Eggnog Pancakes with Cranberry Maple Syrup

Do you know that I’ve never been a fan of eggnog? Hard to believe when you see me posting not one, but two eggnog recipes in one week and (hold on to your hat), a third one is in the works. It seems that something happened when I added eggnog to my cinnamon roll recipe. I guess the flavor is just a little more subtle, but I really, really liked it. So much so, that I couldn’t wait to try it in my pancakes. That’s right. Pancakes. I had the crazy idea of just subbing out the buttermilk in my favorite pancakes. And it was a good decision. Yes, it was. Of course, just like with the Eggnog and Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls, I wasn’t the first one to think of this combination. About 5 minutes after I licked the last morsel off of my plate, one of my Facebook foodie friends was posting her version of eggnog pancakes. At least my cranberry syrup is different. But then, who knows? I didn’t google it. J

Eggnog Pancakes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups eggnog

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for griddle

Directions

Heat griddle on medium high. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add eggs, eggnog, and 4 tablespoons butter; whisk to combine. Batter should have small to medium lumps.

It's really important not to over-mix. Those lumps should be there.

Brush a little melted butter on the griddle. Pour the pancake batter by ¼ cups onto the griddle, keeping the pools of batter 2 inches apart.  When pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

They need just a little something....

Cranberry-Maple Syrup

Printable Recipe

2 cups fresh cranberries

1 cup real maple syrup

1 cinnamon stick

Place all of the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the berries are softened and the syrup is reduced. Add additional syrup if too thick. Serve warm.

I ended up adding more syrup to this...it was good, but a little thick.

Can we say "Plate Lickable" ?

And now on to other eggnog delights. How does an Eggnog Cheesecake sound?

BakeSpace International Taste Tour.....Caramelized Maple Cinnamon Apple Crepes

WooHoo—time for another BakeSpace International Taste Tour. This month I am excited to be making crepes!


I first fell in love with crepes when I was in high school. I was a member of the French club and we had the opportunity to take a trip to Montreal and Quebec with my French teacher (Monsieur Hoeft, who was awesome!). Of course, one of our restaurant meals was at a crepe restaurant (a creperie, if you will) and it was fabulous! Later, when I was in college, I was able to spend a semester in France and got to experience the wonder of crepe stands, set up like hot dog vendors, right on the streets of Paris! Nutella, banana, butter and sugar….oh, and the savory, cheesy crepes….I had stains on my trench coat that never came out. When I came back to the states, the crepe mania must have followed me, because suddenly there was a restaurant in Milwaukee, called The Magic Pan. Ooh La La! My favorite was the Chantilly Crepe with apricot jam and bananas and whipped cream. Oh—and the spinach crepe filled with, I believe, Stouffer’s spinach soufflé. I was quite upset when they were all closed down….but, now…I can make my own crepes!

I do like savory crepes, but the sweet ones are my favorite, so I chose an apple crepe this time around. I used a basic Martha Stewart recipe for the crepes, only changing it a bit since I can’t leave anything alone.

Basic Crepes

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon coarse salt
2 tablespoons sugar (I added this, since it was a sweet crepe and the sugar helps the crepe to brown)
2 cups whole milk, room temperature, plus more if needed
3 large eggs, room temperature
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for skillet

Put the flour, salt and sugar in a blender and mix until blended (have I mentioned how much I love the KitchenAid blender I won from BakeSpace.com a few months ago?).

Add the milk, eggs, and melted butter and blend until smooth. Mixture should have the consistency of heavy cream; add more milk if needed.

Heat an 8 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, and brush with butter. Ladle or pour 3 tablespoons of batter into pan, turning and tilting skillet to coat bottom evenly with batter. Cook until top of crepe appears set, bottom is firm and golden brown in spots, and center is lifted by pockets of air, about 1 minute.

Run a spatula around edge of crepe to loosen. Slip spatula under crepe, and gently flip in one swift gesture. (If it doesn’t land quite right, that’s okay; use spatula to unfold or rearrange it.) Cook until bottom is firm and golden brown in spots, about 45 seconds.

 Transfer to a plate, and cover. (The first one will not be your finest…mine looked anemic.) Repeat with remaining batter, brushing pan lightly with butter as needed (every 2 or 3 crepes).

For the filling, I did what I do best, I winged it.


Caramelized Maple Cinnamon Apples

2 tart baking apples (I used Zestar), peeled, cored and sliced
¼ cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup (use the real stuff)
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Over medium heat, melt butter in 10” skillet. Add the apples, brown sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon. Stir until the butter and sugar is melted and smooth and begins to bubble. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until thickened.

To serve crepes, spoon some of the apple mixture in the middle of a crepe. Fold over the ends, top with whipped cream and sprinkle with toasted pecans if desired.



Alternately, fold over a crepe, and then fold again into a triangle and add to the warm apple mixture in the pan. Turn over to completely cover in sauce, place on a plate and spoon some apples over the top.

Enjoy!