-A Sweet Potato Pancake Recipe

Welcome to another sweet Sunday, friends. We have a different offering this Sunday: a few breezy links and my best recipe for sweet potato pancakes.

I’m writing this on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, sitting next to my spiral notebook with all of my Thanksgiving prep notes.  Currently scheming how much gravy is too much gravy. Is there such a thing?

I have soup dumplings in the microwave at Abby’s suggestion and did you know that you can lightly traumatize yourself with time by watching the early 2000s re-unfold right before your eyes in MTV’s True Life on Hulu.

Speaking of Hulu, TikTok just alerted me to Hulu’s Black Friday deal which may be worth canceling my account over.

I had a small crisis about what clothing to put on my body this winter as nasty cold rain descended on Houston and once the moisture settled I landed on this sweater dress from Everlane and these boots that I will be living in until the spring. Maroon is my color this season because every time I wear it, Will gives me a compliment like the true Aggie he is. I wouldn’t be me if I weren’t rollin’ around in glory of an unsolicited compliment.

ANYWAY – I’m thinking you might have a smidge of leftover sweet potato casserole in the fridge and I thought I could talk you into turning those into pancakes. If you don’t have the casserole left, maybe you have a lonely sweet potato that could use a boil and a mash.

The invitation today is to put on this album (and turn up the volume just a bit) and make a big ol’ batch of pancakes and spiced butter for whomever is in the house.  It’s a big batch, baby. We’ll stash any leftover pancakes (Lord be a leftover) in the freezer in pairs and toast them for breakfast for as long as they’ll last.

Have I eaten a frozen pancake straight from the freezer?  Yes, and while it’s nothing I’m proud of, I would do it again.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make these sweet potato pancakes:

•  all-purpose flour (this recipe also works with gluten-free flour)

•  brown sugar

•  baking powder and baking soda

•  spices:  ground ginger, ground nutmeg and ground coriander for the pancake batter

•  kosher salt

•  mashed sweet potatoes (leftovers from Thanksgiving would be a great idea here)

•  buttermilk

•  2 large eggs

•  melted unsalted butter

•  vanilla extract

•  for the spiced butter: unsalted butter, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and flaky sea salt

•  maple syrup

We’ll start by combining the dry ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.  Cinnamon is an obvious choice for cozy spices this time of year, but maybe a bit too obvious for these pancakes.  Into the batter we’ll whisk ginger, nutmeg and coriander – warm but unexpected.

I borrowed The Kitchn’s tips on how to make fluffy buttermilk pancakes and separated egg whites from the yolks, whisking the egg whites until just frothy.  Set aside and we’ll mix into the pancake batter later – giving these pancakes an easy fluff.

We’ll add the egg yolks to the rest of the wet ingredient after we melt butter in a small pan.

Buttermilk is our chosen dairy for these fluffy numbers. If you’re out of buttermilk, a heaping spoonful of yogurt in whole will also do the trick.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. The baking powder will activate and the batter will fluff as it’s mixed.  Finally, stir in the frothy egg white until just combined.

Let’s talk about our butter mixture. I want to coax all of the cozy flavor we can out of this Sunday morning so we’re making a spiced butter to top our warm pancakes.

Mix together softened butter with a few good pinches of cinnamon, ginger, and flaky sea salt.

Fry 1/4 cup portions of pancake batter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat with a swipe of melted butter.  Medium-high heat is just too hot and will burn the butter while the pancakes cook.

Flip each cake when bubbles arise and burst on the surface.

Serve with a generous smear of spiced butter and several food glugs of maple syrup.

This is one of those forever pancake recipes.  Tape it to the inside of the cupboard and make them a weekend thing.  Happy Sunday, friends! Make it a good one!

xo

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