call your grandparents*

Sour Cream Coffee Cake [Blackberry Lemon 2/7]

1 stick butter (use butter wrapper to grease 9x13 pan)
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 t. vanilla


Mix together.

Add:

2 cups flour
1 t. soda

Fold in 2 cups of fruit, fresh or frozen {apples, strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, peaches, blueberries are all amazing}

[today I used blackberries and grated in lemon zest]

Sprinkle with 1/3 sugar and a little cinnamon if it complements the fruit you choose.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.  You don't want to over bake. . . it's meant to be very light brown with a whitish crumb. 

Why are there coins on the counter?  I don't know. . . they're Cambria's. . . probably a long drawn out story. . . 


Yay. . . it's almost Friday people!!  I can't wait!  I can barely make it to the weekends these days.  Is it too soon to be counting down the days to school being out? 

No, no, it's not.  :)

best. pancakes. ever.

I've made tons and tons of pancakes and these cornmeal pancakes were the best I've ever had! 

I didn't change these one bit, so it isn't mine in any way, shape or form; you'll have to go here to see the recipe.

Super yummy!

Coffee-Dove-Dark-Chocolate-from-my-MIL-Hazelnut-Vanilla-Muffins

Cambria thought they were good!

{adapted from Framed's muffins}

Cream together:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 t. vanilla

3 T instant coffee

Whisk:

2/3 cup Vanilla Caramel Creamer (or milk)

2 eggs

Mix:

1 3/4 cup flour

1 T baking powder

cinnamon

Alternate adding wet and dry ingredients into butter mixture. Fold in chopped dark chocolate (or 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips) and 1 cup hazelnuts (or walnuts.)

Bake in muffin liners at 400 for about 12 minutes.

I have a couple left. . .

Come on over!

Coffee - Pecan Scones

2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c butter, cubed
1 T. instant coffee granules dissolved in:
1 T. vanilla
1/3 c. whipping cream
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 (or more) cup pecans
1/3 (or so) cup mini chocolate chips


Mix dry ingredients; cut in butter to resemble bread crumbs. Stir in vanilla/coffee, whipping cream, and sour cream. You may need to add a little more whipping cream. The batter should be like biscuit dough.

Stir just until moistened, pat into circle on floured surface and cut into wedges. Place in pan, brush with more cream and sprinkle with sugar. I used coarse sugar. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Flannel Pancakes

1 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. white flour

4 t. baking powder

2 T. sugar

1/4 t. salt

2 T. butter, melted

1 T. vanilla

2 eggs, beaten

2 c. milk

Mix dry ingredients together; pour in wet ingredients and beat well. Fry! Serve with butter, maple syrup, blueberry syrup. mini chocolate chips, cherry pie filling- endless toppings!