Brown Butter Winter Citrus Pancakes

December 30, 2010 by Joy the Baker 87 Comments

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

Print this Recipe!

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.