If you’ve read my story, you know that my mom is an amazing cook! She always has been and when I was young, she would create recipes and name them especially for my sister and I. Eating her cooking was always something I looked forward to, but when it was named specially for me, it made the eating experience that much more awesome!
One of these recipes, named “Brandy’s Restaurant Style Pancake”, is a recipe that I made for my kids when they were young and they now make for theirs. This is not your ordinary pancake. Oh No!! It’s a puff pancake, loaded with protein and wholesome sweeteners and packed with flavor. Over the years, tagging along on my mom’s wholesome cooking journey I suppose, I’ve created a few of my own recipes, including adjustments to My Restaurant Pancake, making it my own version of a recipe I grew up loving! My version takes advantage of the amazing, powerful and healthy benefits of both sourdough and local, raw honey.
Sourdough has been used for generations and is a natural and cost-effective way to create your very own yeast (see my Sourdough blog to learn how to start your own sourdough starter). It’s also packed with tons of probiotics, microorganisms that are found naturally in fermented foods. Probiotics are important for optimal gut health. They help to supply and balance the gut with the healthy bacteria it needs for proper digestion. Some of the other amazing benefits of probiotics include: preventing and treating diarrhea, improving mental health, lowering LDL “bad” cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, improving digestion by breaking down bile, reducing the severity of allergies and eczema, and it can even help with weight loss. And…as if that isn’t enough…if you can’t eat yeast products or have a gluten intolerance, sourdough is a great way to make breads that taste amazing and that you can actually eat!
Honey is a great sweetener for foods, packing twice the amount of sweetness that sugar boasts. It’s also loaded with antioxidants and has amazing antibacterial and antifungal properties, but how much depends on the type of honey you use. The benefits of using local, raw honey far outweigh the benefits of processed and pasteurized honey. Here’s why!
Raw honey, as you can imagine, hasn’t been processed or pasteurized. This is important because pasteurization destroys the natural phytonutrients, compounds found in plants that help protect the plant from harm and that are responsible for honey’s amazing antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal super powers. In fact, raw honey is so powerful, it can help protect the body from cancer.
Local honey is important because it contains phytonutrients from the plants your body is used to. This is important because introducing things that your body isn’t used to can cause your body to classify it as foreign. When the body classifies something as foreign, it begins a process to fight it off, thinking it could be harmful – even if it’s healthy. The problem with this is that the immune system’s “fight” system can cause inflammation in the body. If left to run wild, like a forest fire, inflammation can lead to arthritis, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and even cancer.
Long story short…this recipe is packed with ultra-ninja super powers! It’s a great and super tasty way to start the day, it’s easy to make and packed with flavor! And…I’m excited to share it with all of you!
Sourdough Puff Pancake (aka “Dutch Baby”)
- 1 cup 100% hydration sourdough starter
- ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ cup whole milk
- 4 eggs
- 1/3 cup local, raw honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (don’t sacrifice here with imitation vanilla extract)
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter (not margarine or spread)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Combine sourdough, flour, milk, eggs, vanilla and spices in a bowl. Mix well until a smooth batter forms. At this point, you have two options:
Fermented for optimal digestive properties (also good for gluten intolerances): Allow to sit and ferment for 4 to 6 hours or overnight. This method will also produce a strong sourdough taste.
Quick, sourdough breakfast (not optimal for gluten intolerance and less digestive super powers): Let it rest for a minimum of 15 minutes or up to 1 hour. I usually let mine sit for 1 hour while I do a few things in the morning – like make coffee so I can function!
Once it has rested to your liking…
Turn the oven on to 425 degrees f and immediately (before it begins to warm) put a baking pan with high sides on the top rack. I use my cast iron dutch oven without the lid. You can use any baking pan with a high side, including a pyrex baking dish. Put the butter in the bottom of the pan and allow it to melt while the oven warms up.
While the oven warms, stir in the baking powder and baking soda. Your batter will begin to rise and get fluffy or airy looking.
Tip…don’t add the baking powder and baking soda until your oven is heated to about 350 degrees. This will give it time to activate the rising properties of the sourdough, but not so much time that it begins to flatten. If it flattens before you begin baking, your pancake won’t rise as much.
Once the oven is heated, turn it down to 325 degrees f and pour your batter in the pan. Allow to cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. The pancake will rise most of the way up the side of the baking dish.
Allow the pancake to cool for 5-10 minutes. As it cools, the sides will be high and it should look like a mini crater in the center. Serve warm with pure maple syrup or another healthy sweetened syrup! You can also enjoy without any syrup at all. It’s almost like a dense coffee cake without all the sugar and carbs!
Let me know if you try this tasty breakfast treat and what you think!
Food Crush Cooking Connection 