PANCAKES TO REMEMBER
All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt!
~Lucy Van Pelt in Peanuts (1950-2000) by Charles M Schulz (1922-2000)
LOVERS & COOKS DAY
Good morning! It’s a day to honor a loved one by cooking something scrumptious just for them. I just made that up, but it’s a good idea, isn’t it? Whip up brunch to surprise and delight, and be surprised at how delightful is the rest of the day.
This preparation is fail-safe, containing many good things: whole grains, anti-oxidants (in the chocolate), protein (egg, yogurt), calcium (yogurt), good fat (yogurt and olive oil, yes olive oil!) I appropriated these Chocolate Pancakes from the cooking of Spain, making my own modifications, and they are satisfying to make and to eat. Rising and spreading a little during cooking, they are quite substantial in thickness and texture.
Someone asked for a compelling substitute for bacon at breakfast. And while this doesn’t compare in the aroma department (does anything smell remotely like bacon?) it more than makes up for it in flavor. I’ve calculated this preparation for one large serving or two smaller ones; it makes four to five small pancakes. If you like them larger, you’ll get about three good-sized beauties. You can easily double it for brunch to last hungry people until dinner. With a nice bowl of fresh fruit and coffee, this makes a nifty little brunch before a spring Sunday in the city.
The delicate chocolate flavor is enhanced by a drizzle of honey on the finished stack. Don’t use maple syrup, the flavors will be confusing. If you want a maple flavor rather then chocolate, then leave out the chocolate. But these are much better as chocolate pancakes. I’ll be back with another preparation for standard pancakes, suitable for adding fruit. Stay tuned.
Friends over for a light and spontaneous, if unconventional, dinner gave all of their thumbs up. No one could recall ever having pancakes for dinner before. For this I made two batches – one with rye and the other using spelt flour (because of food intolerances) – but there is no reason you can’t use whole wheat flour. Whole grains are best for food value, and they will give you the most substantial, and filling, result. If you’ve not yet converted your kitchen to whole grain, why not begin with this preparation and give the better grains a go?
I want to underscore the importance of using full-fat plain yogurt for this with no added sugar. Low- or no-fat will give it a bite that will be a downer flavorwise. You can substitute buttermilk or heavy cream or any combination (I used two parts yogurt and one part heavy cream). The fat content substitutes for sugar here, and I have used refined sugar (horrors!) just because it gives a purer flavor than sucanat (my usual sweetener of choice). Sucanat does taste of molasses a little. All of this indulgence is what gives these pancakes their richness of flavor. These are not airy puffs that you’ll need a tall stack to feel satisfied. A little indulgence makes fewer go further.
Ordinarily I would not go for chocolate at breakfast (bad associations with Count Chocula, I suppose) but this is such a delight I can’t argue with it. I’ve used grated chocolate for a consistent flavor throughout, but you could use chocolate chips. Just get a brand that is 100% cocoa (unsweetened). They will be more like a soft chocolate chip cookie, less sweet (in case you’re tempted to eat as cookies).
You could make these to go, but it would be a shame to forgo the honey drizzle, the crowning glory on this preparation that enhances the delicate chocolate flavor nicely. They do reheat pretty well in a toaster or microwave – not for too long, though! – they can get a little toasted on the outside. Inside is still soft, but drier than first go round.
This would make a great Father’s Day brunch, and would surprise dear old Dad like nothing else, especially if you’ve not bothered with purchasing an extravagant gift to mark the day. He’d probably just as soon spend the day on the golf course or kicking back with his buddies having cigars, so why not send him off on a full stomach, wondering how you learned to cook like this? Don’t tell him; just say, “It’s easy, Pop!” It is, you know.
