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.