When I lived in New York, the older
Italians loved their figs but they had to wrap their fig trees in tar paper to
prevent them from freezing in the winter. That’s way too much work for me. Having a fig tree that is low
maintenance is one of the benefits of living in the south. All you need to do
is fertilize and water it.
Sundays or company always means a big
brunch in our house. On those really special occasions I tend to go all out,
especially if it’s August and we can’t figure out what to do with all of the
figs that are ripening on our tree. This pancake recipe with fresh figs may be
a little over the top, my wife says it’s like eating dessert for breakfast, but
it’s worth it. If you want to tone it down a bit just eliminate the fig jam and
the Nutella®. The fig pancakes are still great with just maple
syrup.
Makes 12 Pancakes
Dry Ingredients
½ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp
Baking Powder
1 tsp
Kosher Salt or ½ tsp Table Salt
2 tsp Sugar
Wet Ingredients
2 Lg Eggs
2 C Buttermilk (1
Pint)
4 TBS
Melted Butter (cool before adding)
1 ½ C
Fresh Figs *
Fig Jam
Nutella® Chocolate Hazelnut Spread *
¼ C
Chopped Hazelnuts (optional) *
Directions
Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl
with a whisk and set aside.
Heat an electric griddle to 350°F or a
shove top griddle to high.
In a separate bowl, whisk
together the eggs, buttermilk and the melted butter until thoroughly combined.
Pour on top of the dry ingredients and, using a whisk, mix until just combined
and some lumps still exist. Don’t over mix or you will have tough pancakes.
These will make thick pancakes. If you like thinner pancakes add a little milk
to thin out the batter.
Cut the stems off of the figs and chop
them into ½ inch cubes.
Butter the griddle and place a small
drop of batter onto the griddle to make sure it is hot.
Wipe off the griddle with a paper towel.
If you have too much butter you will get spotty pancakes.
Pour ¼ cup of the pancake batter onto
the griddle and sprinkle with 1 ½ tablespoons of figs. Cook until bubbles begin
to set around the edges of the pancake and the bottom of the pancake is golden
brown. Flip the pancakes
and cook another 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set and golden brown.
Place one pancake on a plate and spread
with fig jam. Place a second pancake on top and spread with a thin layer of
Nutella®. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts on top.
* Pronto
Substitutes
Butter – You
can substitute Crisco® Shortening for the butter.
Nutella –
You can substitute Maple Syrup for the Nutella.
Hazelnuts –
You can substitute chopped Pecans or whole toasted Pine Nuts
Figs – You
can substitute Blueberries but it will taste totally different
Buttermilk
Now some of you may be tempted to substitute regular milk
for the buttermilk…don’t do it. The buttermilk is an important flavoring
component of pancakes and gives pancakes its distinctive flavor. Even those
packaged pancake mixes have powdered buttermilk in them.
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