Sweet Potato Pancakes with Cinnamon Honey Butter

Before you make a face and disregard this recipe, think on sweet potato casserole for a second. The one with marshmallows. Sweet enough for you? If you like the sound of pumpkin pancakes then PLEASE give these a chance because they are SO DANG GOOD. I haven’t been this excited about a new recipe in a while.

I made them one weekend morning when I had the time; we do breakfast for dinner once a week and toasting up frozen pancakes is one of my sneaky plans for staying at the park till dinner time and avoiding my daughter’s pre-dinner mental breakdown. My main reason for making them was that I bought a bushel of sweet potatoes at the Grower’s market and forgot that I’d hidden a bushel in the laundry room – too many sweet potatoes. Maybe next time you’re roasting sweets for dinner, throw a few extra in and make pancakes the next morning. OR, if you want to make this NOW, a sweet potato cooks in the microwave in about 4 minutes (just prick with a fork a few times first).

The recipe calls for buttermilk; I didn’t have buttermilk so I made clabbered milk for these pancakes. Place 1 tbsp. of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar into the bottom of a glass measuring cup, and fill to the 1 c. line with milk. Stir and set aside for a few minutes before using. Voila – you’ve made buttermilk. I wasn’t sure which to put in the recipe, but since they’re the same thing feel free to swap my clabbered milk here if you already have the lemon.

Also, this just in, making flavored butter is REALLY EASY. Make a big batch of this to have on hand for scones, biscuits, roasted sweet potatoes or squash – trust me it’s worth the two minutes of electric mixing. Back to the pancakes, they came out almost souffle-like; I took a 1 second break from devouring my “photo plate” to snap a picture of the inside – so tender and delicious. Truly, I haven’t been this excited about a recipe in a long time. My husband was home late and ate these alone – I literally stared at him with a giant grin on my face, awaiting his response. He said, “these are pretty frickin good” with a grin almost as big as mine. Even though I’d used up a couple of my sweet potatoes the rest will most definitely be going to another batch of these pancakes.

1 1/2 cups of sweet potatoes to 1 c. of flour? These are basically health food.

Sweet Potato Pancakes with Cinnamon Honey Butter

Makes 12 (5 inch) pancakes

Butter

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 tbsp. honey

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Pancakes

1 c. flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 c. buttermilk

2 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil

1 1/2 c. mashed cooked sweet potato (remove skin first) – about 2-3 potatoes

1. For butter, beat all three ingredients with electric mixer until smoothly combined. Scrape into a small bowl and set aside.

2. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

3. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, oil, and sweet potato until smoothly combined. Add dries to wet and fold until JUST combined.

4. Heat a nonstick griddle over medium heat and add nonstick spray or butter, once hot.

5. Add batter in rounds; cook until the edges are set and the bottom is golden brown. Flip and cook on second side. Serve.

If freezing, let cool to room temperature on cooking rack. Freeze on cooling rack and then place all together in ziplock bag. To reheat several, just toast in the toaster. If reheating many, place on cooling rack and bake in 300 degree oven until warmed through. The butter will keep for weeks, covered in the fridge.