Friday, December 27, 2013

Bananas about hazelnut pancakes, for New Year's breakfast



I hope everyone is having a wonderful final week of December!

I'm excited to have a new recipe up on the Anthology blog--this time, baked bananas and hazelnut pancakes for New Year's breakfast! Trust me, these aren't your average banana pancakes. Click on over for a full description and the recipe.

(Also, please be forewarned. While making these pancakes, I got this and this stuck in my head on endless loop.)


This year, I had an extremely quiet Christmas, but I did pack this recipe with a bunch of holiday cheer. For example, the cacao nibs on top of the pancakes are from these delicious cracked cacao beans that my friend (and sometimes-contributor to this blog) Andréa brought for me from a new Portland bean-to-bar chocolatier, Woodblock. (She also brought me some chocolate salt from the Meadow, which is kind of wild, and will probably show up sometime soon on the blog. :)) Oh, and you see that beautiful wooden bowl below with the hazelnuts in it? That's a hand-turned bowl from Scotland that my friend Lauren brought me when she visited in early December. (Apparently, she stalked my blog to see if I owned a wooden bowl yet--the unseen perks of having a food blog!) It's so beautiful and smooth that I sort of want to use it as a pillow.


This is my last week in LA, and then I'm finally headed home to the Bay Area. A quick trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota is on the books for early January. brrrrr (seriously, this California girl does not own cold weather gear). If you have any recommendations of awesome foodie places to see in the Twin Cities, please leave me comment below!


Happy New Year, everyone!

Read on for recipe...





Hazelnut pancakes
Serves 4

1 cup (4 oz.) whole hazelnuts
2 Tbspn sugar
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tspn baking powder
1 tspn salt
½ tspn Turkish coffee powder, optional
½ stick (¼ cup) butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tspn vanilla extract
½ tspn hazelnut extract, optional
roasted cacao beans or nibs, for garnish, optional
toasted hazelnuts, chopped for garnish, optional
baked bananas (see below)
meyer lemon yoghurt (see below)

To toast the hazelnuts, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, turning once halfway through. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Place the hazelnuts and sugar in a food processor. Pulse until finely ground. In a bowl, whisk to combine the ground hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, salt, and Turkish coffee powder (if using). Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together thoroughly the melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract, and hazelnut extract. Add the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Do not overmix.

Butter lightly a medium hot skillet. Drop about 2 Tbspn of batter per pancake (for small pancakes) from a ladle into the skillet. Flip when each side has turned golden brown. Repeat as necessary for the batter.

Top the pancakes with roasted cacao nibs and toasted hazelnut, if using. Serve with baked bananas and a dollop of meyer lemon yoghurt.


Baked Bananas

6 bananas, or 12 mini bananas
1½ Tbspn fresh meyer lemon juice
1 Tbspn coconut oil (or butter), melted
¼ cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Split the bananas lengthwise, removing the peel. Place the bananas cut side up on a baking sheet with sides. Sprinkle evenly with the meyer lemon juice and then with the melted coconut oil. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly on top of the bananas. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until the sugar is bubbling and melted and the bananas are soft but still retain their structure. Remove from oven and let cool briefly. Serve while still hot. (The bananas can be re-warmed in the oven for a few minutes, if necessary.)


Meyer lemon yoghurt

1 cup Greek yoghurt
2-4 Tbspn whole milk
1 Tbspn meyer lemon zest

Stir together the yoghurt, milk, and meyer lemon zest. Serve with the pancakes and bananas.

16 comments:

  1. Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes)December 27, 2013 at 11:00 AM

    These pancakes look unbelievable!! I can't imagine anything better for New Year's!

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  2. Aw! We love Woodblock. The owner, Charlie, is such a sweetheart. I am totally lusting after that gorgeous bowl now. You lucky lady you!

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  3. Ooo, I'm envious that you know the owner! I need to visit Portland to see the chocolatier for myself.

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  4. Looks amazing!! The best breakfast, I think)))

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  5. That banana and pancake looks dangerously good *licks lips* :P
    http://www.itsallbee.com

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  6. Oh man!! These look fantastic!

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  7. While in the Twin Cities, the Scandinavian toasts at The Bachelor Farmer are delicious as is anything from Los Ocampos in the Global Market. Bar La Grassa or 112 Eatery are great for dinner, and Tilia (the chilequiles!) or Wild Acre make for a lovely brunch. Hope it isn't entirely too cold for you!

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  8. These look delicious! What a nice coincidence - I've got some extra hazelnuts left over from another recipe, too.

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  9. yum, they look awesome! Happy New Year :)

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  10. That wooden bowl is AWESOME - such a good perk of having observant friends and a fantastic blog! These pancakes look to die for - happy new year!

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  11. You should check out Marvel Bar for delicious drinks, as well as Fat Nats Eggs for breakfast (or Victor's 1959 Cafe, or Glam Doll Doughnuts, or Al's Breakfast, or Mickey's Diner in St. Paul). I haven't been to Pig Ate My Pizza yet, but I have only heard really great things. The Midtown Global Market is pretty awesome to check out.

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  12. I want to tell you everywhere to eat in Minneapolis but I'll save it to just one top place: Lucia's http://www.lucias.com . You won't regret it.

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  13. I had the same idea for New Year's Day breakfast, but made a simpler, do-ahead version since I am a klutz in the kitchen without a proper night's sleep. And Jack Johnson's "Banana Pancakes" was the song stuck in my head while prepping them. :) Happy New Year!

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  14. Divine!! Love a delicious stack of pancakes, with caramelized bananas. Happy 2014!!

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I love hearing from you and reading your comments! Thanks so much for stopping by the blog. Happy feasting!