Maple Bacon Scones

I'm thee most vague person to walk the planet. It's a pretty bold claim but it's legit. My friends believe I lead a secret life and not like the strange TV show. No werewolves here. But when I used to do gymnastics for roughly ten years of my life, no big, it was a secret. "Of course it is true, those bruises all over my body are from when I fell off the couch the other day. Why don't you believe me?" As I'm writing this I see why everyone thinks it's nuts. 

The Bakers Market down on Prince Albert Street* in Vancouver is my new secret life. (Who is precise now?) It involves me baking up a storm for a few days, packaging like a freaking elf and then trying to look normal so people will actually look at my stall. This market is basically loaded with people who have shops, who rock a business or just straight love to bake like myself. Some people bake gluten-free goods, some make fresh bread, some make pies (ayo!), one lady makes lychee marshmallows that are amazing and it is all making me expand like a balloon. But I sort of love it. 

It's an excuse for me to bake all of my favourite things, not raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, and put my piles of cake plates to use. Double bonus. My list of goods is cookies, some bars and scones. Including these bad boys. Every week I've changed the formula until when this photo was taken because they were perfect. Turns out everyone loves bacon because these are a hit. One fella comes in every week and buys four. Probably my new favourite person. 

Maple Bacon Scones

Rough rough roughly adapted from my favourite recipe a la America's Test Kitchen

scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup butter, chilled 

1/2 pound of bacon (half a package), cooked and diced

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup maple syrup

wash

1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream

1 tbsp maple syrup

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400º. This method is the old school method that I use but the food processor instructions are below. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the chilled butter into smaller pieces and toss it into the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter, some knives or your fingers, blend the butter in until it looks sort of sandy with a few pea sized ones here and there. Toss in the bacon and mix it in. Pour the heavy cream and the maple syrup in. Using a spatula, mix this in just until a dough forms about 30 seconds. Then transfer the dough and all the floury bits to a lightly floured surface or a counter with a big piece of parchment. Knead this until it forms a nice old dough, just about 10 seconds. Pat the dough until it is about 1 inch thick and using a 2 inch cookie cutter, cut out little scones. Grab the scraps, and repeat. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Mix together the wash and brush it over the scones. Bake those puppies for about 12-14 minutes, alternating the sheets halfway through. Makes about 10 scones.

Food processor method: Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Pulse together about 6 times. If using food processor, remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add the bacon and pulse once. Dump this mixture into a large bowl. Proceed as you would with the other directions.

Make Ahead: You can shape these and put them on a baking sheet and pop them in the freezer for about an hour. Then throw them in a freezer bag and freeze them for up to a month. Just pull them out and bake as directed, maybe a couple minutes longer. 

* Coincidence? I think not.

Maple Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I like "this time I'm not leaving without you" being stuck in my head all day. I like when it's my turn to leave the wait room so the lady demanding texts "fo' fray" from her cell phone company is shut up. I like free apple juice from nice ladies, in a non-creepy way. I like changing life plans. I like Jeff Bridges. I like cookies.

My awesome Mum got us tickets to see Jeff, first name basis baby, and we manage to fight our way to the front. We really just walked up and sat down but the fight makes it seem as if my love knows no boundaries. It doesn't. Age is but a number and love is blind but in this case it needn't be blind as he is smokin'. 

These cookies may not be smokin' but they are everything (everything related to cookies - not men) that I like: maple, pecan, chocolate, very chewy, little bit of crisp exterior, brown sugar but no Jeff. He is awesome but not in a cookie. That's weird. These aren't, so go eat up some cookies and change some plans. That's all.

Maple Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Everybody Loves Sandwiches

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 large egg
1 tsp maple extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup toasted and roughly chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350º. In a large bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, extract and maple syrup together. Add in the egg and combine until fluffy. Dump in the flour, baking soda and salt and stir until just blended before adding the chocolate chips and pecans and stirring again. Drop by tablespoon 2 inches apart onto a parchment or silpat covered cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are just golden. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Makes 24 cookies.

Maple Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

For the third time, this post has not saved. That means that it comes up blank or with a single sentence. I am about to drop kick this computer to Abbotsford. The dam world wide web is the devil's craft. There was a teacher at my high school who told us that the internet was demon work. I am starting to see where he was coming from. 

This should have been posted years ago. Not because the internet hasn't been working for years or that I made them years ago but because this combination is what my body runs on. Maple and pecans were born together. (This is an assumption, not a fact.) Thus they were reborn together in these cookies. Holla.

Maple Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Martha

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 pound (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons boiling water
1 teaspoon pure maple extract
2 3/4 ounces (1 cup) walnuts, coarsely chopped 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have ready 2 baking sheets lined with parchment. In a medium bowl, whisk the oatmeal, coconut, flour, salt, and sugar. Set aside. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter and maple syrup. Heat until the butter is melted. Remove from heat, and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the baking soda with the boiling water. Immediately stir this mixture into the melted butter until combined. Add the maple extract; stir into the oat mixture. Fold in pecans. Form heaping tablespoon sized balls. Place about an inch and a half apart. They don't really spread. Flatten each of the balls slightly. Bake until golden brown and set, about 12 minutes, rotating halfway through. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week. Makes about 2 dozen.

Overnight Baked French Toast

A while back I had a Mother's Day brunch. It went amazingly well. I live by this guide from smitten kitchen. She is the almighty master of brunch. On my list of things to make was: scones, muffins, cake, frittata, home fries, french toast, fruit salad and bacon. The scones and muffins were in the freezer, the french toast and salad were in the fridge, the cake was made the night before and the ingredients for both the frittata and the home fries were prepped. So come the day of all I had to do was throw everything into the oven and make the home fries and bacon. I was not stressed at all and even had time to read the paper, what up?!

The french toast recipe is brilliant. I probably love it so much because it is like a breakfast style bread pudding. I highly recommend this if you like bread pudding and eating.

Overnight Baked French Toast
Adapted from Epicurious

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
12 3/4-inch-thick French bread slices
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar 
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 
2 tsp cinnamon + 3 tbsp sugar
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped 
 

Spread butter over bottom of heavy large baking pan with 1-inch-high sides.* Arrange bread slices in pan. Beat eggs, milk, sugar, syrup, vanilla and salt to blend in large bowl. Pour mixture over bread. Turn bread slices to coat. Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 400°F. Sprinkle the french toast with the cinnamon sugar mixture and sprinkle the pecans on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and crisp on top. Serve warm and with maple syrup. Serves 8. 

* I baked mine last year in a large jelly pan and it was great so that each would be crisped up but this year I used two 8" x 8" pans. While it was nice to have it sit on the table, it is so much nicer in the large pan. They turn out that much better. But either way is good.

Carrot Snack Cake with Maple Glaze

Wills and Kate. People up here have been going nuts over this whole royal wedding ordeal. My cousin was in town and he is from England and it is a bigger deal over here then it is over there. But in a state of post-party nausea, we watched the William and Kate movie despite my friend, Bo, telling us it was the worst movie ever. Greatest movie ever. The actors sound like Americans trying to attempt British accents Mischa-Barton-in-Virgin-Territory style. Turns out they are actually British! Rubbish I say. 

Truth be told though I watched the wedding. Total hypocrite. But keep in mind my favourite movies are Pride and Prejudice and Young Victoria. Anything English, Royal or romance related I am down with. But why didn't they kiss until they were on the balcony?! Gawd. She looked so beautiful and she is rocking my dream dress, the Grace Kelly. Oh love.

Carrot Snack Cake with Maple Glaze
This is a snack cake simply because it isn't layered and there isn't a full on frosting. It is very moist and glaze makes it that much better.

cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 cups peeled, grated carrots
1 tbsp sugar + 1/2 tsp cinnamon mixed together
glaze
3 ounces cream cheese
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350º. Butter a 8" x 8" cake pan, set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients, flour through to salt. In a smaller separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and syrup. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients just until combined. Fold in the carrots. Pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mix on top. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool.
In a small bowl, melt the cream cheese, syrup and sugar together until the cream cheese is completely melted and the glaze mixes together. Drizzle over the cooled cake. Serves 16.

Mini Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

Once upon a time, there was a girl who said that if she ever melted butter again she would brown it instead. That girl was me and that I have. It really does add an almost caramelized taste to baked goods. This recipe comes from a magazine I bought way back in the fall specifically because Bakerella was on the cover. She is awesome. This recipe popped in my mind because there was buttermilk nagging at me in the fridge. I have the most noble intentions when I buy buttermilk and then find myself scrambling to use it all up. Granted it pushes me to bake new things but seriously screw off.

Since it is exam season and I'm supposedly on the South Beach Diet, I should not be baking. But since the last batch of cookies I made threw off the diet, how could muffins hurt? They are fricken cute to. I may in fact use this recipe for the Mum's Day brunch I'm planning. God that is a lot of extra links.

Mini Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

Adapted from Bakerella
 

2/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips + extra for sprinkling*

1/2 cup maple syrup

In a small saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook said butter until brown bits form on the bottom. Set aside to cool  slightly, about ten minutes. Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray 24 mini muffin tins with non-stick spray or butter them. In bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and browned butter until combined. With a spatula, stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Evenly distribute the batter. Sprinkle with extra chocolate chips. Bake, alternating halfway through, for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes then remove to a rack. While they are cooling, warm up the maple syrup for dipping the muffins. Enjoy! Makes 24 mini muffins.

 

* I used milk chocolate chips in the batter and then mini chocolate chips for sprinkling. 

Banana Pecan and Chocolate Muffins

"Do you have to put almonds on all of them?" 

My brothers are great but when it comes to baking, they do not know what is up. Once I had the batter ready to go in the muffin tins, the next step was to place the pecans on top. Now my brothers do not like pecans and any nut for that matter in baking. After all, I too only recently came around. The big one was rolling on by at said point and asked that question. Not to disrespect him but I burst out laughing and proceeded to call him a moron. It's what family does. But to pay him back I only put pecans on half. What a great sister.

Banana Pecan and Chocolate Muffins
Adapted from Ina's recipe

3 large verrrrry ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips

1/3 cup pecans, toasted

Preheat the oven to 350º. Butter 14 muffin cups, set aside. In a large bowl, mix the bananas, sugars and maple syrup until combined. Mix in the oil, eggs, sour cream and vanilla until fully combined. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add  to the banana mix until the flour and banana mixture is just combined. Fold in the milk chocolate chips. Fill the muffin tins until about 4/5 full. Top the muffins with three pecans, or as many as desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating halfway through or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the muffins in its pan for 5 minutes and then turn them out on a wire rack to cool further.. But I highly recommend eating them warm. Serves 14. 

Maple Pecan Bars

An Ode to Pecans by Me:

Pecans are amazing

I love them in baking

They're perfect for grazing

My heart they are shaking

I am not an English major, don't worry. The poem does not make complete sense but neither does love so take that. Sorry, pecans change me. The story of how these bars came into being: Mornings are not my thing. I'm known for being silent and ready to kill during the first two hours post wake-up. During this anger period one morning, I calmed myself by baking these babies. Baking makes me happy.. unless it goes wrong then all beware my wrath.

Since pecans are one my favourite things, it was the natural choice to brighten my day. I was completely surprised when my little cousin loved these. For some reason it is my belief that all children hate nuts. I did, my baby broha still does and even my big brother too. Limited references granted but it still surprises me. Anyways, if you love pecans these are for you. There are pecans in the crust and halves and whole pecans on top. That's right.

Maple Pecan Bars
Adapted from an old Pillsbury recipe

crust
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
topping
2 eggs
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 tsp maple (or vanilla, depending on your preference) extract
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup pecans, halved and whole

crust Preheat the oven to 350º. Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan. Sift together the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl beat together the butter and brown sugar. Add the flour mix and combine until it is like fine sand. Use your hands to get it all together. Toss in the pecans. Press into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes.

topping While the crust bakes, whisk the eggs until foamy. Add the maple syrup, brown sugar, flour, vanilla and salt until combined. Stir in the pecans. Pour over the hot crust. Bake for 25 minutes, it will set once it is completely cooled. Makes 24 bars.

Apple Baked Oatmeal with Roasted Apples

This was a filling breakfast. For real. I woke up with a mission, a mission from God. Not necessarily but you get the idea. And so I put my sweat and blood into this oatmeal and the results were good. This is special because it normally takes a few hours for me to function properly. Emotions run high during the morning hours. There have been several times when I have cried because there was no milk. I lead a simple life clearly.

A quarter of this puppy was stashed in the fridge and was eaten the next day and it was perfect. I may just go make another batch before I go to bed if one Barney Stinson and one Marshall Erikson don't keep me.

Apple Baked Oatmeal

2 cups oatmeal

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 tbsp cinnamon

pinch of allspice

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 1/3 cup milk

2/3 cup apple sauce*

2 tsp vanilla

4 tsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350º. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients which is oatmeal through baking powder. In another combine the wet ingredients which is the egg through to butter. Add the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a butter 8 x 8 pan. Bake in the oven, rotating halfway through, for 20 minutes until golden brown on the surface. Serve with milk and roasted apples (recipe below). Makes 4 servings.

Roasted Apples

4 large granny smith apples, peeled

4 tsp fresh lemon juice

4 tsp pure maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350º. Slice the apples into 1/4 inch slices lengthwise. In a bowl, toss the sliced apples with the lemon juice, maple syrup and cinnamon until the apples are fully coated. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spread the apples out. If they are cramped they will steam and become soft not roasted. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve with baked oatmeal.

* I used my homemade applesauce recipe but only cooked the apples for about 5 minutes so that the apples wouldn't be fully cooked. It allowed the oatmeal to have bits of apple slices in it.

Pecan Tassies

Christmas is almost here! I am so excited. But I am also sorry for missing the past two Fridays of the Christmas cookies. Things are crazy here, as they are everywhere I am sure. My first final is on Sunday (who knew they could be so evil as to put in on Sunday), then Tuesday and finally the 18th which is a Saturday. But as much as I am panicking over finals, everything Christmas is in my mind. 

Every Christmas I make up boxes of baked goods. I normally put in a variety to give options. This year these babies are going in for 'nut' segment of the box. If you do not like pecans/pecan pie, this is not for you. If you do, like I recently discover I do, love it then meet heaven. This recipe is great because you can really taste the pecans, more so than in pecan pie. And they actually don't take that long to make.

Pecan Tassies

Adapted from Martha Stewart
 

dough

1/2 cup pecans, toasted
1/2 cup (4 ounces) cream cheese
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of kosher salt

filling 

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 large egg
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350º. Process pecans in a food processor until finely ground (you should have about 1/3 cup); set aside. Beat the cream cheese and butter together. Add flour, ground pecans, and salt; mix just until dough comes together. Roll dough into twenty two (approximately) 1-inch balls, and press into bottoms and up sides of cups of mini-muffin tins.* Put approximately a teaspoon in the each muffin cup. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, butter, and salt in a small bowl. Stir in pecans. Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons filling, basically until they are just filled, into each muffin cup. Bake pecan tassies until crust begins to turn golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely in tins on wire rack. Unmold. Pecan tassies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers up to 3 days.

* They pop right out of the tins surprisingly. I was worried they would stick but apparently not.  

Maple Pecan Slices

Oh yum. How very Canadian of me, eh? Just hit my pun quota. As a chewy cookie lover, there are a few exceptions. These are one of them. It is similar to a shortbread texture but with a crunch from the pecans and a softness from the glaze. They are the perfect little tea cookies. I just jumped on the tea train, the chai train that is. But lady gray is nice too. Enough about tea, back to cookies.

Maple Pecan Slices

Adapted from Everyday Food

cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 egg yolk

1 tsp maple extract

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup pecan halves toasted then finely chopped*

glaze

1 cup maple syrup

fleur de sel

cookies Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the maple syrup, yolk and extract until fully combined. Mix in the flour and salt slowly. It will be pretty stiff. Stir in the pecan pieces. Divide the dough in two pieces. On a clean surface roll the dough into a 1 1/2 inch rope. Wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350º. Taking one of the rolls, slice it into approximately 1/4 inch slices. They won't spread during baking. Bake for ten minutes, transferring sheets halfway through, until they are golden on the edges. They will set afterward a bit. Let them cool for about 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

glaze In a small saucepan, simmer the maple syrup until it is about 3/4 cup which takes about 8 minutes or so. It should be quite a bit thicker. However, I would recommend doing this in smaller batches because it crystallizes after about ten minutes. So do the glaze in 1/4 cup batches. Glaze the cookies with about 1/2 tsp or so. Sprinkle with fleur de sel. Enjoy!

Maple Pecan Granola

The taste of fall right here. When I read on the peas that she had made pumpkin granola, I thought it was brilliant. So using that idea I ever so roughly adapted from my old granola recipe and so came the birth of this new, and much improved, granola. 

I meant to post all week but things got delayed. Maybe because Justin Bieber was in town. Maybe because I have boat loads of homework. Alright, it was the first one. 

Maple Pecan Granola

Ever so roughly from here

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup rice krispies

1 tbsp flax seeds

1/4 cup toasted, chopped pecans

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ginger

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp maple extract

Preheat the oven to 300º. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray or butter it up. In a small bowl toss together the oats, rice krispies, flax seeds and pecans. In a small sauce pan, heat the pumpkin, maple syrup and brown sugar till bubbling and combined about a minute or so over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and stir in the spices, salt and extracts. Pour over the oat mixture until fully combined. Spread a thin layer over the baking sheet. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes until the moisture is nearly all gone. It will harden completely when it cools. So let it cool then enjoy!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Pancakes

Those who know me know this, I love cereal. Flax flakes, Captain Crunch, Cherrios, Fruit Loops, Go Lean Crunch.. I would go on but this post should go somewhere. When I was younger, my brother and I ate so much cereal that they named us the 'Cereal King and Queen.' Lame? Yes but very accurate. While I don't eat as much cereal anymore (less than two bowls a day now!), I have grown an immense passion for other breakfast foods outside of the cereal realm. It wasn't until this past June I discovered pancakes. Where have they been all my life? My mother used to make them for us and we would eat them but I was really just craving cereal. But now they are on my mind. All the time.These were so good! The name literally says it all. They were fluffy but still tasted like a good ol' oatmeal raisin cookie. I made these for my Dad who is in love with oatmeal raisin cookies. Since I don't make them enough for him, I made him these.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Pancakes
Recipe can be found here

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour heaping
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 tablespoons splenda brown sugar blend*
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
healthy pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
2 cups buttermilk
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup golden raisins
oil or cooking spray (for cooking)

In a large bowl bear eggs. Add buttermilk, butter, maple syrup and vanilla and mix well. Add flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Mix well until mostly smooth. Fold in raisins and let batter set for a few minutes. Heat griddle or pan over medium heat. Add a teaspoon of oil to the pan or spray with cooking spray. You can test to see if the pan is hot enough by adding a few drops of water, when the drops start to dance its hot enough. Pour 2 Tablespoons of batter onto the griddle. Cook on the first side until bubbles that form start to pop. You can also gently lift up the pancake to make sure the bottom is not overcooking, if it is the pan may be too hot and you will need to adjust the heat. Flip the pancake over with a spatula and cook until golden brown. Repeat until all the batter is gone. Let cooked pancakes rest on a heat proof plate in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.

* I do have brown sugar but I bought this stuff not too long ago and have been trying to see if it works as well as regular brown sugar and so far so good. BUT feel free to just use brown sugar.