In order to celebrate Valentine's Day early, I thought it would be fun to make heart shaped pancakes for the three girls (and woman) in my family. I used to have a great pancake sized heart cutout, but it got misplaced during our last move. I did manage to find two mini-sized heart cookie cutters. It made for some tiny pancakes, reminiscent of the "silver-dollar" pancakes I used to eat when I was little. In making these pancakes, I used my pumpkin pancake recipe and sprinkled them with chocolate chips, chocolate syrup and powdered sugar, which I told my 3 year old daughter was "magical valentine's sugar". Not that she needed to be enticed, she ate 3 mini-hearts and 3 full-sized pancakes and then asked for more, and this from a picky eater! I've gotten out-of the habit of always serving my pancakes with maple syrup. Lately I've been serving them with butter, a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, a combination that blends really well with the pumpkin. The trick to making pancakes with a cookie-cutter, is to fill it to just under half way up, so that when it rises it just about meets the top of the mold, also I sprayed the inside of the mold with Pam so it releases easily.
Happy Valentines day!
Heart-shaped pancakes
We got some long awaited snow this weekend in North Carolina. It was the very first snow my daughters had ever seen and the first my wife and I had seen for at least 5 years, we were all very excited. My brother Scott came to visit and was right on-time bearing gifts of his newest chocolaty concoction; Mexican Hot chocolate. Sipping hot chocolate and watching the snow fall brought me back to my childhood, only now the hot chocolate is MUCH better! Here is his recipe:Mexican Hot Cocoa 2 cups Powdered milk
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup GF baking cocoa
3/4 cups Nestle Coffee-mate powder creamer
1 tsp Chili powder
1 tsp cinnamon1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg____________
• Sift all ingredients for easier mixing.
• Fill a mug 1/4 full with powder, mix well with hot water.
• Stir and serve with a cinnamon stick, or with whipped cream (optional)
Mexican Hot Cocoa
This past weekend I was preparing to make my regular Saturday morning pancakes, when I had a thought, Why don't I make waffles instead? It had been a really long time since I'd made waffles, and there was a good reason for that. The last time I attempted waffles I decided it would be OK to use the awesome waffle iron we got for our wedding, despite being used for "normal" waffles countless times. I carefully washed all of the cooking area and went through every crevice with a paper towel, wiping away any build-up. Despite all of this effort I still got sick after eating the waffles. Lesson Learned! Some things like pots and pans, dishes and utensils have never given me a problem, a waffle iron is just one of those items, like a toaster, that need to be "dedicated" gluten-free.So now that I have my gluten-free waffle iron, I'm up and running again! Once I decided on making waffles I needed to figure what to put in it to "jazz it up". I rarely like to cook food that is normal or plain, I like to look for an ingredient that will make it special or distinctive, in this case chocolate did it for me! I remember a coworker recently talking about making chocolate waffles for dessert with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce. sounds great, but maybe not for breakfast! My recipe below is not too sweet or too chocolaty, but would make a fun weekend breakfast or brunch. Chocolate Waffles serves 4
1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour mix 1/2 cup ground flax seeds 1/2 cup brown rice flour 1 tsp arrowroot powder 1/2 tsp GF baking soda 2 tsp GF baking powder 1/3 cup GF cocoa powder 1/3 cup sugar salt to taste 1/3 cup melted butter or vegetable oil 3 eggs 1 cup milk ____________________ • Mix the GF flour, flax seed, rice flour arrowroot. baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, sugar and salt together well in a mixing bowl. • Beat the eggs together in a separate bowl. • Stir the eggs milk, and butter (or vegetable oil) into the dry mixture, mix all together well. If it's too dry you can add a bit more milk. • pour the batter into your pre-heated waffle iron, according to the waffle iron directions. • Serve with butter and syrup (or honey), or hot fruit, or chocolate and powdered sugar! Depending on how decadent your feeling! Enjoy!
Chocolate Waffles
In order to celebrate Valentine's Day early, I thought it would be fun to make heart shaped pancakes for the three girls (and woman) in my family. I used to have a great pancake sized heart cutout, but it got misplaced during our last move. I did manage to find two mini-sized heart cookie cutters. It made for some tiny pancakes, reminiscent of the "silver-dollar" pancakes I used to eat when I was little. In making these pancakes, I used my pumpkin pancake recipe and sprinkled them with chocolate chips, chocolate syrup and powdered sugar, which I told my 3 year old daughter was "magical valentine's sugar". Not that she needed to be enticed, she ate 3 mini-hearts and 3 full-sized pancakes and then asked for more, and this from a picky eater! I've gotten out-of the habit of always serving my pancakes with maple syrup. Lately I've been serving them with butter, a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, a combination that blends really well with the pumpkin. The trick to making pancakes with a cookie-cutter, is to fill it to just under half way up, so that when it rises it just about meets the top of the mold, also I sprayed the inside of the mold with Pam so it releases easily.
Happy Valentines day!
