Business in the Front, Party in the Back

When my husband is traveling out of town, I often do something fun or out of the ordinary with my kiddo's. It helps take their minds off the absence of their very hands-on father. So while he was recently in Colorado, we continued on our pumpkin binge and decided to have a lazy day making pumpkin-chocolate-chip pancakes...in our pajamas...at 10 a.m. They especially loved the "hidden" chocolate chips in the back. We are all about surprises here. We skipped the regular all-purpose flour and went with oat flour instead. I was having a white-flour-free moment...not to be confused with my gluten-free moments or egg-free moments. What can I say? I have a few moments now and then. I am happy with how the pancakes turned out - nice and moist even with the oat flour. I haven't tried the recipe substituting all-purpose flour, but I am fairly sure it will still turn out just as well.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups oat flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. allspice

mini chocolate chips

Preheat a skillet or griddle to 400 degrees. Combine eggs, buttermilk, butter, pumpkin, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl - when it comes to pancakes, I usually skip my big kitchen-aid mixer and do everything in a large bowl with a whisk...it's an old habit and as we all know, those die hard. Whisk ingredients together until combined. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and allspice.  Mix the dry into the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter onto the griddle to form 5-inch circles. After the batter begins to bubble, sprinkle on the chocolate chips...

When your edges begin to dry, flip the pancakes and cook until golden on both sides. Keep pancakes in a warm oven until ready to serve.

Happy Valentines Day!

Who doesn't love heart-shaped nonsense on Valentine's Day? Is there a mother alive with children still residing at home who doesn't make heart shaped pancakes, buy huge chocolate kisses or little stuffed animals that say "be mine" for their little ones? I love to pamper my family on Valentine's Day with goodies and kisses and especially heart shaped pancakes. Sandwiched between Christmas and Easter, they always seem to forget they will be indulging in syrup soaked delight on Valentine's Day...a surprise which only makes the day that much more fun! This year I not only made our traditional buttermilk pancakes, but I also whipped out a new recipe for chocolate pancakes - I'll post both recipes here. Since I was unsure how my chocolate pancake concoction would turn out, I kept my ingredients to small quantities...you may want to double the recipe if your feeding several people. However, my traditional buttermilk pancake recipe is designed to feed the masses (we like pancakes, what can I say? the leftovers can be frozen and easily heated in the toaster on a hurried weekday morning) so you may want to half the recipe if you're feeding just a few...Enjoy!

Buttermilk Pancakes

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 stick melted butter
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, butter and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry and whisk to combine. Cook on a 400 degree griddle and enjoy!

Chocolate Pancakes

3/4 cup flour
2 Tbs. cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
3 Tbs. melted butter
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
Mini chocolate chips (optional)

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl - stir to combine well. In another bowl combine wet ingredients and pour into dry ingredients. Whisk to combine and cook up on a 400 degree griddle. Enjoy!