Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes

I woke up this on this Thursday morning and thought it is a great day for pancakes, so I prepared the ingredients for a recipe that I have been meaning to try for Betsy DiJulio's Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes! Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a definite hit the spot every time kind of food, so these pancakes sounded like heaven! I have recently become hooked on baking using soy milk, not because I am a vegan or even remotely close, but it gives my treats a nice flavor. As I waited for my vegan like buttermilk to curdle, I prepped the dry ingredients and am not sure if I was more excited about brown sugar being in these pancakes or the peanut butter itself. Once I whisked in the buttermilk and the peanut butter, the batter appeared a little thin. But I decided that since this was the first time I was trying this recipe that I shouldn't try to change it at all, so I just poured the batter as is onto the heated pan. Luckily I didn't add any more dry ingredients because it didn't take long for these hotcakes to fluff up beautifully in the pan. The consistency turned out to be just perfect and the aroma that filled my kitchen was even better! I couldn't wait very long to taste one and was in love before I even finished chewing. These might even be better than peanut butter cookies-not too sweet and not too rich-the perfect blend of flavors. I stacked a few on a plate and topped them with a nice scoop of wild berry jam and a handful of crushed peanuts-just looking at the purplish colored jam on top of the golden brown pancakes made my mouth water. These were totally worth getting up early for!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes
Recipe from The Blooming Platter by Betsy DiJulio
Makes: 6-10 pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened soy milk minus 1 tablespoon (plain or vanilla soy milk would be good too)

1 tablespoon white or apple cider vinegar

2 scant tablespoons vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/ 2 cup self-rising flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar or raw sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons natural / organic creamy peanut butter (no sugar added)

Garnish: powdered sugar; jam, jelly or fruit topping of your choice; chopped peanuts

Directions:

1. In a small cup or bowl , whisk together soy milk and vinegar to make vegan buttermilk.

2. In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 scant tablespoon of the butter. 3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together both flours, brown sugar, baking powder and soda. Make a well in the center and add soy milk mixture along with peanut butter. Stir just until combined, peanut butter is incorporated and few lumps remain.

4. Using a 1 / 3 cup measure, make three pancakes (or a 1 / 4 cup measure to make 4 pancakes), spreading ever so slightly just to flatten tops. Cook a minute or two on the first side, gently flip and cook another couple of minutes on the reverse. Avoid overcrowding. If pancakes look like they are going to run together, just cook a couple at a time, and add butter to keep skillet greased as needed. (Note: Bubbles will not appear in this batter indicating doneness as with some pancakes. Instead look for a high rise and nicely set edges.) If pancakes are cooking too quickly, lower heat to medium, especially for second side.

5. When cooked through, remove pancakes to plates or a serving platter, keep warm, and repeat with remaining scant tablespoon of butter and pancake batter.

6. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar; a dollop or drizzle of your favorite jam, jelly or fruit topping; and a sprinkling of chopped peanuts.

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes

On Saturday and Sunday mornings, I try really hard to make something exciting for breakfast since I am not pressed for time. I also try to make something that uses ingredients that I already have on hand to avoid visiting the market early in the morning. So, I looked in my fridge today and saw that I had some leftover canned pineapple from the Barbeque Chicken Pineapple Pizza that we made on our pizza night earlier in the week. I searched for some recipes that involved pineapple and didn't come across much that involved other ingredients I had on hand. Then I thought, what about pineapple in pancakes? This could be interesting. I did a quick search and found exactly what I was looking for .. Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes from The Blooming Platter of Vegan Recipes. It was definitely the picture that sold me on trying out this recipe. As I continued to look over the recipe, I realized that I didn't have all of the ingredients, so I substituted soy milk for the coconut milk and added about a tablespoon of coconut powder to the batter to allow for the coconut flavoring. I also substituted crushed walnuts for the madedamia nuts. I left out the coconut and rum flavorings as well. While the pancakes were cooking, it took a few rounds to get the pancakes to cook thoroughly with the thick slice of pineapple in the center. Once they were finished I removed from the pan, drizzled them with a maple syrup, brown sugar sauce and garnished them with toasted walnuts and powdered sugar. They were excellent and tasted very similar to my mother's pineapple upside down cake. Voila! Another success in the kitchen!

Vegan Pineapple Upside-down Pancakes

Recipe from The Blooming Platter by Betty DiJulio

Makes 6 pancakes

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

6-1/4" thick slices of fresh pineapple, trimmed, cored, and drained well between several layers of paper towel

½ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup self-rising flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

optional: 2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 cup coconut milk (use the real thing, not "lite")

optional: 1/4-1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Syrup:

4 tablespoons brown sugar

3-4 tablespoons warm water

4 tablespoons maple syrup

optional: 1/4-1/2 teaspoon rum extract

Garnish:

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

2 tablespoons toasted and chopped macadamia nuts (toast nuts whole in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden--watch carefully--cool and chop coarse-fine)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and optional brown sugar. Slowly stir the coconut milk and optional coconut extract into the dry ingredients. Stir or whisk until well combined.

2. In a large well-seasoned cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, melt one-half tablespoon of butter and swirl to cover the bottom. (Use more butter if skillet ever appears dry.)

3. Using a 1/4 cup measure, make two pancakes spreading each one ever so slightly just to flatten tops.

4. Place one pineapple ring on top of each pancake and press gently to nestle them into the batter, allowing the batter to rise around the edges and squeeze up through the holes of the pineapple rings.

5. Cook two-three minutes on the first side or until a few bubbles appear and batter begins to appear set.

6. Sprinkle pineapple slices with 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar each, gently patting into the surface. 7. Gently flip pancakes and cook another couple of minutes on the reverse. If pancakes are cooking too quickly, lower heat to medium.

8. When cooked through, remove pancakes to plates or a serving platter, pineapple side up, and keep warm while you repeat two more times with remaining butter, pancake batter, pineapple slices and brown sugar.

9. To make the syrup, add brown sugar and water to whatever butter remains in the skillet. Stir to dissolve sugar and then stir in syrup. Cook gently, stirring frequently, for a minute or so until syrup thickens slightly. Add rum extract if desired. Pour over pancakes, sift powdered sugar around edges of pancakes so as not to conceal pineapple rings, and sprinkle nuts in the center holes. Serve warm.