Brown Butter Winter Citrus Pancakes
My goodness. This world has these seasons planned out just perfectly. Amidst super rain, chilly wind and grey skies, we get blood oranges, tangerines and grapefruit!
Big, bright, cheek puckering citrus is perfect for winter breakfast. I know… it happened this morning.
I’d also like to thank the good world for creating coffee and hot cocoa and whole milk… and putting them all in my coffee cup this morning.
Just swell.
You have to treat your citrus right for this breakfast. That means peeling and segmenting. Do you know how to do this?
Cut the bottom and the top off of the citrus, exposing the flesh. Run a pairing knife down the sides of the citrus, peeling off the skin and white pith. At a slight angle, slice in between the white lines of the citrus, creating clean little grapefruit flesh slices.
It takes time, but is totally worth the effort.
See all the brown specks in the blue bowl? That’s the browned butter. Ooooh goodness. So delicious. It’s rich and nutty and a wonderful balance to the bright citrus.
These are my new favorite winter pancakes. Such a treat to my heart.
ps. If you’re as obsessed with citrus as I am, you might also enjoy this Super Citrus Smoothie.
Brown Butter Winter Citrus Pancakes
makes enough pancakes for two people, double the recipe for a larger group
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon citrus zest
2 tangerines peeled by hand and separated
1 grapefruit, peeled and segmented
1 blood orange, peeled and segmented
feel free to use any citrus that makes you happy
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. The butter will foam and froth then begin to brown. When the butter solids begin to brown, keep an eye on them so they don’t burn. The butter will smell rich and nutty. Cook until butter bits are brown then remove from the hot pan and place in a small bowl.
Whisk together egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract and citrus zest. Whisk in the browned butter. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the buttermilk mixture all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir together with a fork until well incorporated. If the batter is a little lumpy… well that’s just fine.
Let batter rest while you heat up the skillet or griddle pan over medium heat. Great skillet with a teaspoon or two of oil or butter. Spoon pancake batter by the 2 tablespoonfuls into the hot pan. Let cook until browned on one side, flip and brown on the other side. Place cooked pancakes on an oven-proof plate in an oven heated to 150 degrees F. This will keep the pancakes warm while you cook the rest.
Arrange the pancakes on a plate, top with segmented citrus and pure maple syrup.










77 Comments Add A Comment
Love the citrus flavors in pancakes. And the pancakes look delicious.
What a fabulous meal to get one out of bed on these rainy California mornings! Yummy, lots of Vitamin C and great taste!
It looks sooo good. I might enjoy this one of this days…. Happy New Year,Joy!
Oranges and clementines are the best, glad you like them too.
Happy new year!
Oh my, browned butter for breakfast? Count me in! Happy new year, Joy!
Nice food styl’n! Butter in all forms for ME… Happy New Year!
Oh my, you just transformed normal pancakes into this… wonderful stuff. I would never have thought of combining my fruit with pancakes! Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year ?
Moltissimi Auguri
per uno splendido 2011
I’m in with the brown butter.
This looks so good, I had to put my coffee down and carry the laptop into the kitchen to show the BF. He agrees, so it looks like I’ll be tackling my fear of brown butter in the new year!
I think I’ll start my morning off with some coffee, cocoa, whole milk and a plate of these.
Looks delicious!
I’m definitely browning my butter next time I make pancakes! I did add orange juice to my batter once and it was delish!
I’m in love with citrus right now! I’m craving it like crazy :)
I can see this being a terrific way to start the new year!
I love citrus flavour! Muffins, pancakes…you name it! This recipe looks like it has the perfect touch of citrus-y goodness. Yum!
Sounds yummy!
I made your vegetarian chili yesterday and my hubbie said it was the best I had ever made!
Instead of the steak spice I just used some steak sauce and it tasted great!
I also didn’t use the beer, just chicken stock ….. yummy!
Thanks for your great blog; I really enjoy it!
Happy New Year to you, Joy, from Toronto!
Lynne
oooooooooo0000o0o0o0o0o0h citrus! how i love thee
I thought I had seen all the pancake flavors…but then you make this! So creative!
…Wholly Moly does that ever look good! Thank you for sharing this, I will def’ be adding this to my cooking arsenal. :o)
…Happy New Year Miss Joy! And many blessings too… *<:o)
I DO love citrus in the winter time!!
It’s been great following your recipes and funny anecdotes this year. Happy New Year to you and yours!
And it looks preety healthy too!
And besides, Happy New Year to you!
Beautiful, as usual.
I’m making some pancakes right now, and you’ve inspired me to spruce them up with some citrus!
Oh, and these would be lovely for New Year’s Day breakfast too : )
Happy New Year Joy!
Love your blog Joy – it is an endless source of inspiration…. and amusement! Wishing you a superb 2011… may all your wishes come true:-)
Ohhh my goodness, yum! These look amazing! I think pancakes may be the best invention ever.
PS, happy new year! :)
brown butter? I’m in!
love,
cathy b. @ brightbakes
I always forget about the great citrus fruits in winter. Now I want an orange!! lol
Don’t forget those delicious clementines! Citrus is awesome. And so are pancakes.
I first experienced limey citrus french toast in the spring and man was that good! It’s not something you see often in Canada (not the part I’m from, anyway). I’m excited to citrify some pancakes now. Thanks!
Beautiful recipe. I love browned butter recipes latley too! The citrus makes this so fresh and the browned butter rich. Great combo, I will be making these!
you had me at browned butter.
I’ve never had a citrus pancake before. After seeing these photos, it’s clear that I’ve been missing out. They look wonderful!
i like the sun on that knife in the first photo!
TEXT! on photos! i like how the pink looks there.
oh yeah…i have another smoothie recipe that you are gonna love! It’s got KALE in it. Made it this am. Even cooper snarfed it down.
<3
Looks so pretty!
New Year’s resolution: I need to make more pancakes.
I seriously yelled “AMAZING!” and threw my hands in the air when I read this post. I plan to serve grapefruit at brunch tomorrow and have been wondering how in the world you cut it up.
THANK YOU!
ohhh these sounds fabulous! brown butter and citrus sounds like a delightful combo!
I hope you saved some blood oranges for mimosas tomorrow morning! Delicious!
Joy, your blog was one of my best discoveries of 2010. Happy New Year from Minnesota!
Okay so these look freakin’ fantastic and I hate to be a stickler but, you might want to change “angel” to angle. Happy new year!
hahahaa! thank you!
Those look yummy! My men would love them!
Ohman, if I tried using a paring knife in the morning… buh-bye fingers! Haha, but I like pancakes for dinner all the same! Who said they were only for breakfast.
I moved my blog to wordpress! I just think it looks more professional than blogger. :)
Just wanted to thank you for all the great recipes you’ve given us all year and to wish you a Happy New Year. I made the cranberry coffee cake to bring as potluck desert, and my chief taste tester (my hubby) gave it 2 thumbs up. Thanks again, Joy.
mmmm….. yummy!
gorgeous colors. happy new year!
I’ve wondered how to cut up citrus fruits all fancy-like. Thanks Joy!
The minute my blood oranges are ripe… I’m making these pancakes! Brown butter too? I’m in heaven!
Oh…. and I love the new citrus header!
I just made your Dad’s clean your plate buttermilk pancakes for supper tonight. This is my second go at it but this time I added strawberries, peaches and chocolate chips as my kids like “stuff” in there pancakes. Super, duper yummy. I guess we will be having pancakes for supper again real soon. I have decided to permantly add buttermilk to my grocery list because of your pancakes!
Yum! Brown butter…
Mmm, I love citrus so much. And your new banner makes me so happy…I need happy citrus cheer in the darkness of the midwest.
Oh my YUM. Brown butter and citrust? I think this is the perfect breakfast to ring in the new year!
I made these for the family for breakfast on new years — such a good way to start the new year! I added chocolate chips to some of them, and it made it extra tasty :)