Happy new year! Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and a smashing new year’s celebration. Did you get anything special for Christmas? I’m so excited for two new cookbooks – Tender
On Christmas Eve morning, Dan and I had our own little mini Christmas – just the two of us. We opened presents, popped on a couple of our new LPs, drank coffee and Buck’s Fizz, and then I set about making these pancakes and I have to tell you about them because they’re absolutely cracking.
Dan was extremely skeptical at first. He thought the cranberries would be too bitter, sharp, and crunchy. Not so! And he raved about them. Raved. In fact he was the one who said I had to tell you about them.
The cranberries are tossed in some sugar first but even without that, sweetness is not an issue. The pancake batter is sweet – sweeter still from the addition of corn – and the cranberries just cook enough in a few minutes to soften and start expelling juices.
Sure they’re tart but it’s a gorgeous popping contrast to the crunch and crisp sweetness of the cornmeal cake.
Fresh Cranberry Cornmeal Pancakes
adapted from this recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for griddle
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- Pure maple syrup, for serving
Directions
- Whisk together flour, cornmeal, 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, milk, butter, and egg. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined (mixture will be lumpy).
- Preheat oven to 200F. Heat a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Toss cranberries with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Brush griddle with melted butter. Spoon batter onto griddle 1/3 cup at a time. Sprinkle with sugared cranberries, about 2 tablespoons per pancake. Cook until edges are set, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip, and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter and cranberries, adding more butter to griddle and keeping prepared pancakes warm on a baking sheet in the oven. Serve with maple syrup.
Note: This batter is going to be thicker than normal, thanks to the addition of cornmeal. The bubbles that usually indicate when to flip a pancake might not form, so flip when the edges start to set.
