Pancakes with Buttered Pears

We are currently not going to the office (you’re only supposed to go if you are considered essential services) although sometimes they lighten the restrictions. As my country and family and I make mad dashes to our shelters or secure rooms here in Israel, since Iran is sending missiles to target us, you need to have some comfort food to keep you going. So sometimes it’ll be something a little richer than the normal thing you’d cook and sometimes something super easy since there are days you literally haven’t got the last little nerve left to cope due to lack of sleep or stress. Don’t worry, I got you covered for both. Today’s post is the richer, somewhat wicked, buttery one but I got a crock pot/slow cooker one coming up for a “dump it all in and ignore it” day. So stay tuned for that one.

Pancakes are a food that nearly everyone I know enjoys and I like to change it up be it with yogurt or apples chopped in Apple Pancakes; Fluffy Yogurt Pancakes which I’ve already shared with you. This version is a bit richer, melted butter right in the batter as well as in the pear topping and two eggs with a bit less milk in the batter. The combo is delectable and puts a smile on your face with it’s buttery and sweet but not too sweet flavor. This is one of those dishes we can eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

So gather your ingredients and prepare to savor the comfort.

Don’t get scared, we only use some of the butter, not the whole thing 😉 . K.

I suggest you start with batter for the pancakes, which needs to rest about 15 minutes or so. Do the batter, then the buttered, sugared pears, since they need time to cook to tenderness and then it all comes together.

So place the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

and whisk together with a whisk or fork. This incorporates the leavening throughout to give you a fluffy pancake. Then put your eggs, milk, melted butter (make sure it’s tepid so it doesn’t cook your eggs) and vanilla into a measuring cup, preferably. (Method to my madness, you will ultimately pour the batter back in to pour onto your skillet).

Whisk the egg mixture together till incorporated.

Now pour this mixture over the flour mixture like so:

Whisk till smooth.

Now you’re gonna let the mixture rest and which allows the flour to absorb the liquid ingredients and the leavening to activate which you’ll see when the batter bubbles. This gives you a light pancake. Like so:

This is after about 15 minutes. In the meantime, prep the pan and set aside. This simply entails spray oiling or oiling the pan and then wiping it out thoroughly, if you leave it oily, the pancakes will crisp on the edges which we don’t want. K.

To the pears. In a different pan from the one you’ll cook the pancakes in, place a nice pat of butter, between 1-2 tablespoons worth.

Melt the butter on low heat and take your (unpeeled) pears which you sliced thinly, and place on top of the butter. Then sprinkle with the sugar and pinch of salt.

You don’t even have to toss the pears. Just cover the pan and cook pears on medium heat. You want the pears to get tender, so cook covered about 5-7 minutes (approximately) and then uncover. Why you may ask? Because the pears will give up their pear liquid and we want to cook that down, reducing it and it creates a syrup which is what we want. Now this is easy peasy, just let it cook on medium uncovered and you will see the liquid bubbling gently. It should take all told about 10-15 or so minutes, including the cooking down. Just don’t cook on too high a heat – you don’t want it to scorch. Once done, cover with lid to keep warm.

Now it’s pancake time! Take that prepared pan and heat to medium. Have your batter to hand and pour 1/4- 1/3 cup of batter onto pan. I chose to make larger pancakes and if it looks a tad thin that’s fine. These are not meant to be very fat pancakes although they do puff up somewhat.

Once you’ve poured the batter on the pan, wait until the top of the pancake has many little bubbles (see pic above). This should take about 2-3 minutes approximately. Use your spatula (I actually like to use a fish spatula for this, they are extra long and can easily flip a large pancake) to gently pick up the edge of the pancake and peek underneath to make sure the pancake is a golden brown. If so, flip to the other side.

Now cook for an additional minute or two just till bottom of pancake is browned. Place on a plate you have on the side and continue pouring pancakes, cooking, flipping and making a stack on the plate till you use up the batter. I got about 8 nice sized pancakes out of this.

To serve, scoop with a spoon some butter pear sauce and dollop onto your pancakes. UMM YUMM. really, no kidding.

I had one and found it really filling and DH went wild on me and had three. (I noticed the rest disappeared later that day). The day just suddenly seems better.

Pancakes with Buttered Pears

Pancakes:
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping:
3 pears, unpeeled, cored and sliced thinly
2 rounded tablespoons sugar
1-2 tablespoons butter
Pinch of salt

Directions:

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In separate mixing bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla till smooth. Combine the egg mixture with the dry mixture and let stand about 10-15 minutes.

Put a tablespoon or so of butter in pan and melt, add sliced pears and sprinkle with the sugar and salt. Cook until pears are tender. Set aside. In separate nonstick skillet, spray pan with oil and wipe off with paper towel. Preheat skillet over medium-high heat. Pour about 1/4-1/3 cup of batter in pan to form each pancake and cook until many bubbles form on top and bottom is golden brown on bottom (lift gently with spatula to check). Flip over and continue cooking until golden brown on the other side. Place pancakes on plates and top with buttered pears.