Lemon-Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I had an idea this morning. I looked up recipes for chocolate chip pancakes and lemon pancakes and made up this combination of the two.

Lawson put syrup on his, but I think all they need is plain yogurt. Sliced bananas would also be good.

Bowl 1:
1 1/2 c self-rising flour (or all purpose flour + 1 t salt and 1 T baking powder)
2 T sugar
zest of one lemon

Bowl 2:
3 T melted butter
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 t or more lemon juice

Mix well separately, then briefly together.

Sprinkle 4-10 semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips on each pancake as soon as you pour the batter.

Blueberry Buttermilk Whole Wheat Pancakes

I don't make pancakes very often, because come on -- who needs a massive dose of carbohydrates and nothing else first thing in the morning? (Well, Lawson the cereal eater apparently does, but that at least involves milk, too.) When I do have breakfast, it usually involves eggs. But I have a quart of buttermilk that I'm having a rough time finishing up, so I made these pancakes this weekend.

Following some ideas in the Joy of Cooking, I used a standard buttermilk pancake recipe, using whole wheat flour instead of white, and added blueberries and a whole tablespoonful of lemon zest.

Really, really good.

Pancakes

I made buckwheat pancakes on Sunday morning. Lawson and I so seldom eat breakfast together (we both rush to get to work on time, I don't often get hungry before lunchtime, and he has a cereal habit) that it all seemed particularly special. The preparation was nothing fancy: I used the Joy of Cooking recipe for basic pancakes, but substituted toasted soba flour for half of the all-purpose flour. Because soba flour doesn't contain gluten, the pancakes were super tender. The nutty, weird buckwheat flavor went really well with the sourness and sweetness of yogurt and preserved figs. Lawson ate his with butter and syrup and seemed equally happy, so whatever.

I'll certainly make buckwheat pancakes again -- homemade soba noodles were fun, but perfecting them would be hilariously complicated, and I have to use up this soba flour somehow. But my favorite, favorite pancakes are sourdough. I'll have to get to work on a sourdough post. Cooking Habit doesn't really lend itself to long academic treatments of the sort I feel bread and yeast deserve, which is why I seldom post about bread here. But autumn means I can pull my starter from the fridge without the jar exploding within 30 hot, humid minutes, so I'll get to testing and writing.