Blueberry Pancakes

If I could (weight and time permitting), I would eat pancakes for breakfast everyday for the rest of my life.  Heck, I would eat pancakes anytime of the day for the rest of my life.  Especially the ones that taste like these.

This pancake recipe comes to me from the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook written by the husband-and wife-team, Neil Kleinberg and DeDe Lahman.  I don't know how true it is, but New York is apparently abuzz over these pancakes from Clinton Street Baking Company.  Well, judging from the taste of these pancakes and the accompanying maple butter, I fully comprehend why.  And please, if you need to make any adaptations, I implore you not to omit this pairing of maple and butter so wonderfully created.

Enough said already.  For once, forget the granolas and your other healthy cardboardy breakfast cereal, this is one mean breakfast you won't regret.  Get up and go for it.  I'm sure everything that you need is already in your pantry.  Yay, pancakes :)

You will need:

Pancakes:
2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs, separated

1 1/2 cup milk (I used buttermilk)

85 g unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tsp unmelted for cooking

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Adequate blueberries (optional)

Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Maple butter:

1/2 cup pure maple syrup, preferably grade-B organic

115 g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Preparation:

To make the pancakes:

Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl.

In medium bowl, whisk together yolks, milk, melted butter, and vanilla until combined. Whisk yolk mixture into flour mixture until just combined; batter will be slightly lumpy, yet combined to form a batter.

Place egg white in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or whisk by hand, until medium peaks form. Do not overwhip.  Gently mix half the egg whites into batter with a rubber spatula. Gently fold in remaining whites. The batter should still be slightly lumpy and have large part of egg whites not fully incorporated into the batter.

Heat a griddle until hot. Add remaining unmelted butter to hot griddle. Add 1/4 cup pancake batter and let set. Sprinkle blueberries if using, over pancakes.

When bubbles begin to form, lift pancake; if golden brown, turn. Cook until golden brown on remaining side.

Transfer cooked pancake to a plate and keep warm. Repeat process with remaining batter and blueberries.

Garnish with icing sugar if desired. Serve warm with loads of maple butter.

To make the maple syrup:

Heat maple syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add cold butter to warm syrup, whisking until sauce is smooth and all of the butter is incorporated.  Remove from heat and keep warm until ready to use.

Maple butter can also be kept refrigerated, in an airtight container, for up to two months. Reheat before using, but never bring to a boil.