This recipe made a very thin batter, which in turn created very thin pancakes. Which isn’t a problem, though it is different from what I normally make (we’re into thick, fluffy ones). Regardless of our preferred type of pancake, these were delicious. I made a slight change to the original recipe. It called for orange peel, but I couldn’t find the bottle of dried Valencia orange peel I know I have in my spices. Instead, I used the zest of a blood orange, because that’s what I had (and my family adores blood oranges).

One thing that should be noted is that my pancakes turned out a lot darker looking than the picture on the original recipe. Either they used a not quite so dark beer, or they used a generic pancakes picture.

Spiced Dark Craft Beer Pancakes

1 cup sifted all purpose flour
¼ granulated sugar
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup beer
2 tbsp melted butter
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp orange zest

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and spices. Add all the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until combined. It’s okay if there are lumps – over mixing will make bad pancakes.

Heat skillet or griddle on medium, and coat with butter pan spray. Add batter in ¼ cups and wait for bubbles to form, flip and cook until golden brown.

Serve with some additional orange peel, butter and pure maple syrup.

Spiced Buttermilk Pancakes

3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 c buttermilk
6 tbsp melted unsalted butter, cooled
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat your griddle on medium high. Spray with cooking spray or lightly brush with more melted butter.

Whisk eggs and sugar together in a medium bowl until smooth. Add in buttermilk and whisk together. Slowly add melted butter while whisking until well combined.

In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and whisk together. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and add buttermilk mixture. Whisk together until combined but still lumpy.

Pour 1/4 batter onto griddle for each pancake and spread the batter until at least 4″ in diameter. When the edges of the pancake are dry and the center is bubbly, flip. Cook another minute or so until golden brown.

Serve with butter and syrup.

They do taste pretty good warm and with nothing on them, but a lot better with butter and syrup.

Today, we’re trying something different: Oatmeal Breakfast Bars. They’re wonderfully dense and taste like an oatmeal cookie and can’t be easier to make. We all gobbled them up, and they’ve been added to the “must make them again” list. Next time I make them, I’ll be adding walnuts.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

4 c. dry oats (old-fashioned or quick cooking)
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
3/4 – 1 c. canola oil
4 eggs, well beaten
1/2 c. Craisins
1 c. raisins

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and until everything’s moistened.

3. Press into a greased 9×13 pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into individual bars.

From: http://stolenmomentscooking.com/oatmeal-breakfast-bars/

Per Serving: 357 Calories; 16g Fat (40.3% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 48g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 53mg Cholesterol; 90mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 3 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.

I used the King Arthur Sourdough Waffles recipe as the base, substituted molasses for the sugar, and added ground cinnamon, ground ginger and ground nutmeg. Next time, I’m going to increase the spices, and add a bit of Splenda granular before the waffles are cooked to help support the spices.

The recipe as I have listed it below makes a very nice, crisp and slightly tangy waffle. When cooking them, you might want to cook them not quite as long as you normally cook waffles – we found they get really stiff and hard to cut. Still, they’re great with butter and syrup, so no complaints!

Gingerbread Sourdough Waffles

 
Makes 13 waffles in my waffle maker

Overnight Sponge

2 cups unbleached flour
2 tablespoons molasses
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup sourdough starter (all-purpose, unbleached flour)

Waffle Batter

2 large eggs
1/4 cup butter — melted
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

To make overnight sponge, combine flour, molasses, butermilk and starter in a large bowl. Mix well, then cover and let rest at room temperature overnight.

Preheat your waffle iron according to the directions for cooking waffles.

In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and melted butter. Add to the overnight sponge.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Don’t worry if the batter bubbles up a bit.

Cook batter on your waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Serve the waffles immediately, or keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until you’re ready to eat.

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 131 Calories; 5g Fat (31.9% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 43mg Cholesterol; 308mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

I did, and they loved it.

Monte Cristo Waffles

Preheat your waffle iron.

For each “waffle”, you’ll need to make a ham and cheese sandwich. Use your favorite ham and cheese, maybe put a little bit of mustard on it. Other toppings, like tomato, lettuce, etc., probably wouldn’t work too well.

Make your egg mixture. For 3 sandwiches, I beat together 2 eggs, a splash of milk, and a bit of salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Once you’ve got your sandwich made, dip each side of the sandwich in the egg mixture. Place the sandwich in the waffle iron and cook according to the directions for making waffles. They’re done when the sandwich is golden brown.

We didn’t eat them with butter and syrup, but I suppose you could if you wanted to.

I discovered Alton Brown’s recipe for Chocolate Waffles when I was searching for something else (isn’t that always the way things go?). I’ve made then several times now, and my kids just love them. They’ve had them with the standard butter and syrup and with peanut butter, and they prefer them with peanut butter.

Chocolate Waffles

Makes 11 large, rectangular waffles (at least with my waffle maker – your machine will more or fewer)

7 ounces all-purpose flour
2 1/2 ounces sugar
1 1/2 ounces cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 whole eggs — beaten
2 ounces unsalted butter — melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 ounces buttermilk
4 ounces mini-chocolate chips

Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl beat together the eggs and melted butter and vanilla, and then add the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir in the chocolate chips just until combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Ladle the recommended amount of waffle batter onto the center of the iron. Close the iron top and cook until the waffle is crispy on both sides and is easily removed from iron. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 224 Calories; 10g Fat (36.8% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 31g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 71mg Cholesterol; 366mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.

Blueberry Sourdough Pancakes

 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup sourdough starter
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 to 3 tbsp vegetable oil for greasing the pan/griddle
1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, starter, melted butter, and vanilla until well blended. Add in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, adding more milk, 1 tsp at a time (if necessar) to bring the batter to the same thickness as heavy cream. Be careful not to overmix, and don’t worry if the batter is slightly lumpy.

Lightly grease a large, heavy griddle or skillet with oil and heat over medium-high heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake, allowing space for spreading. As the top of the pancake starts to bubble, sprinkle on the blueberries. When the undersides are golden brown and the berries are set, flip with a wide spatula. Cook until golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Serve immediately with butter and syrup.

Below you’ll find the recipe as I made it. Next time, I think I’ll add some cinnamon.

Overnight Oatmeal

1 cup steel cut oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup raisins
4 cups water
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients and turn on to LOW. Cover and let cook for 8 to 9 hours.

Stir and remove to serving bowls.

This made enough for two adults and two kids, with a bit left over.

Country Scramble

non-stick cooking spray
1/2 cup cooked ham — diced
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
4 tablespoons diced onion
6 each eggs — beaten
salt & pepper — to taste

Spray a non-stick skillet with the non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add ham, green pepper and onion and saute until onion is softened.

Pour in eggs and scramble until eggs are set. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 151 Calories; 9g Fat (56.9% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 328mg Cholesterol; 328mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat.

With all that said, I woke up with a craving for it this morning. It’s not the first time this has happened, but I’ve never attempted it before because of the Hollandaise sauce. A regular recipe makes way more than a single person can eat, and the sauce simply doesn’t reheat well at all. But the internet came to the rescue. A quick Google search turned up How to Make a Quick Low-Carb Hollandaise Sauce with your Microwave. It turned out pretty good, though next time I might use a little less butter – go with 2 teaspoon rather than 1 tablespoon because the mouth feel was a bit greasy for my liking, but the taste was good. The recipe didn’t call for any salt, and I think it needs it. Just the barest of pinches would do it.

Eggs Benedict For One

 
1 English muffin
butter
white vinegar
2 slices thinly sliced Black Forest ham (I used Black Forest Turkey this time)
2 eggs
1 batch of Hollandaise sauce

Preheat your broiler. Put enough water in a skillet to cover the eggs when yuo poach them. If you’re not using a non-stick pan, be sure to spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray before you put the water in. Put half a teaspoon of white vinegar into the water – this will help prevent the egg from spreading out all over the pan when you put it in the water. Heat the water to a simmer.

While waiting for the broiler and water to get to temperature, separate the English muffin into two halves. Lightly butter each one, then arrange a slice of ham on each so that it makes a kind of nest to hold the poached egg. Put them on a broiler safe pan.

When the water is the right temperature, put the muffins under the broiler and put the eggs into the water.

While the eggs are cooking, make the Hollandaise sauce.

When the eggs are done, turn off the heat and remove the muffins from the broiler. Put the muffins on a plate. Remove the eggs from the water using a slotted spoon, and let as much water as you can drip off before placing the egg on a muffin (one egg per muffin half). Top with the Hollandaise sauce and serve immediately.