Guava Pancakes...

I thought I'd try something different with pancakes. By different, I mean using some guava paste as an ingredient.

See... there's this restaurant... it's called Cinnamon's and it's located on the Windward side of the island in Kailua. They have some pretty awesome breakfast items. One of those items is a guava pancake.

Although their pancake is literally to die for, I didn't want to replicate it exactly... just draw some inspiration from it.

And this is what I came up with.... and I'm pretty happy with it.

I have never worked with guava paste before, so I was a little unsure. I really don't know what I was worried about, because there was really nothing to be afraid of. Other than it being a little sticky, it was pretty easy to work with.

I not only used the guava paste as an ingredient in the pancake batter, but also as an ingredient in a sauce that you top the pancakes with.

Guava is pretty sweet, so a huge ginormous dollop of whipped cream balanced the sweetness nicely.

It's always fun, although sometimes worrisome, working with new ingredients.... you never know what you're going to come up with!

I was pleasantly surprised!

Guava Pancakes

For the Guava Sauce:

• 1 Cup Guava Paste, Cubed
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract 

For the Guava Pancakes:

• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 Tablespoons Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Guava Paste, Finely Diced
• 1 Cup Guava Nectar
• 1 Cup Whole Milk
• 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 2 Whole Eggs

For the Sauce:

In a small heavy duty saucepan, heat the cubed guava paste, water, and vanilla on medium/low heat, whisking constantly until the guava paste melts and all the ingredients are combined. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

For the Pancakes:

In a large bowl, sift the flour, powder, soda, and salt. Whisk in the sugar and set aside. In a food processor or blender, add the finely diced guava paste, guava nectar, milk, oil, and eggs. Continuously pulse or blend until well combined, 2-5 minutes. You may still have some guava paste bits in the blended mixture and that is fine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until most of the lumps are out. 

Heat a griddle on low heat. Spray with cooking spray and pour a 3-1/2 to 4 inch round onto the griddle. Flip the pancake when the surface of the pancake becomes somewhat dry and when most of the air bubbles have risen, about 2-1/2 to 4 minutes on each side. Makes 15 or so pancakes. 

To plate, spread butter over the hot pancakes (if desired), then add a dollop of whipped cream and drizzle the prepared Guava Sauce over the pancakes. 

Enjoy!

Papa's Buttermilk Pancakes...

If you have children, you are very much aware that there are, like, a gazillion cartoon and kid show networks out there.

When I was growing up...... way back in the 80's, we didn't have that luxury. So, that made us all the more excited for our weekly dose of Saturday Morning Cartoons. Every Saturday morning my sister and I would rise and shine, just to sit in front of the TV and watch our favorite shows.

First, if we were up super early, we would tune into re-runs of Little Rascals and The Three Stooges. Then, the really good shows would air.

Here were a few of our faves, in no particular order:

• The Littles
• Pac-Man
• Smurfs
• Alvin and The Chipmunks
• Jim Henson's Muppet Babies
• Ewoks
• Snorks
• Wuzzles
• Pound Puppies
• Pee-Wee's Playhouse
• Garfield and Friends
• Punky Brewster
• Mr. T
• Fraggle Rock 

As we got older, Saved by The Bell was thrown in there. I can't forget Kids Incorporated, either. Oh how I wanted to be on that show! I wanted to hang-out at The Place with Stacy, Renee, Marta, Ryan, Eric and all the other performers.

If that doesn't scream "I grew up in the 80's," I don't know what does. 

Anyway, after over-dosing on numerous cartoons within a three to four hour time frame, my dad would make us his buttermilk pancakes for breakfast. They were the perfect way to end our Saturday Morning Cartoon fun!


Papa's Buttermilk Pancakes

• 1 Cup Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Cup Buttermilk
• 1 Whole Egg
• 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Heat griddle on medium low heat and spray with a non-stick cooking spray. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Whisk the buttermilk, egg, and oil together in a separate bowl and add to the dry ingredients. Whisk until the well combined.

Pour whatever sized pancakes you prefer onto the griddle. Cook on the hot griddle, flipping when the surface of the pancake becomes somewhat dry and when most of the air bubbles have risen, about 2-1/2 minutes to 4 minutes on each side. 

Makes a batch of eight 3-1/2 inch round pancakes. Double the ingredients for a larger batch.

Enjoy!