June 1, 2017

Sweet potato pancakes

Is it too late to talk about this past Memorial Day weekend?  Where does the time go! It's shaping up to be a busy week of catch-up following the nice, leisurely 3 days of family time. Three-day weekends are so right - you get so much done and that constant sense of rushing, of not having enough time, fades away.  It made me really appreciate how lucky we are, and thankful to all the service personnel who protect our precious freedoms so we can enjoy such great lives.  
Weather-wise, the Memorial weekend was a mixed bag but we did manage to fire up the grill on Sunday for the first time this year, which was great fun.  I churned my first batch of ice cream of the season, a mint Oreo flavor requested by the little man; it was a big hit and vanished quickly as ice cream usually does.  I also went to the farmer's market again on Sunday and scored some sashimi-grade tuna to make my first poke bowl!

In between that, we savored 3 consecutive leisurely weekend breakfasts and I got to try a new pancake recipe during one of those.  These are sweet potato pancakes, a recipe I spotted in a new cookbook, American Girl in London.  It caught my eye given my love of sweet potatoes and my constant interest in finding new breakfast foods to put on the table.
I'm constantly roasting sweet potatoes for lunch or dinner so it was no sweat to set one aside to mash up for these pancakes.  They're also made with some whole milk yogurt, which I also happened to have on hand after baking a couple batches of banana bread.  

At their core, these sweet potato pancakes turned out fluffy (I used the trick I learned recently of stirring the egg white into the batter at the end of mixing) and super moist, almost custardy, in texture.  The original recipe does not call for any additional sugar, relying on just the natural sweetness from the sweet potatoes.  I tried it that way but in retrospect, I would add a tablespoon or so of sugar to the batter to better offset the tang from the yogurt.  That said, a generous douse of maple syrup does the trick of adding sweetness.
Do you like sweet potato or pumpkin pie?  Or those warm Thanksgiving flavors and spices? This will likely remind you of that because of a touch of both cinnamon and nutmeg in the pancakes.  Some, like my son, may not be a big fan so it's good to know what to expect going in.  For my husband and I, these soft pancakes were a fun thing to try and we had no problems cleaning our plates.  I particularly liked taking a bite with some toasted walnut because they add so much welcome flavor and a crunch.
It's always good to try new things, even if they're not home runs for everyone at the table each time.  Hopefully, we learn it's important to simply welcome different things and to widen our palate a little bit.


I'm the early riser in the family, though my son gets up pretty early as well.  In something of a ritual, I'm usually up first on the weekends and begin to potter away in the kitchen, gathering ingredients, prepping breakfast.  I look forward to this all week.
For my half recipe (making about 8 generous pancakes), I used about half a cup of mashed sweet potatoes.  Other key ingredients are plain yogurt, some milk, a couple tablespoons of melted butter, an egg, and the usual dry ingredients.  
Back in February, I'd written another post on pancakes.  One of the things I'd learned then was this "trick" of separating the egg(s) that go in a pancake batter and simply stirring the egg white (no whisking to any peaks) in as the last step for super fluffy pancakes.  I've been doing this for various pancake recipes and I have to say that it really works!  (I've also tried this trick for waffles and I got some rather fluffy waffles - nice and all but since I'm usually aiming for crispy waffles, I think I'll stick to whipping the egg whites for that.)
So for fluffy, lofty, pancakes, separate the egg white from the yolk and stir it gently into the batter as the final step.  That's what I did with this recipe.  If you don't want to, you can leave the egg whole and go about the normal course of business.  
I went light on the warm spices - the ground cinnamon and nutmeg - but you can clearly taste it.  We would have preferred a little more sweetness, flavor-wise, but texturally the pancakes were nice and light, soft and fluffy, with a delicate custardy center.  Topped with maple syrup and some toasted walnuts, this was last Saturday's breakfast.  I'm sure there will be other pancake renditions to come...it's amazing how many twists and turns basic recipes can take, and you never know when you might find a new favorite. The search is always on!

Recipe:

Sweet Potato Pancakes
Adapted from American Girl in London

- Approximately 8-10 pancakes - 

1/2 cup mashed sweet potato (from 1 medium-size sweet potato, cooked)
1 cup milk (I used whole milk)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used whole milk yogurt)
1 large egg, separated*
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, depending on your taste
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, depending on your taste
Pinch of salt
For serving (optional): maple syrup, toasted chopped walnuts 

* For extra fluffy pancakes, separate the egg and stir in the egg white as the last step in mixing the batter.  If you prefer not to do this, simply add the entire egg (instead of just the yolk) in the first step.

In a bowl, whisk together the mashed sweet potato, milk, yogurt, egg yolk, and melted butter until smooth.

In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar (if using), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry, whisking together until just combined.  Gently stir in the reserved egg white until incorporated.  Let batter rest for 10 minutes.  

Heat a griddle or non-stick pan over medium heat.  Lightly grease with butter or cooking spray.  Add about 1/3 cup pancake batter for each pancake and cook for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles begin to surface.  Flip the pancakes and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until golden and cooked through.  

Serve warm with maple syrup and a sprinkle of toasted chopped walnuts.  



35 comments:

  1. Wow what a great recipe! I could eat a stack of these right now :) Love sweet potatoes but never thought to put them in pancakes. The color is gorgeous. Glad you had a nice long weekend! Happy summer Monica!

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    1. It's amazing all the things we can put sweet potatoes in! : ) Hope you are getting plenty of rest following your trip!

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  2. So soft and fluffy..and I love the lovely orangey colour from sweet potato.

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  3. Yum! I actually prefer sweet potatoes in sweeter recipes (vs savory) and sweet potato pancakes are right up my alley.

    And we've been obsessed with poke bowls lately! I should try to make them at home, too :)

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    1. Before this, I made sweet potato chocolate chunk muffins that were so good and would be right up your alley. : ) Happy wedding - prepping!!
      Yes, poke bowls are rather easy once you get your hands on the good tuna/salmon, etc. I made a simple one and it was mighty tasty.

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  4. You know I love sweet potato anything so I definitely think I would enjoy these pancakes!! And I so agree with you on three day weekends - that one extra day makes all the difference!

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    1. Yes! I think you would like these, Ashley. This week totally flew by...another plus to a 3-day weekend - it's express to the next weekend! ; )

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  5. Awesome Monica. A great idea of adding sweet potato in the pancakes. I will try out this recipe soon. Pancakes look very yummy :)

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    1. Sounds good, Ritu. Have a great weekend...perfect time for some pancake planning. ; )

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  6. Three day weekends are the best - I definitely wish they were a regular things hehe. These pancakes look so fluffy and delicious! I love that you used sweet potato in here - adding that to my list to try hopefully this weekend :)

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    1. Thanks, Kelly! These are definitely on the healthy side and nice and soft. Try that spoonful of sugar for a little extra sweetness if you think your family will want that... Have a wonderful weekend!

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  7. I am definitely going to make this next time I have some sweet potatoes.

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    1. Music to my ears. It's nice to give each other ideas on twists to try. Have a great weekend.

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  8. Long weekends are wonderful, Monica. And these sweet potato pancakes look so delicious and healthy too. I love using sweet potatoes, so I should give them a try. Lovey share. Have a wonderful weekend, Monica.

    Anu
    http://www.mygingergarlickitchen.com/

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    1. Thank you, Anu. Hope you are enjoying a relaxing weekend with your family.

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  9. Seriously,these look so good and fluffy. I've never used sweet potatoes in pancakes or for baking, need to do it, I'm sure it's amazing.
    And yayy to long weekends.
    xx

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    1. The trick I picked up about stirring in the egg whites really does seem to make for very fluffy pancakes. I've used sweet potatoes in lots of things from muffins to biscuits and souffle - all nice. Hope you are savoring the weekend right now. : )

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  10. Your sweet potato pancakes look so light and fluffy. What a super way to keep them moist and add a pop of color and healthiness into a pancake with the addition of sweet potatoes. Brilliant!

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    1. A nice alternative pancake option for sure...thank you!

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  11. What a fun idea ~ pumpkin pancakes are y favorite, so this would be a great year round alternative, they look so fluffy!

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    1. So true...all those pumpkin recipes can be subbed with sweet potatoes, one of my favorite things. : )

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  12. Please add Pinterest to your sharing options. :)

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    1. If you place your mouse over a pic, a Pinterest save button comes up on the upper left corner. : )

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  13. I bet they taste so sweet and delicious! And they look so fluffy and indulgent!

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    1. The sweetness will depend upon the sweet potatoes. The yogurt offset the sweetness, too, so I would have liked to add a spoonful of sugar into the batter. That said, generous maple syrup fixes that issue.

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  14. Wow, such a yummy recipe!!
    Sweet potatoes are one of the most delicious things in desserts! You are making me so hungry - here it is 5pm teatime - I would love to eat your pancakes with a cup of black tea.
    Have a great week. In Switzerland, we are enjoying a bank holiday weekend... yuppie.. yuppie

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    1. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods. : ) Hope you enjoyed the bank holiday!

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  15. Sorry I missed your post, it gets very busy during the week as we expanded our business. So, glad to hear you had a great memorial day weekend. The sweet potato pancakes looks so soft and fluffy and I can imagine how good would thy taste ;)

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    1. No worries at all!! I wish you all much success on your expanded business...sounds exciting and time-consuming. Life is busy all round. Thanks for stopping by and commenting when you have time.

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  16. Hi Monica, not sure how I missed this posts but let me start off by saying these look absolutely delicious. I have some roasted butternut squash left in the fridge thinking about making these tomorrow. And as for 3 day weekends they are the perfect amount of time.....

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    1. Hi Cheri - I certainly don't expect anyone to catch all my little posts. Thank you though. I am sure roasted mashed butternut squash would work...I'd add a little sugar to the batter for a touch more sweetness. : )

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