Valentine’s Day Buttermilk Pancakes

The best thing about Valentine’s Day is that it serves as a reminder to have fun and to do a little something special for someone you love — or yourself! Maybe that something can be heart-shaped pancakes for lunch (or dinner)? This is my favorite pancake recipe and it calls for buttermilk, an ingredient I rarely have. Instead, I do the classic substitution of whole milk with about a tablespoon of lemon juice squeezed in. Stir and let stand on the counter for five minutes and the milk will curdle before your eyes, taking on a new depth of flavor for the recipe.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

• 2 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Recipe

1. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, butter, eggs and vanilla.

2. Whisk the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. The batter should have lumps and be thick, but the flour is fully mixed.

3. Heat a nonstick or greased skillet over medium heat. Place a greased metal cookie cutter on the skillet. When cold drops of water sizzle, the pan is ready.

4. Pour batter into the cookie cutter, about 1/4” being careful not to overfill the cutter, or else the bottom of the pancake will burn before the cake is set. When bubbles form and begin to pop on the surface of the pancake, carefully run a knife around the inside of the cookie cutter to loosen, remove the cutter, and flip the pancake to cook an additional thirty seconds to a minute.

5. Serve with really good butter, pure maple syrup & lingonberry jam (my favorite)!