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Happy Pancake Day!  AKA Shrove Tuesday, AKA Mardi Gras…  Apparently, the tradition comes from the need to use up yummy larder staples like butter, sugar and eggs before the ritual fasting associated with Lent.   Sort of like the homier (is that a word?) version of drinking yourself silly at a Mardi Gras celebration?  I’d never heard of this tradition at home in the States, but it’s big news here in the UK.  Which is ironic to me, because the way that pancakes are usually made here, they seem to me to be more crepes than pancakes.

Ergo, my pancake recipe, for PROPER American pancakes, albeit with a healthy/yummy twist of course.  Granted, some restaurants here — usually the ones that make an attempt at brunch rather than just a full English breakfast — do have “American style pancakes” on their menus.  But the ones I’ve tried are rather — hmm, how to put this nicely? — leaden.  I’m not sure why — too much flour?  too much mixing?

Ironically, I didn’t know much about making pancakes before moving here, since ours was a Bisquick kind of family.   But, as with ranch dressing and mac and cheese and sponge cake, I’ve learned that — despite a lifelong affinity for these pretty packages, which are next to impossible to find here — some many most everything is better if you make it yourself.   (OK, OK, I confess to little splurges at Partridges now and then, only for the sake of nostalgia of course.  And that I probably was marginally happier before I realized that homemade buttercream frosting was in fact just a lot of butter, and cream, and even more sugar.  But this is good for me right?  I mean to know, not to eat…sigh.)

Without further ado, here is my current go-to pancake recipe, adapted from the Blueberry Cornmeal pancakes recipe from the classic Better Homes & Gardens cookbook .

RUSTIC CORNMEAL-CINNAMON PANCAKES
YIELD:  About nine 4-inch pancakes

2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 T cornmeal
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
1 beaten egg
1 cup buttermilk {or 1T lemon + milk to make 1 cup; stand 5 minutes before using}
2 T vegetable oil

Mix the dry ingredients and make a well in the centre.  Mix the wet ingredients and then add all at once to the dry ingredients; stir until *just* blended.  The batter will be lumpy — leave it this way because if you keep mixing your pancakes will be too heavy.

Heat a griddle or large, heavy nonstick pan on medium/medium low until a drop of water sizzles; melt a dab of butter to coat.  Pour batter into three- to four-inch pools on the griddle.  {Note, if you want to add blueberries or another fruit, now is the time — doing it now rather than adding to the main bowl of batter will keep your pancakes from turning completely blueberry-coloured.}  Cook gently until bubbles form and the surface of each pancake just lightly starts to glaze over, about 2-3 minutes.  Flip and cook another 1-2 minutes.

Serve warm with butter and REAL maple syrup (not the other kind — you know what I mean — which is not common here and is one thing I definitely don’t miss from home), and fruit, of course.

For so many reasons — it’s time to get back to a daily routine, post-holiday excess calls for something a little healthy, cold days need a fortifying start, dark  mornings require a reward for peeling back the toasty flannel sheets — I thought now would be a good time to share with you the recipe for my daily granola.  It’s adapted from the lovely Orangette (so glad you are back!) who adapted it from the luscious Nigella.  What follows below is how I’ve come to use the recipe.

INGREDIENTS
750g rolled oats/porridge flakes/oatmeal (I use this muesli base of mostly mixed flakes and a few seeds)
400g mixed nuts (Brazil nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, whatever you like)
250g mixed seeds
4 cups puffed wheat and/or rice cereal (preferably the health food kind)
2 tsp salt, or more to taste
3 tsp cinnamon, or more to taste
2 tsp ground ginger, or more to taste
1 tsp ground nutmeg, or more to taste
~
500ml (1 cup) apple sauce/puree
3 Tbsp vegetable oil (sunflower, grapeseed)
1 cup agave nectar, honey or brown rice syrup (tastes will vary slightly but all are nice; agave is the mildest)

METHOD
Set the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat oven to 300F.  Prepare two rimmed baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or silicone mats and leave them nearby (prepare four sheets if your oven can accommodate them all at once).

Combine all of the dry ingredients and mix well, dividing them evenly over two large bowls (you are making a lot of granola!).  Combine all the wet ingredients and stir to mix well.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, dividing evenly between the two large bowls.  Mix well with your hands and spread half of it evenly over the two baking sheets (or, if you can use four sheets at once, divide the whole batch evenly over the four sheets).

Set the sheets in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, give the granola a stir, taking care to move the quicker-cooking granola from the outsides into the center of the sheets and vice versa.  Return to the oven, rotating the positions of your baking sheets if one part of your oven is hotter than the rest, like mine is.

Repeat until the granola has baked for about 40 minutes.  It will still feel a little soft after 40 minutes, but it will crisp as it cools.  Repeat with the second half of the batch if needed.

Stay near the kitchen whilst it’s baking so you can enjoy the lovely scent.  And be warned that your hair will smell of this lovely scent until its next shampooing!

Store the granola in an airtight container.  It takes me about two months to use up a batch and the last bit is always as good as the first.