Multigrain pancakes and making buttermilk pancakes with a twist

The topic of pancakes comes up quite often here, and frankly, I'm at it again!  There are a million variations to everything and I'm happy to try as much as humanly possible when it comes to food. That goes for pancakes and other things.  The way I look at it, it's a good thing we eat so often!

For today's "pancake talk", let's chat about two things...

Multigrain Pancakes

Let's start with these multigrain pancakes, a recipe that caught my eye in the latest issue of Cooking Light.  I'm reluctant to label things with titles like "healthy" or not (to my way of thinking, use common sense and enjoy everything in moderation) but it's more than fair to say these are a terrific, feel-good, option when it comes to pancakes.  It's made with both old-fashioned oats as well as white whole wheat flour.

The only unusual step in making these pancakes is first soaking old-fashioned rolled oats in buttermilk for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.  This gives the oats a chance to soften and bloom slightly (very smart).  The process is easy enough but I was a little skeptical about how these would turn out...would they actually taste good because not only are we using oats and whole wheat flour, there's no butter/oil in the batter and just a tablespoon of maple syrup to sweeten the batch.

Well, my family and I were very pleasantly surprised.  Somehow, these pancakes turned out creamy in the center (thanks to the soaking process, according to Cooking Light).  Soft and fluffy, they were perfectly tasty.  They might not be very rich in flavor on their own but paired with some fresh berries and/or bit of maple syrup, it is a very well-balanced pancake breakfast!  You can also follow Cooking Light's cue of making a nut butter sauce to go with these (more on that later...) for a fantastic, healthy pairing.  

My son finished his 3 pancakes in no time and I was impressed with how much he liked them.  These pancakes are both kid- and adult-approved!

Making buttermilk pancakes, with a twist

Now for this second segment of our pancake talk, I didn't try a new recipe per se...I tried a new technique.

I recently read this article from Food52 about a genius tip on how to make fluffier buttermilk pancakes.  I'll cut straight to the chase and tell you the "trick"...you know how you separate an egg and beat the egg white to fold into a pancake/waffle batter to make an extra fluffy result?  Well, this tip suggests you put the whisk down and skip the whipping, and simply stir in the egg white at the end of making the batter.   

I don't know about you but I don't often take the extra step of whipping egg whites when I make pancakes because it's extra work and cleanup.  This idea of stirring in the egg white without whipping sounded like a perfectly easy twist to try, so I did. Instead of using the recipe provided, I took a basic buttermilk pancake recipe I often use at home and simply followed the technique of separating the egg and reserving the white to stir into the batter at the very end.  

I had some blueberries on hand so I made blueberry buttermilk pancakes.  I'm afraid I didn't go so far as to do a side-by-side comparison to show you (you can see a comparison at Food52) but I can tell you that we had a very fluffy batch of pancakes using this egg white technique.  My husband definitely thought they were fluffier than usual.  I don't know if it's positive thinking on my part but I also thought they were fluffier than the norm.  It sure doesn't hurt to give it a try so the next time you make pancakes, consider making them with this little twist and see what you think (I'd love to know)! 

In conclusion, all these fantastic pancake recipes and cooking techniques give us more reasons to enjoy pancakes for breakfast.  That's a very good thing!

Oatmeal crepes

Admittedly, these crepes were a bit hard-fought to get on the table but it was worth it.  I found them a bit tricky to flip but once I got the hang of it - letting the pan gets nice and hot, and allowing the crepe to fully cook through before flipping - I managed to serve these oatmeal crepes for a weekend breakfast.

Weekend breakfasts and brunch are special, no matter what we're eating.  That time around the table is something I look forward to all week!  And I love trying something new so I can talk about it here.  This time, I thought I'd make oatmeal crepes.  We all know and love crepes but I was especially drawn to this recipe from Lidia Bastianich that incorporated oat flour for a little touch of nuttiness and texture.  

I made oat flour by simply grinding old-fashioned oats until very fine (almost powdery) in a processor.  This addition of the oat flour, with regular all-purpose flour, is what sets these crepes apart (and what likely contributes to them being more tricky to handle/flip).  Additionally, fresh lemon zest adds a great pop of citrus flavor.  With the lemon, these crepes pair nicely with jam.  I tucked strawberry jam into some and filled others with Nutella.

As with others crepes, these are perfect little holders for the fillings you tuck within. Texturally, these stand out with the slight nuttiness, along with a great crispy edge. With the liquid in the recipe being water, they are fragile.  I may have lost a couple of crepes in the making but they were so tasty, my husband wished I'd saved the scraps and allowed him to have those, too!

Honey & oats

It's not Christmas yet but this is a great time for baking cookies.  If you're thinking any time is a great time for cookies, I totally agree with you (and like the way you think!) but with the cooler temperatures, I feel an unmistakable urge to turn on the oven and permeate the house with the warmth and smell of cookies baking away.  I want to tuck those homemade cookies into a jar and have them around and ready for my son when he comes home from school.  I want to sit down, have a warm cookie and something hot to drink.  Is anyone else craving hot chocolate or am I just a little bit crazy?

Personally, I'm craving all sorts of things right now as the temperature drops. Soups, stews, cookies, and everything in between that's a bit more hearty. I've been daydreaming about oatmeal cookies lately.  Talk about a wonderful creation! I absolutely love, even crave, oatmeal - particularly the steel cut variety - but if you're not like me and don't like oatmeal, chances are you enjoy a good oatmeal cookie, right?  My son is one of those people.  He asked me for chocolate chip cookies the other day.  Apparently, he was craving cookies too.

So I made a batch of these honey oatmeal cookies, inspired by a recipe I stumbled upon in a magazine. They caught my attention because honey is the only sweetener in them.  I really liked the sound of that because honey & oats just go together and since honey is my sweetener of choice when it comes to my oatmeal, this is right up my alley!  I also know that I love what a little maple syrup can do for oatmeal cookies so with this, I envisioned a soft, chewy cookie, flavored with the natural sweetness and goodness of honey, and that's essentially what I got!

Some key mix-ins: chopped semi-sweet chocolate, toasted walnuts, oats, and the honey

Since the original recipe is very much about the honey, it actually calls for Tupelo honey, which isn't all that easy to get your hands on.  With it being the sole sweetener for these cookies, use the best quality honey you can find, which basically just means a honey you love the taste of.  I went with a recent farmer's market find - a regular wildflower honey that I've been enjoying immensely with my regular bowls of oatmeal.

The cookies in the original recipe also included raisins and pecans but since I'm not a fan of either of those ingredients (particularly the raisins), I switched it up and added chocolate and toasted walnuts instead.  I used coarsely chopped semi-sweet chocolate here but if you're low on time, chocolate chips would work nicely, too.  Putting chocolate in the picture means that some of the flavor of the honey will be overpowered by it, but I'm totally okay with that!  My family would not be happy with me if I made oatmeal cookies without chocolate in it.

The end result: a chewy oatmeal cookie chock full of dark chocolate and toasted walnuts, with the notes of honey and a hint of cinnamon.  With just half a cup of honey in my batch of cookies, they're not overly sweet and you taste each ingredient.  I think there's just something really satisfying about an oatmeal cookie and this was no exception.

Zucchini bread cookies

Getting back from vacation and trying to wind down, it's amazing how quickly I get the urge to head back into the kitchen to bake a little something sweet. The craving to cook and eat are forces to be reckoned with. I've been cooking non-stop since we got home from California since we missed simple, lighter home-cooked meals, and it only took a few days before dessert came back into play again.

I've got vegetables on my mind and I've been thinking about zucchini bread after seeing them on blogs recently.  It made me remember how surprisingly good it is and how I've not tasted it enough. Since I didn't think we could handle a big loaf of zucchini bread right now coming off of vacation, I thought a small batch of zucchini bread cookies would be just the thing to try.  And what do you know! Just like zucchini bread, these cookies took me by surprise - as in being really surprisingly good.

I tweaked the original recipe a bit by substituting half the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour. I went light on the cinnamon since I prefer it in moderation.  As far as spices go, I suspect a little touch of nutmeg would go very well with the cinnamon here if you want even more depth. I was generous with the toasted walnuts but omitted the cream cheese filling and kept these as simple cookies rather than sandwich cookies.  Together with oats and the zucchini, I think these pass for fairly healthy cookies to munch on - even right after a vacation! I even managed to restrain myself from adding chocolate chips and I'm glad I did because these cookies were full of flavor.

I didn't tell my son about the zucchini in these cookies.  In fact, I called them "muffin cookies" because they do indeed taste like a muffin, or the muffin top! He saw me taking pictures of the shredded zucchini and I made no bones about it but he's an 8-year old boy and just doesn't pay very close attention to what mom's cooking and doing. I knew we had a winner when I held out a bite to him and he took a larger bite and kept going - even with the walnuts! These cookies are really moist, with just enough sweetness. They're aromatic with the cinnamon and toasted walnuts, and I love the texture contributed by the oats. You don't taste the zucchini but it's worked its magic in there somehow.

These cookies made me think of those delicious banana bread cookies I've made in the past.  In both cases, taking a classic for a little spin turned out to be very rewarding. These zucchini bread cookies are something I'm glad I tried and I'll be making again.

Chocolate chip cookies inspired by DoubleTree

It's back to basics today, with a batch of chocolate chip cookies - preferably, warm and fresh from the oven.  It may be hot outside but I think there's always a need for some good cookies around the house.  I know I feel better seeing a jar of homemade cookies on my kitchen counter.  And with the busy (albeit fun) summer schedule right now, let's remember to take a breather and have a cookie break once in a while

This is a cookie I've only made one other time in the past that was inspired by a stay at the DoubleTree hotel about two years ago.  Having never stayed at a DoubleTree until then, I was really (pleasantly) surprised when we were handed a few small bags, each with a warm chocolate chip cookie tucked inside, upon check-in.  I started munching on the way to our room and, boy, were they delicious!  I know it probably helped that I was hungry and tired at the time but seriously, it was good stuff.  I asked the front desk if I could have the recipe when we checked out but, of course, that wasn't possible.  They did offer me a few more cookies for the road but I gratefully declined (for some reason) and was hoping to dig up the recipe somewhere online when I got home.

Unfortunately, the actual recipe seems to be a secret.  The cookie dough itself is apparently made by The Christie Cookie Company in Nashville.  But from my online search, the closest replica to the DoubleTree cookies seemed to be this one.  I decided to make them again last week since I've been thinking about them - possibly because we just returned from a road trip and it was on another one that we tasted those cookies. 

The cookies that come out of my home oven might not be exactly the same as the one I remember but I think it's a close copy and a very good cookie.  I particularly like the little bit of finely ground oats in the dough that gives the cookies a bit more bite and chew (although it is an extra step).

The other interesting or unusual things about this recipe is a bit of cinnamon and a splash of lemon juice in the dough, which you should chill in the refrigerator overnight.  Those additional ingredients are not very discernible, adding just a little something in the background.  I divided my batch and made half with toasted walnuts (above picture, right) and the other without nuts (above, left) for the little guy. 

I'm glad I re-visited this recipe.  It's better than I remembered.  Cheers to the American chocolate chip cookie! 

Monster cookies

I thought this would be a perfect time to try a batch of monster cookies - you know, with Halloween just a couple of weeks away.  I'm not totally sure why these cookies are called monster cookies.  I guess because they're supposed to be big, hearty cookies...or maybe it's the kind of thing cookie monster would gobble right up. 

Sometimes these are called kitchen-sink cookies or anything cookies because you can add whatever goodies you like in them.  In general, we're talking about oats, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and M&M's.  That's the equation we have going here but you can get creative and mix in whatever you like: nuts, dried fruit, pretzels, puffed cereal, Reese's pieces, toffee bits, and on and on.

I was a little dubious about these cookies.  Though I enjoy M&M's, I'm usually not a fan of cookies with M&M's or other types of candy in them.  At the risk of sounding snooty, it just seems kind of "junky".  And peanut butter cookies tend to taste a little too rich for me (spoken by the girl who loves ridiculously rich and gooey chocolate desserts).  But these turned out to be really good.  There is a ton of oats in this recipe that provides a delicious chewiness.  The peanut butter adds richness (not overly so) and a wonderful fragrance.  Of course, the chocolate chips are always welcomed in any cookie and surprisingly, I get the role of the M&M's.  Like my husband says, the M&M's add a nice little crunch with its candy coating.  Best part, these cookies are not too sweet.  They were a pleasant surprise.  This is another great recipe from the guys at Baked.

Peanut butter granola bars

Today, I'm trying out some peanut butter granola bars.  I think they'd be good as part of our rotation of after school (or after the park or some kind of exercise) snack options for the little one.  In a bind, these make a quick breakfast bar. 

Peanut butter is the predominant flavor of these bars (sorry if you are allergic) but its bulk comes from old-fashioned oats.  There are also a bit of slivered almonds and mini chocolate chips - all flavors I personally enjoy.  I adapted this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, making a couple of changes based on reviewer comments.  I used to wonder who these people are who do reviews and make comments on websites and post up all those youtube videos.  Now I've really come to appreciate and value constructive participation.  You can learn a lot from what others have tried and discovered. 

I think these granola bars were a success in my house.  Bare in mind that my 6-year old son decided somewhere along the way in the last year or so that he doesn't like nuts.  I think he just wants to dislike things that I tell him are good for him and I know he doesn't really dislike nuts as much as he claims.  He eats peanut butter and used to love walnuts, and I know he's ok with almonds.  He also won't eat oatmeal on its own (he doesn't like anything hot) though he's down with an oatmeal crisp or oatmeal cookies.  So I'm happy to report that he does like (I didn't say love) these granola bars and I don't think he'd mind seeing them as part of his snack rotation.  Personally, I think the bars are quite tasty, with a nice chewy texture.  The toasted almonds go well with the peanut butter also.  These are quite filling so a small piece goes a long way.