Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Weekend Report: Pancake Party!


On Saturday morning,* my roommate and I hosted a celebratory Pancake Party in honor of National Pancake Day, the completion of the required language exams, the purchase of a griddle and real maple syrup, and just general awesomeness. I am struggling here to list reasons to have a pancake party, mostly because I can't think of any good reason NOT to have a pancake party.

Pumpkin Walnut Chocolate Chip Pancakes

We whipped up two base batters: buttermilk and pumpkin, and purchased an assortment of additions: walnuts, pecans, bananas, chocolate chips, and blueberries. 

As our classmates walked through our door, dazed by their recent encounters with foreign verb conjugations, tricky script (Вы читаете России? Я не), and unfamiliar sentence structures (ດ້ວຍຄວາມຊື່ສັດ, ຂ້າພະເຈົ້າບໍ່ຮູ້ຫຍັງນີ້ເວົ້າວ່າ, ແຕ່ວ່າມັນເປັນຄົນລາວ?), we greeted them with a brand-new griddle -- Pumpkin or plain? Pick your toppings!

Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes.

Roommate Rachel (wo)manned the griddle and flipped pancakes for a few hours. Clearly A LOT of pancakes were consumed, along with gallons of orange juice and coffee. Aka, a morning well-spent!

Text from Rachel: I just bought a griddle,
we're having a pancake party!

Pancake parties are SO easy and always a winner (really, who doesn't like pancakes?). I made the Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes, and my roommate made her mama's Buttermilk Batter -- so buttery! So light! So delicious!

An unexpectedly awesome combination for you to try: pumpkin, banana, walnut. Pumpkin and banana go shockingly well together, for serious.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes 

Adapted from Mother Thyme

Ingredients:
  • 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions:
  1. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Make a well in the middle and add in the wet ingredients.
  3. Stir until smooth. 
  4. Let the batter sit (anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight).
  5. Preheat your griddle to 350 degrees.
  6. Scoop about 1/4-1/3 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake. 
  7. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side. 

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups self-rising flour
  • approx 1 tbsp of sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 1/2 stick butter, melted

Directions:

  1. Mix the flour and sugar in a large bowl.
  2. Stir in the wet ingredients.
  3. Preheat your griddle to 350 degrees.
  4. Scoop about 1/4-1/3 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake. 
  5. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side. 

*Apparently Weekend Reports come on Wednesdays now...alas I do as the homework gods command...