East Meets West...Pancakes!

I LOVE pancakes. I'm one of those people who orders pancakes over many other delectable choices whenever I go out to eat for breakfast--even though I know they can be much more easily duplicated at home than certain other types of breakfast items. I just love them and can't pass them up.

But the beauty about pancakes is that they come in so many forms. It seems like everyone has their own version of them. Yes, from the east to the west, you can find some kind of pancake everywhere you go.

So, I thought I would share some delicious ones that we have enjoyed.

German Pancakes

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick of butter

Directions:

Place cube of butter in 9x13 baking dish. Preheat to 400 degrees. Beat eggs, flour, milk, vanilla, and salt in a blender for 2 minutes.

Pour blender mixture into the pan (once the butter is melted) and cook for 20 minutes (or until it is nicely puffed and browned).

Source: This is the recipe that my in-laws make every time we have breakfast get-togethers.

Notes: Honestly, I had never tried these before I had them at one of our breakfasts. They are really good and surprisingly easy to make. When I made them, I used half a stick of butter (instead of a whole stick) and they worked just fine and still tasted fabulous.

Dutch Baby Pancake

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3 large eggs

3/4 cup whole milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium cast-iron or ovenproof nonstick skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat; set aside.

In a blender, combine eggs, milk, flour, salt, vanilla, and 1/4 cup sugar. Blend until foamy, about 1 minute. pour batter into skillet; bake until pancake is puffed and lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Working quickly, dot pancake with 1 tablespoon butter, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar and lemon juice. Slice into wedges, and serve immediately.

Source: Martha Stewart website.

Notes: This is really similar to a German pancake. However, this one has sugar inside and on top of it, so you can serve it as-is. No need to add syrup or any other toppings (or you still can, if you like!).

Blintzes

Ingredients:

For the Crepes:

3/4 cup plus 2 tabespoons whole milk

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For the Filling:

16 ounces cottage cheese

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup, plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved, bean discarded (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

For the Fruit Topping:

Favorite pie filling (such as blueberry or cherry)

or,

Favorite fresh fruit (such as fresh berries with a dusting of powdered sugar)

Directions:

Make the crepe batter: Whisk together milk, 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoon melted butter, and the eggs in a medium bowl. Whisk in flour and salt; set aside.

Make the filling: Puree cottage cheese, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a food processor. Transfer to a medium bowl. Set aside.

Make the crepes: Stir together remaining 3 tablespoons melted butter and the oil in a small bowl; reserve 1/4 cup for cooking blintzes. Heat an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Lightly brush pan using remaining butter-oil mixture. Pour a scant 1/4 cup batter into pan; swirl to form an even layer. Cook until bottom is lightly browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Once the bottom is browned, add 2 tablespoons of the filling into the middle of the blintz (no need to turn the blintz over before adding the filling). Fold the crepe over the filling (a traditional blintz has all sides folded over to form a square, but I was too lazy, so I only folded two of the sides in, more like a crepe). Once the sides are folded, heat for another 30 seconds or so to warm the filling and so the crepe will set up. Remove blintz from pan to a warm plate and repeat until all of the blintzes are made.

Top with desired topping and enjoy.

Source: This is a combination of two recipes. A Martha Stewart recipe that I found here and a Kraft recipe that I found here. I was trying to recreate a recipe that we used to have when I was a kid. It was a recipe that my Mom lost in our pre-blog period. Our blog definitely makes it a lot easier to keep track of all of these great recipes! It makes me sad for all of the great recipes that were lost during the Dark Ages.

Notes: Blintzes take a little bit of practice...it's kind of like being a short order cook. But once you get a good rhythm, it's a lot of fun! Oh, and rather than adding oil and butter to the pan each time I started a new blintz, I used cooking spray instead (easier and fewer calories--still tasted great)

Old-Fashioned Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon coarse salt

2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 1/4 cups milk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for serving

Vegetable oil, for the griddle

Pure maple syrup, warmed, for serving

Directions:

Place a heat-proof platter into a warm oven (at 200 degrees).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add in the egg, milk, and 2 tablespoons of the butter. Whisk from the center, slowly incorporating the flour. Rest the batter for 10 minutes.

Heat a large well-seasoned cast-iron skillet or favorite griddle over medium-high heat. Swirl the remaining tablespoon of butter in the skillet (or use oil to coat the griddle) and immediately pour in 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. When bubbles rise to the surface, flip the pancakes, slightly reduce the heat, and cook until the bottoms are golden and the centers are cooked, about 1 minute. (Rarely does the first pancake work because it takes a bit of time to get in the groove with the heat, fat, and batter.)

As the pancakes comes out of the skillet, place them on the warm platter in the oven until ready to serve. serve a stack of 3 pancakes, topped with more butter and the maple syrup.

Source: This is a Mad Hungry recipe found on the Martha Stewart website.

Notes: I'm ashamed to say that this is the very first time I made pancakes from scratch. Before this, I always used Bisquick or a mix. These were soooo good. The butter in the pancake batter makes these taste so rich and buttery that I didn't need butter on top of my pancakes. Yum. My tummy is growling for these right now.

Cheesecake Pancakes

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese

2 cups Original Bisquick mix

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup milk

2 eggs

Strawberry Syrup:

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

1/2 cup strawberry syrup for pancakes

Directions:

Slice cream cheese lengthwise into four pieces. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; cover and freeze 8 hours or overnight.

Brush griddle or skillet with vegetable oil, or spray with cooking spray; heat griddle to 375 degrees or heat skillet over medium heat.

Cut cream cheese into bite-size pieces; set aside. In large bowl, stir Bisquick mix, graham cracker crumbs, sugar, milk, and eggs with whisk or fork until blended. Stir in cream cheese.

For each pancake, pour slightly less than 1/3 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook other sides until golden brown.

In small bowl, mix strawberries and syrup; top pancakes with strawberry mixture.

Source: This is from the Betty Crocker website here.

Notes: These were sooo good and sooo addicting. The picture above is shown without syrup...so that you can decide if you want to use strawberry syrup or maple syrup yourself! I served mine with maple syrup (because I just love maple syrup) and they were awesome both ways. Very addicting.