Louisiana Pancakes: Blackberries & Pecans, oh my!

During my last trip down to Louisiana, I had breakfast with my best friend & her husband at T’Coons, one of the best breakfast spots in all of Lafayette.  I downed a (couple) cups of Mello Joy to wash down some sweet potato pancakes w/pecans.



So once I got home and got this horde of blackberries…I of COURSE had to have more pancakes to go with my homemade syrup.  Fluffy cake, juicy blackberries, and crunchy roasted Louisiana pecans?  This is a no brainer.




Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1-3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup blackberries (ours were rather large, so I quartered them)
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 1 tbsp butter
• Blackberry syrup

Directions:
First, we need to toast our pecans.  This isn’t 100% required, but I think it really makes the pecans pop w/flavor.

Heat a skillet over medium-low heat, and add 1 tbsp butter/margarine, the cinnamon stick, and the pecans.  Toss so the butter coats the nuts and the cinnamon stick gets to mingle with everybody.


Toss for about 5-7 minutes; just until you start to be able to really smell the pecans.  Then you can turn them onto a cutting board, discard the cinnamon stick, and then chop the pecans.



Now, mix your pancake batter.  That’s the first 8 ingredients (flour through cinnamon).  Mix til lump-free.  If it seems a little thin, add a lil’ bit more flour.




Use the same skillet you roasted the pecans, and add your favorite non-stick spray (we like butter flavored) and heat to medium.  

Now, go back to your batter.  Add the blackberries & the pecans.



NOTE: If you have small blackberries, you can opt to not mix the berries & pecans into your batter.  I tried that originally…however, my blackberries were HYYOOOJJ so when I went to flip the ‘cakes, the opposite side wouldn’t make full contact with the pan, and I ended up with broken pancakes:




Plus, by mixing it in, you get more berry in each bite.

I used an ice cream scoop to keep my pancake sizes pretty uniform:



Now—the magic of pancakes…waiting for when it’s OK to flip.  Just watch for the bubbles, and keep checking the edges.  when there are bubbles in the center of your cake, that indicates it’s cooked through in the middle, and OK to flip.  But just keep a good eye as you check the edges and your heat—these can burn easy, and your stove temps may vary.


When you’ve got a couple cakes to stack up, drizzle with your blackberry syrup and garnish with a few fresh berries.
 


Proceed to chow down. Makes about 8-10 pancakes (1/2 cup batter per cake).  Serve each stack w/about 2 tbsp of syrup.


Nutrifacts:
Calories 155.2
  Total Fat 8.4 g
  Saturated Fat 1.1 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 2.7 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 3.2 g
  Cholesterol 39.1 mg
  Sodium 333.9 mg
  Potassium 99.3 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 16.8 g
  Dietary Fiber 1.6 g
  Sugars 2.3 g
  Protein 3.3 g