Buttermilk Pecan Pancakes with Mamma Callie's Syrup

What better way to wake up in the morning than with a big pile of PANCAKES!! They're light, fluffy and drenched in syrup! YUM!! While growing up, an "american style" breakfast would happen once every two months or so at my house because of my filipino heritage. We usually had the classic filipino breakfast of rice (of course), eggs and either fried spam, corned beef that's simmered in tomatoes, onions and garlic or some sort of fish. However, when we had the "american style" breakfast, my family went all out. We had bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns and PANCAKES!! I loved pancakes growing up. Unlike what I did today, my parents always bought the Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix that simply requires the addition water. Don't get me wrong, these pancakes are delicious! But, I love making things from scratch. There's this sense of "achievement" that whatever you made is now "your own" and people think that you went through a lot of work so they appreciate it more. In doing so, I've been searching for a great buttermilk pancake recipe. I've tried the IHop Copycat recipe for their pancakes but I find that the pancakes aren't that fluffy when cooked. One time when I made the IHop recipe for my family my mom said "What is that? That's not a pancake. It's so thin." So, a couple weeks ago, I was watching the Food Network, as usual, and Pat and Gina Neely were making Buttermilk Pancakes with Pecans. Their pancakes looked extremely fluffy and I knew I just had to try it and so I did that today.

When making the recipe, I adjusted the amount of sugar to make it easier. The recipe calls for 3 tbsp of sugar. That's such a strange measurement in my opinion. You just need another tablespoon to make 1/4 of a cup so why not just do that? That's what I did, changed the amount to 1/4 cup. I made the pancakes and the addition of an extra tablespoon of sugar didn't change the flavor that much. These were pretty good and a great alternative to the boxed mix. Light, fluffy and slightly sweet. What more can you ask for? I didn't add the pecans though because I wanted to taste the pancakes on their own. My thought was, before you add "mix-ins" on pancakes, the pancakes better be great to start off with. These definitely were great on their own. Oh yeah, there was a syrup recipe but I didn't bother with it. I like good ol' fashioned maple syrup on my pancakes. The syrup recipe is basically a simple syrup but uses brown sugar instead. I know what it might taste like because filipinos use a similar syrup for drinks but feel free to try it. Overall, this will now be my go-to pancake recipe. Here's the recipe!!

Buttermilk Pecan Pancakes with Mamma Callie's Syrup (Serves about 4)
Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar (I used 4 tbsp or 1/4 cup of sugar)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for frying
Vegetable oil, for frying
Chopped pecans, to distribute over pancakes
Mamma Callies Syrup, for serving, recipe follows

Directions
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large bowl.

Add the buttermilk, eggs, and cooled melted butter to a second bowl and whisk to combine.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet mixture. Stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Do not overmix or you will end up with tough and chewy pancakes.

Heat a large electric griddle or nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add a few drops of vegetable oil and a pat of butter. Once butter melts, wipe skillet with a paper towel. Ladle about 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Evenly distribute chopped pecans on top of the pancakes. Cook the pancakes until the bubbles begin to burst on the surface, about 3 minutes, flip and continue cooking until the second side is a nice golden brown, about 2 more minutes. Repeat with remaining pancakes.

Put the finished pancakes onto a sheet tray and let sit in the oven to stay warm as you finish.

Arrange the pancakes on individual plates and serve with the syrup.

Mama Callie's Syrup (Makes 3/4 cup)
Ingredients
3/4 cup water
1 cup light brown sugar
Small pinch salt

Directions
Add the water, brown sugar and salt into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and stir until the sugar dissolves. Let simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool before serving.


-Aaron John
My Food Outings: AJ's Food Adventure
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