Triple Berry Pancakes – Or – Everything but the Blueberry

joythebaker — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:19:12 +0000

Here are five important (read: random) things you should know about me.

1. I have a very strong, well documented affection for pancakes.

2. I’ve lived in all four corners of the United States, as proven by the following list:

Burlington, Vermont

Miami, Florida

Seattle, Washington

Los Angeles, California

3. I’m sometimes (read: often) really awful about returning phone calls. It’s nothing personal. I’m just not very good on the phone. I’ll admit it- I’m kinda awkward on the phone. I’m especially bad at goodbyes. I always either say bye too soon or too late. It’s laughable really, and awkward.

4. I like to eat everything with a spoon, except spaghetti. That’s just a losing battle. Spoons help me get larger amounts of food in my mouth faster. Brilliant.

5. I love old stoves. Luckily I made friends with the owner of a bad-ass O’Keefe and Merritt stove. In the middle of this beauty is the hottest griddle known to man! I had the distinct honor of breaking in this fine griddle with these Triple Berry Pancakes. Now that’s livin’!

The pancakes were really only an excuse to get at that griddle. Since I had loads of berries in my fridge, I could think of nothing better but to throw them all into pancakes. I used strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. If I had blueberries, believe me, I would have thrown them into the fray… alas. Please use any berry that brightens your morning!

Triple Berry Pancakes

adapted from Gourmet Cookbook

Print this recipe!

1 cup whole milk

2 eggs

3 Tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 stick (8 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup white whole wheat flour ( you can use app-purpose flour if you like)

4 teaspoons baking powder

4 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup diced fresh berries (you could also used thawed and drained frozen berries)

Whisk together milk, eggs and 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil in a medium bowl, then whisk in the butter.

Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt in another medium bowl. Whisk in the egg mixture until just combined. Gently fold in the berries until just incorporated.

Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet (or on a bad-ass griddle) over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Work in batches of 3 or 4, pour 1/3-cup measures of batter into the skillet and cook until bubbles have formed on top and broken, less than 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes with a spatula and cook until undersides are golden, about 1 minute more. Add another 1/2 teaspoon of oil in between batches. Lower heat if pancakes brown too quickly. Serve with butter and warm maple syrup.

You can keep the first batches of pancakes warm until they’re served by keeping them on a warm baking sheet in a 200 degree F oven.

Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread

joythebaker — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:31:32 +0000

Did you know that they sell quick bread box mixes in grocery stores!? I think that’s so strange. Fake flour, loads of sugar, and ultra dehydrated blueberries in a box to be mixed with water and eggs. This concerns me… deeply. Exactly how quick does a quick bread have to be to make it in this world?

I think homemade quick breads are dreamy. With enough creativity and guts, you can throw just about anything into a quick bread and call it delicious. This go around I tried zucchini and sweet potato. The combination produced a full and unique flavor: not too heavy on the zucchini or sweet potato flavors. And of course, because I’m me, I also loaded the bread with spices, nuts and cranberries. You can modify if to your taste, I make room for that in the recipe. Because, yes, I care.

What’s your favorite kind of quick bread? If you say the boxed kind, I swear, I’ll scream.

Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread

adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine, November 1992

Print this recipe!

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat flour)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves (the nutmeg and the cloves are optional, you’ll just have a less spicy bread)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup brown sugar)

3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/2 cup oil and 1/4 cup apple sauce. Less fat.)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup grated zucchini

1 1/2 cup peeled and grated sweet potato

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9×5x3- inch loaf pan and set aside. Sift the first 7 ingredients into a medium sized bowl. In a seperate, large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in the zucchini and sweet potato. Add the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Fold in the nuts and cranberries and stir well.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool bread in pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Loosen the edges of the bread with a butter knife and turn out on a rack to cool completely. Can be prepared 1 day in advance. Wrap in foil and keep at room temperature.

Joy the Baker » whole grain

Triple Berry Pancakes – Or – Everything but the Blueberry

Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread