quinn's place

my world was forever changed by the movie matilda.

i love that movie for so many reasons (and yes, i read the book first and was fully obsessed with everything roald dahl), but the breakfast scene really takes the pancake for me and is forever engrained in my mind.

that tiny lady making the fluffiest pancakes all by herself - those sunny kitchen vibes - and that song by rusted root - it all just makes me SO happy.

i always aspire to make pancakes as fluffy as matilda's. this recipe is based on my great grandpa's classic pancakes, but i amped it up a little to make 'em extra fluffy & puffy so i can be more like my girl 'tildy.

the chunky blueberry sauce is inspired by the most delicious pancakes in the whole world that you can find at bubby's in new york city. the james beard pancakes with blueberry! so thick and fluffy and delicious and the warm blueberry sauce is perfect. i mean, if yer gunna spend $21+ on pancakes, better make em damn gooooooood.

apparently i am quite impressionable when it comes to pancake lifestyles. lol.

thanks matilda & bubby for the excellent collab of pancake inspiration thangz.

Fluffy Matilda Pancakes

Makes about 10 medium-sized pancakes

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup + 2 TB all purpose flour
1 1/2 TB granulated sugar
1 TB + 1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
dash of cinnamon (optional)
1 cup milk
1 egg yolk
1 egg white, beaten until firm

Chunky Blueberry Sauce:

2 tsp. coconut oil
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 TB. brown sugar

Instructions-

Heat a skillet, pan or griddle on medium/high heat. Add a thin pat of butter to grease the pan or spray with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the pancake batter. Add the milk. In a separate, small bowl, separate the egg white into the small bowl and drop the egg yolk into the dry ingredients + milk and stir until combined.

Whisk the egg white until firm and fluffy (a few minutes). I use an old tymey manual egg beater. Gently fold the fluffy egg whites into the pancake batter until incorporated.

Keep the pan or skillet at a steady medium heat when cooking the pancakes. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup or a large spoon to scoop pancake batter onto the pan in 3-4 inch circles. I usually do 4 pancakes at a time or however many will fit on the pan with room to cook without running into each other.

When the bubbles on the pancakes begin to pop, gently turn with a spatula and cook the other side for a couple minutes. Serve immediately with your favorite toppings! :)

To make the blueberry sauce: Add coconut oil to a small sauce pan to melt on medium/low heat. Add the fresh blueberries and brown sugar and mash gently (I use a potato masher but you can use whatever works to burst some of the berries). Let warm and simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve warm! Also check out my baguette french toast recipe with fresh blackberry sauce if this sort of stuff tickles your fancy!

sPoOoOoOky green pancakes with SpOoOoKy oozy egg, just in time for halloweener.

or if you're reading this in like march, luck o' the irish pancakes! perhaps it's may...spring green pancakes! or december...grinchy pancakes?

anyway ya play it, avocado is a subtle but delightful flavor and texture to add to a simple pancake (or waffle!?) batter.

yeahhhh when i added avocado to banana bread - that was str8 genius, if i do say so myself.

especially if you're a savory-tooth type. and honestly, i would NOT skip the bacon and egg. you put 'em all together in each bite and just savor the savory. and its all about texture to me. you need that crispy bacon! or at least something crispy to go along with the soft things, but i just can't think of what that item might be if it ain't BACON.

note to everyone: you should use only 1/2 an avocado to make this ratio of recipe. i used 1 whole avo here just to get the p-cakes greener for photos. the more avo you use, the doughier the center of the cakes will be. the avocado doesn't really want to get all cooked up, so it remains a bit soft in the center. this is why i only recommend using 1/2 an avo to the 1 cup flour ratio in the recipe provided below.

and anotherrrr thiiiiing...these are E to tha Z because you just whip 'em up in the blender.

the recipe below (minus the avocado) is actually my great-grandpa's pancake recipe (i never knew him, but i would assume he'd roll over in his grave if he knew his classic pancake recipe was being tainted with greenery).

this basic pancake recipe is probably the first thing i ever learned how to cook in my life. i'd like to say i've perfected it, and each time i visit my granny & gramps they ask when i'll make "my famous hotcakes." they're the cutest.

the only difference between great-grandpa's method and this one is that (well first things first you don't use a dang avocado because that's just downright blasphemy) you whisk it all up in a bowl, separate the egg white from the egg yolk, beating the egg white until super fluffy, then fold the whites in gently to the rest of the batter. those p-cakes are seriously a bite right into my childhood.

^^^ how totally nightmare before christmas is that little steamy loopdeeloop off the egg?!

^^^ also, shout out to MY PURSE for serving as the perfect black background for these photos. i was going to set up this annoyingly elaborate tile/concrete block thing that i sometimes do when i need a backdrop, but my purse was sitting there and i was in a mad frantic rush with 3 different things cooking on the stove simultaneously and voilaaa, instant black background to show off that hot hot breakfast goodness.

i use all kinds of weird stuff and basically perform acrobatic stunts while taking these kinds of photos, but hey man whatever works.

Avocado Pancakes (& don't forget the bacon and fried egg!)

Makes about 10 small pancakes

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 a medium-sized ripe avocado
1 cup all-purpose flour, or whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)
1 TB granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
Optional: 1/4 tsp black pepper
Optional, but very necessary in my opinion: crispy bacon slices and a fried egg :)

Instructions-

Heat a large skillet or pan on the stove to medium/low heat. Melt a TB of butter and spread evenly across the pan, or spray with cooking spray.

In a blender, blend avocado and milk until creamy. Slowly add the dry ingredients, blending and scraping sides down with a spatula until mixture is smooth. Lastly, add the whole egg and blend just until combined.

You can pour the pancake batter straight out of the blender onto the pan, or use a ladle to scoop batter onto the pan, forming round cakes about 3 inches in diameter. Allow to cook about 3-4 minutes, flipping carefully and gently pressing down on each pancake to get more surface area on the pancakes to cook. Cook opposite side for 3-4 more minutes, and flip one more time. Gently press pancakes down with back of spatula. The avocado wants to remain in its creamy state, so the center of the pancakes may be just slightly doughy.

Serve immediately with crispy cooked bacon and a runny fried egg. That savory & textural combo of all three components simply belong together!