Orange Yogurt Pancakes

Orange Yogurt Pancakes. . . 

Did you have a fabulous 4th of July? We certainly enjoyed ourselves. In fact, I’m not sure we did much beyond “enjoy” ourselves. Which is “Larsen” for eating.  The weather was perfect, though as predicted, it’s much warmer today. Summer has finally arrived. And we spent the day lounging around the house, taking a few walks, and enjoying a rare down day.

I will spare you all the photos of food. (though, I might sneak in a picture of the much talked about cherry pie, because it was so pretty!) But I did manage to remember to photograph the pancakes. I’ve been meaning to share this recipe for ages. But these orange pancakes are so good, they just don’t last long enough for me to get around to photographing. 

I should say upfront, that these pancakes are a minor miracle in my opinion. I’m no fan of the beloved pancake! You would think, otherwise, since the very name involves cake. 

I loved them as a child. However, years of eating frozen bisquick mix pancakes with fake maple syrup on a semi-daily basis convinced me that if I want something to dunk into syrup, it’s not a pancake. I still shudder at the smell of bisquick mix. 

Yes, I know, those aren’t real pancakes. But it’s not just the mix. It’s also the way most pancakes seem to absorb the syrup and then turn into an unmitigated mess of maple flavored mush. IZ has never understood my distaste nor my fascination with drowning my stack in half a bottle of syrup , but I’m equally mystified at the pure ardor for mush. I shouldn’t be, I’m southern; there’s no explaining grits. 

You probably don’t even want pancakes now, right? Sorry. Let me redeem myself.

These pancakes are outrageously good. The slight hint of orange flavor and tanginess of Greek yogurt cut the super sweetness that is maple syrup. And come on, you’re not really eating pancakes if you skip the maple syrup. It’s your choice to drown your stack or not, but these pancakes are up the deluge. No soggy mess. Ever.  Just tender, yummy, goodness. What pancakes should be. 

Just one tiny request. . . if you  make these amazing pancakes, use the real deal in the syrup department. They really are too good to be smothering with fake maple syrup!  (recipe modified from FreshTart Steph) 

Orange Yogurt Pancakes

Ingredients:

(dry)

2 cups of flour

1 ts baking powder

2 ts baking soda

1/2 t salt (I use a lovely sel de mer) 

(wet)

2 eggs

1.5 cups of Greek Yogurt (no fat, YAY!)

1 cup of orange juice (I’ve used both: frozen and fresh squeezed. Both work!)

Finely grated orange rind. (don’t skip this, it really makes the difference)

4 Tb Saffola oil 

*Butter to top…. use as little or not little as you like. 

Directions:

Preheat your griddle so it’s nice and hot. And preheat your oven to 200 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients in a large pitcher bowl. Then, in a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients except the orange rind until they are combined. Then add the orange rind and mix with a spoon. Otherwise the tiny bits of rind will get caught up in your whisk.  

Next, combine the wet into the dry bowl and mix well, but not overly. You want this to be a light and fluffy mix, so don’t kill it. 

Using a light cooking spray, coat your griddle when it is hot enough. You’ll need to re-spray with each batch to prevent sticking.  Then use a 1/3 cup measuring scoop to pour out 5″ rounds. (If you’d like smaller pancakes, you can use a 1/4 cup and the recipe should make about 20-24.) Cook until bubbles start to form, and then turn. The recipe should make about 16 5″ pancakes. How many that serves is really up to you! 

Since I love to eat with my family, and my griddle will only make 4 pancakes at a time, I keep my cooked pancakes warm in the oven. I place a touch of butter between each one and keep adding pancakes until I’m done cooking. With this recipe, I honestly can’t tell the difference between the first and last batch. 

* Butter. As you can see from the original recipe, it calls for quite a lot of butter. And while I love the flavor, I don’t think it’s necessary. Nor do I think the batter requires that much fat to create a tender griddle cake.  I’ve made this recipe both ways, and you won’t miss the butter in the batter. I promise! Your heart will thank you, as will your waistline. And you mouth will never know the difference since you added just a touch of butter to the top of each pancake! If you’re one of those people who doesn’t enjoy the taste of butter or really counting calories, you can just omit the butter on top and you’re set!