Saturday, February 18, 2012

Apple Almond Butter Pancakes

I love the weekends.

I wake up every Saturday craving a big, warm and toasty Denny's Grand Slam Style Breakfast.


I think it is a product of my Saturdays at home growing up when we would wake up to coffee, pancakes, eggs, and bacon wafting up the stairs into our little noses beckoning us to eat them.

Saturday mornings at grandmas were always special when all of the aunts and cousins would head off to middle-of-nowhere South Carolina for the weekend, to get together for a giant sleepover. All of our aunts would wake up at the butt crack of dawn to giggle and cook together in the kitchen at 6 AM. Yes. 6 AM. Um, hello, that is NOT sleeping in.

So all of us cousins would fight over who had to sleep in the living room. Because none of us wanted to be woken up at 6 am.

We would fight for the rooms in the back where you could hide out at least until 8am when all of the grumpy cousins who were woken up would come stomping in and shake you awake vigorously.


Because misery loves company.

The coffee and pancakes and bacon and coffee and homemade biscuits and coffee always made up for it.

Everyone always managed to sneak in an afternoon nap to recoup.

During one of these recent very special Saturdays, my fabulous baking cousin over at Kara's Cakeshop introduced me to her secret recipe for delicious fluffy pancakes.

All you need is a) Buttermilk b) an egg, c) Self-Rising Flour

And whatever else fun and zany stuff you want to throw in there to jazz it up like me.

If you love the marriage of apple + almond butter as much as I do, you will also love these Apple Almond Butter Muffins.


Apple Almond Butter Pancakes
1 cup Self-Rising Flour
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp Almond Butter, plus more for garnish
1 Apple, peeled and grated
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, separated into tiny pats
Syrup

Mix flour, egg, buttermilk, almond butter, grated apple and cinnamon until creamy and thick.

Over low heat, melt butter and drop pancake batter by 1/2 cup spoonfuls. Cook 3-4 minutes on first side until bubbles form and stay on the top of the pancake. Flip and cook for 3-4 minutes until cooked throughout.

Serve with almond butter, any reserved apple, and hot syrup.

Makes 6 large pancakes or 12 small pancakes.

"...his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23