I love cranberries, so I stock up when they appear in markets in autumn. (I’m ordering some plants for the homestead, so by next Thanksgiving I may have my own!) I, of course, like making cranberry sauce, but this year I’m not home, so I decided to use my first bag of cranberries for cranberry-gingerbread pancakes. You may enjoy their spicy, tart taste with warm maple syrup for breakfast this weekend.
This recipe makes 6 medium-sized fluffy pancakes. To make the pancakes a bit thinner, use a tablespoon additional buttermilk, or just use all milk instead of buttermilk, with the original measurement.
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries, macerated for a few hours or overnight with 1 tablespoon brown sugar OR 1/2 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
- OPTIONAL: chopped pecans or black walnuts
- 1 medium egg
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon buttermilk or milk (milk will make pancakes less fluffy)
- 1 1/2 tablespoon melted butter
- 1-2 tablespoons molasses
- 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour OR part whole oat flour (Oat flour will make a softer pancake with no crisp on the crust.)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of allspice
- tiny pinch of cloves
Mix together the egg, buttermilk, butter, and molasses. In another small measuring cup, mix the flour and other dry ingredients. (You can do these steps the night before, if you want to make breakfast really easy.) Heat a large fry pan or griddle over medium heat until drop of water dances on the surface. Grease with oil or a butter and oil mixture. Mix together the wet and dry pancake ingredients and stir in the cranberries and optional nuts. Drop pancake batter on greased griddle and immediately spread mix slightly with back of spoon. (You won’t need to spread if you used the thinner batter recipe.) Cook on one side until little bubbles start to form. Depending on your heat source, you may need to slip your spatula under the pancakes and rotate them before you flip, if it looks like they are cooking more quickly on one side than the other. Flip when the bubbles are even dispersed across the top and the edges start to look cooked. Cook the other side. You can keep cakes warm in the oven while you cook the rest. Serve with maple syrup or a dollop of cranberry jelly.
Ingredients for a dozen medium-sized pancakes, for bigger families or bigger appetites!
- 1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries, macerated for a few hours or overnight with 2 tablespoons brown sugar OR 1 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
- OPTIONAL: chopped pecans or black walnuts
- 2 medium eggs or 1 extra-large egg
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk or milk (milk will make pancakes less fluffy)
- 3 tablespoon melted butter
- 2-4 tablespoons molasses
- 1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour OR part whole oat flour (Oat flour will make a softer pancake with no crisp on the crust.)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ginger
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of allspice
- pinch of cloves
Do you have a favorite holiday breakfast? Do tell!
Copyright 2010 Ozarkhomesteader.