Yield: 8 pancakes

Just in time for your weekend breakfast is my latest pancake iteration…

I really did eat something besides pancakes last weekend. In fact, I have a delicious black bean salad to post soon and I would post my Vegan Lemon Verbena Meltaway cookies, only I forgot to photograph them before they were all eaten (we had a party Sunday night). I’ll make them again soon, though, as they were so perfect for summer and there is a lot of lemon verbena growing in our garden.

You could certainly substitute some lemon zest, but I wouldn’t know how much; just to taste I suppose. But lemon verbena imparts a little different taste. I think it’s a little earthier somehow and not as astringent (though there’s nothing wrong with a little astringency!).

So, if you can get hold of a lemon verbena plant, I would highly recommend it, as it has many tasty uses. This weekend alone, I made both hot and iced tea with it in addition to the cookies and these pancakes. Plus, I have all kinds of other things in mind, including salad dressings and savory dishes.

For now, though, back to the Vegan Lemon Verbena and Blueberry Pancakes:

Yield: 8 pancakes

I’m not a beer drinker, so a partial bottle of Heineken Lite leftover from last night’s beer-battered dill pickle slices was “burning a hole” in our fridge. It crossed my mind while making that batter that I bet the beer would make excellent pancakes. I love the way it fizzes and bubbles.

When I woke up this morning quite late and starved–I couldn’t sleep last night for several hours but finally nodded off at around 5 or so–I remembered the beer and decided to give it a try. Thinking of ginger beer, I decided to add some ground ginger to the batter and delicious “Ginger-Ale” pancakes were born.

Ginger and peaches seem made for each other, but peaches are not yet in season here. However, I did have some peach butter, a gift from my sister-in-law, Tina. So, I spread it between the pancakes and drizzled plain maple syrup over the top. Feeling that they needed just a little color, I crowned them with a small dollop of vegan sour cream and a fresh mint sprig from our garden. I loved the end result, especially for the cooler months. Come summer, I will definitely serve my new “Ginger-Ale” pancakes with diced fresh peaches.

Yield: 6 pancakes

These sunny pancakes were inspired by a favorite childhood breakfast treat: those Pillsbury cinnamon rolls with orange frosting.

My plan was to make cinnamon-orange pancakes, which I did, with an orange powdered sugar glaze, which I didn’t. It turns out that I was out of powdered sugar (almost unheard of in our house). So, instead I made something that is quite possibly better: orange-maple syrup with an orange-brown sugar-butter pecan topknot (which I inadvertently almost concealed with those enormous pecan halves).

Garnished with an orange slice and pecan halves, I’d say these pancakes were about perfect. Hope you agree.

½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup self-rising cornmeal mix
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsweetened soymilk (plain or vanilla soy milk would also be good–regular or lite)
1 generous teaspoon orange zest
Vegan butter and/or vegetable oil for frying
Vegan Orange-Maple Syrup (recipe follows)
Vegan Orange-Brown Sugar-Pecan Butterball Topknot (recipe follows)
Garnish: orange slices and pecan halves

Preheat oven to warm. In a medium mixing bowl, place first 6 dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in soymilk and orange zest. Whisk together until well combined. In a large cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the vegan butter, oil or a combination. (I like a combination: the oil reduces chances of burning while the butter contributes flavor.) Using a 1/4 cup measure, make pancakes, two at a time. Cook two-three minutes on the first side until you get a nice rise, a few bubbles appear around the edges, and the edges appear set. (These tend to bubble only on the edges.) Gently flip and cook another couple of minutes on the reverse. Add butter and/or oil to keep skillet greased as needed. If pancakes are cooking too quickly, lower heat to medium, especially for second side. When cooked through, remove pancakes to plates or a serving platter, keep warm, and repeat with remaining butter or oil and pancake batter. Serve topped with Vegan Orange-Maple Syrup, Vegan Orange-Brown Sugar-Butter Pecan Topknots and a garnish of orange slices and pecan halves.

Vegan Orange-Maple Syrup

4 tablespoons maple syrup
2 generous teaspoons orange zest

Mix together and heat for a few seconds in the microwave. Recipe halves or doubles easily.

Vegan Orange-Brown Sugar-Butter Pecan Topknot

4 tablespoons softened vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons broken or chopped pecan pieces
2 teaspoons orange zest

Mix together with fingers until well combined. Refrigerate until serving time. I like to use a small scoop to make a true butterball as the topknot.

Yield: 8 pancakes

The dessert for our lite Greek dinner mentioned in the previous several posts was a very simple mixture of local fresh strawberry halves combined with spearmint chiffonade from our garden and drizzled with a little balsamic reduction. It may sound odd, but it was divine. I had some of the mixture sans balsamic reduction left over and I woke up this morning with, for some reason, those beautiful berries as a topping for cornmeal pancakes on my mind. And they had to be cornmeal, not just any pancakes. As I devoured a tall stack of 4 of them, I knew my instincts about combining the cornmeal with the strawberry-mint mixture had been spot-on. I do love summer!