How to Use Peanut Butter in Pancake Recipes

A few days ago, I read an interesting news that was circulating around the Internet. It was about a pancake recipe discovered among Rosa Parks’ private documents and it involved peanut butter as an ingredient. Like in the Pavlov experiment, it made my mouth water immediately. I love peanut butter, why have I never used it in my quick and easy pancake recipes?

Using Peanut Butter in Your Pancake Recipes

Contrary to popular belief that George Washington Carver invented peanut butter and in spite the fact that it was patented by M.G. Edson in the late 1800s, this paste is considered to have been initially used by the Aztecs as a toothache remedy!

Peanut butter is made from ground dry roasted peanuts. It is popular in many countries but I think that Americans are by far its most devoted users – they eat approximately $800 million of peanut butter every year! We adore it so much that we even have a Peanut Butter day, celebrated on January 24.

Peanut butter is literally everywhere around us: served as a spread on bread, crackers, or toasts, but also as a part of staples like PB&J sandwiches and as an ingredient in various confection such as Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Snickers bars.

Peanut butter flapjacks? Sure, you can use peanut butter both as a topping and inside the batter. If you are following Rosa Parks’ recipe, add 1/3 cup peanut butter into the batter, but in that case, omit regular butter (Rosa suggests adding a tablespoon of oil or shortening).

Spread it on top of your fluffy flapjacks individually or together with chocolate chips and caramel sauce. very often, you’ll find this paste combined with Reese's Butter Cups on top of pancake stacks.

In addition, the salty and fatty taste of peanut butter goes well with fruit preserves and fresh fruits apple and banana, complemented with honey. Some recipes also call for bacon slices combined with sweet peanut butter and maple syrup.

What Type of Peanut Butter is the Best for Your Pancake Recipes?

When it comes to choosing between crunchy and smooth varieties, it’s up to your taste, i.e. whether you like your pancakes crunchy or creamy. However, the smooth version is more commonly called for in pancake recipes.

I recommend using organic peanut butter whenever possible. Even though it is more expensive than the regular variety, you can be sure that it is free from added sugar, salt, emulsifiers, chemical preservatives, or artificial coloring additives. If this version is not sweet enough for your pancakes, combine it with a natural sweetener like pure honey or maple syrup.

Peanut butter is rich in protein, dietary fiber, pantothenic acid, vitamin E, vitamin B6, thiamin, and niacin. It is also high in essential minerals like magnesium, manganese, iron, zinc, phosphorus, potassium and copper. Moreover, this delicious paste is a good source of saturated and unsaturated fats. This last fact calls for caution – peanut butter is quite nutritious but some brands can be high in calories or fats and that is why you should consume it in moderation. 

You all Have this Cream of Tartar Substitute at Home

How many times have you set out to prepare a recipe you found sooo inviting and easy to prepare, but didn’t happen to have that ingredient that is crucial for leavening? Yeah, cream of tartar is one of those ingredients that you just forget about. And why would you even care to remember an ingredient whose name doesn’t even sound right? It is called cream and it is a powder, I mean come on!

The Cream of Tartar Substitute We All Have at Home

As I have already mentioned, it is more likely you’d buy or have a cream of tartar substitute somewhere around your house than the actual thing. Let’s face it, you won’t go to the store and just happen to think of buying cream of tartar, you have to go with the intention to do it. And if you forget about it, it’s ok because you are very likely to have this cream of tartar substitute in your pantry: baking powder.

Usually, recipes call for a mix of cream of tartar and baking soda to prepare the best baked goods ever. This is due to the fact that they produce carbon dioxide gas, the gas produced when adding yeast to the recipes. So, if you want to avoid using yeast, then go ahead and use a combination of these two. These two actually substitute baking powder. But the great thing is baking powder is the best cream of tartar substitute.

The important thing to remember is that if the recipe calls for both of these ingredients you should omit the baking soda altogether. Add a teaspoon of baking powder whenever a recipe calls for a lace a teaspoon of cream and tartar and baking soda.

Prepare the Best Meringue Cookies with Cream of Tartar Substitute

According to this useful blog post on cream of tartar and cream of tartar substitute, it is crucial for your baking powder not to be older than 6 months. You can check whether it is good to be used in a recipe as a cream of tartar substitute if you add a tiny bit of baking soda into hot water. If it triggers a bubbly reaction, then you can use it in your recipe without any second thoughts. The best recipe that can be made with a cream of tartar substitute is the one for meringue cookies.

• 3 large egg whites
• 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar substitute (baking powder)
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• 2/3 cup of sugar

In a small bowl lace the egg whites and let them set at room temperature for around half an hour. Preheat the oven to 250° F. Add the vanilla, the baking powder and the salt to the egg whites and beat everything on medium speed until foamy. Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, beating on high after every addition. Repeat until the sugar dissolves. Beat for around 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

To give them the cutest form ever, cut the tip off of a pastry bag and pipe a 1 and ¼ inches in diameter cookies.  Don’t forget to place parchment paper on your baking tray. Bake for around 45 minutes or until firm to touch. A crucial step is to leave the meringue cookies in the oven for an hour after you’ve turned it off. Cool the cookies completely and store them in an airtight container at room temperature. Enjoy

Pancakes to Celebrate I Love Reese’s Day

Hear this: May the 18^th is the I love Reese’s Day. And when you think about it, these peanut butter cups deserve to have one day dedicated to them. Well, in my house almost every day is filled with love for sweets and peanut butter, and if you want to know how we celebrate this love, read through.

It All Starts with a Healthy Pancake Recipe Base

Well, if you are to prepare a recipe that is going to be (let’s face it) filled with peanut butter chocolate cups a good idea would be making the pancake base a tiny bit healthier. You can choose your very own pancake recipe from these amazing ones, but here are several tips I could offer that will render a healthier result.

Consider replacing half of the dose of regular all-purpose flour with a healthier type, like whole wheat or almond flour. A nutty flour, like the almond one, will bring more to the texture department and will go hand in hand with the peanut butter.

Next, to make your pancake recipe healthier use a low fat milk type or go for one of the vegan types, like coconut, almond or soy milk.

Forget about sugar. You can add only a dash of it to your pancake batter or skip it altogether. The soft and fluffy pancake will be covered with a chocolate syrup and many Reese’s peanut butter cups, so you won’t even notice the difference.

It Continuities with a Reese’s Pancake Topping

Well, go ahead and get all the types of peanut butter cups, from the miniature ones to the biggest ones. Chop them and leave them aside because now is the time for the peanut butter whipped cream to be prepared. No matter what pancake recipe you opt for, you just have to prepare the peanut butter cream because it will complement your pancakes the best way possible. You will need half a cup of heavy cream, 2 tablespoons of confectioners' sugar, half a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and, of course, one and a half tablespoons of creamy peanut butter. Chill a large bowl in the refrigerator and then beat the heavy into it, slowly add the sugar and lastly, mix the peanut butter and vanilla extract in.

It Finishes with a Reese’s Pancake Syrup

Now is the time to prepare the best Reese’s syrup you have ever tried. You will need

¾ cup of chocolate milk

¼ cup of heavy cream

6 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of cocoa

1 tablespoon of corn syrup

½ cup of sugar

6 regular sized Reese's peanut butter cups

Preheat a large saucepan over medium heat and pour all the ingredients (except for the peanut butter cups) into it. Cook everything until it boils, remove from the heat and stir the Reese's in, stir until the candy melts down.

Stack up your pancakes and add a dollop of the peanut butter whipped cream and drizzle everything with the syrup on top. Alternatively, spread the peanut butter cream over each pancake and add chopped peanut butter cups for a full enjoyment. 

How to Make Perfect Sourdough Pancakes

To make great sourdough pancakes you need two things – real homemade sourdough and a good sourdough pancake recipe.

The difference between real sourdough and the one bought in a supermarket is that the wheat starches in the first version are broken down by natural bacteria (lactobacillus) instead of with yeast. Even if you make your flapjacks with a store-bought sourdough, they will probably be just fine, but the homemade version definitely yields a much better final product.

How to Make a Sourdough Starter for Pancake Recipes

The ingredients you need are:

• 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup distilled water

Note: It is best if the flour you use is organic and GMO-free.

Add the whole wheat flour into the water, then mix with a spoon until dissolved and well incorporated. Transfer the mixture to an airtight container, cover, and leave it next to the window for three days.

Note: For best results, add a bit of flour and water every day.

After three days, smell the mixture. If it smells sour, it is good to go. If it smells bed, you will have to throw it away, wash the container and start over.

Note: In case you fail, try keeping the new mixture in a different location in the house.

Once you’ve successfully prepared a starter, make the base for your pancake batter by combining two cups of water with some flour until you obtain a viscous mixture. Add one or two tablespoons of the sourdough starter. Leave this mixture in a warm (not hot) place.

Note: Use a non-metal spoon for stirring and adding the starter.

Note 2: Reserve the unused sourdough starter, if any, to make a new batch of sourdough starter.

Check your sourdough batter every day. It should smell sour and become more viscous. Depending on the warmth of the house, this process will take from one night to three days.

Sourdough Pancake Recipe

Here are the rest of the ingredients you need to make sourdough pancakes:

• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon oil

Add all of the above-listed ingredients into your pancake batter.

Note: Add the baking soda last, just before cooking and stir for about 10-20 seconds. This ingredient will activate the acid in the sourdough causing the batter to rise, thus resulting in fluffier and taller pancakes.

Heat some oil in a skillet or a nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat.

Note: The more baking soda you add, the less sour and the fluffier your flapjacks will be.

Note 2: to find out more on how to make your pancakes perfectly fluffy and delicious, check out this Ultimate Pancake Guide.

Pour about ¼ cup batter into the pan and cook for one or two minutes until it becomes flat enough to look like a pancake.

Note: If the first flapjack doesn’t flatten during cooking, add some more water into the batter to make it thinner.

When bubbles start appearing on top, the flapjack is ready to be flipped with a spatula (or by throwing it in the air, if you are skilled enough!) Cook the other side for another minute or so, until the bottom is golden brown.

Note: In case your pancake is too thick and can’t be cooked through, transfer it into the microwave or into the oven to cook through. Add more oil in the pan and pour a bit more batter to make the next pancake thinner.