One of my favourite blueberry pancakes has always been Maple Sauced Cornmeal and Blueberry Pancakes. They are light and fluffy, but do involve a bit of faffing about.

I am not a huge fan of faffing about, but I am a huge fan of blueberries and so I put up with it for those. I was really lucky to grow up in an area where wild blueberries were amazingly abundant.

My mother used to put us to work picking wild blueberries every summer.  She had her favourite spots. I confess, it was not my favourite thing to do.

I was always really cognizant of the fact that bears also love blueberries. I had heard tales of people being interrupted in their berry picking by black bears. Scary stuff.

I always kept one eye on the berries and one on the horizon looking for bears just in case.  I remember one time my dad pretended to be a bear and scard the cheese-whillikers out of me!

Yep, dropped every blueberry I had picked, so the joke was on him!!

My mom would freeze them all, or make blueberry pies and freeze them. She didn't make pancakes or muffins with them. That just wasn't her thing.

I, on the other hand, love blueberry pies, pancakes and muffins. I am always on the lookout for a new recipe. I do love my older ones, but can one ever have too many recipes for these things? I think not!

 I was so happy to be able to finally find buttermilk in nice and tall one litre containers. In the UK, if you could find it, it was never in a container larger than about 260ml ( about 1 1/4 cup). 

That's if you could find it at all. I used to always have to use milk with lemon juice added. It does make a great substitute, but it is still not quite the same.

 I didn't have any wild blueberries either. I did pick up a pack of frozen ones, but I put them back because I wasn't sure that I could keep them frozen until I got them back to the house.

We were going to my dads after shopping. My sister always goes and changes his bed on Saturdays  She's so good to him.  He really appreciates her.  I would do it too, but its her thing. I would never want to interfere with anything!

See how light and fluffy these are!  Just like little airy clouds of deliciousness! 

Its a wonder they didn't float right off the plate. I think my sister thought I was a bit nuts this morning, running around like a blue-arsed fly trying to find the best light for taking photos!!

As you can tell, thes were photographed in two separate spots. Once on the end of my bed on a background paper.  Good, but could be better.

The second lot was taken by me holding the plate up in front of my bedroom window.  I was trying very carefully not to drop them and take pictures at the same time.

As

I think both photo sets turned out alright, but I do prefer the ones from in front of my window better.  And what happened next?

The sun came out and everywhere was brilliant for photo taking. LOL  Isn't that how it always goes?

  

 

 Apple Puff Pancake: In a French Kitchen, this would be called a clafoutis. Clafoutis, Pancake, apple flan, no matter what you call it, this is one heavenly breakfast dish! 

Strawberry Buttermilk Pancakes with Honey & Vanilla Butter: This recipe is an old favourite from one of my favourite cookbooks, The Great British Farmhouse Cookbook, by Sarah Mayor.  It's one of my favourite books, and these pancakes are one of the reasons why.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

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Yield: makes 12 medium pancakes

Author: Marie Rayner

These are the lightest, fluffiest, tastiest blueberry pancakes I have ever made! I highly recommend!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (210g) sifted all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 TBS white sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups (360ml) buttermilk
• 3 TBS melted butter, cooled
• 1 cup fresh wild blueberries

Instructions

1. Sift the dry ingredients together into a bowl.
2. Beat together the egg, milk and melted butter.  Add to the dry ingredients, all at once.  Stir just to combine. You will want all of the flour incoporated. 
3. Scoop the batter in 1/4 cup measures onto a heated, lightly greased skillet or griddle. Sprinkle some berries on top of each pancake.
4. Cook until bubbles begin to burst on top and the bottoms are golden brown. Carefully flip over and cook for a minute or so longer until cooked throughout and golden brown.
5. Scoop out and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the remaining pancakes.

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 It makes a lovely big cake.  I baked it in my sister's 9 by 13 inch pyrex dish.  She didn't have a metal pan that size.  Beggars can't be choosers! 

It was a really easy cake to make as well. You just put everything into the bowl of your mixer and beat away until its all smooth!  Make sure your butter is really soft however, or it won't beat in well.

 You also don't beat in the raisins and nuts. You stir them in at the end.  That way they stay a nice size. It bakes really quickly as well.

Not much more than half an hour.  I used storebought unsweetened applesauce, but you could also use homemade applesauce. I would not use sweetened applesauce. 

 

 I think a pinch of cloves would also go very nicely. You don't need a lot. Just a pinch.  Cloves can be very overpowering, but again, they go with apple very well.

Someone on the Land O Lakes site had adde Chai Tea Spice.  That sounds interesting.

 I also added a bit more in the way of raisins.  We love raisins in everything.  Which reminds me. I need to bake a raisin pie one day for my dad. He would love that.

I need to be careful however as we are both diabetics, and my sister is on the edge.  Raisin pie might tip us all over the top. But boyo boyo . . .  its a real favourite! Maybe for Christmas.

 

But again, well worth the effort.  Really well worth the effort.  This frosting is to die for, and goes so very well with that moist and spicy cake. 

I used walnuts instead of pecans. My father loves walnuts. So do I.  Again, I always toast my nuts. It doesn't take long. Only about 10 minutes in a hot oven. Let them cool before you use them.

 One thing I am really struggling with at the moment is proper lighting.  It is all  a matter of timing. I was just on the edge today.  I will get it right eventually! 

Or I will look for a light box. We will have to wait and see. I think in the warmer months it won't be so much of a problem as we have lighter days.

 I couldn't help myself. Once I had cut a piece to take a photograph, I needed to eat it. LOL  I am so naughty I know. 

I have to tell you it is really good.  REALLY REALLY GOOD!

  

  

Brown Butter Frosted Applesauce Spice Cake

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Yield: 15

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 5 Mincook time: 35 Mintotal time: 40 Min

Quick, easy and beautifully spiced, this moist cake has a browned butter frosting that really adds a special touch!

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 2 cups (280g) allpurpose flour
• 2 cups (390g) sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (325g) unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup (120g) butter softened
• 2 large free range eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp soda
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup (115g) raisins
• 1/2 cup (60g) chopped toasted walnuts

For the Browned Butter Frosting:

• 1/3 cup (75g) butter
• 3 cups (390g) sifted icing sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 to 3 TBS milk
• 2 TBS chopped toasted walnuts (to garnish)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 189*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking dish or tin really well. Set aside.
2. Measure all of the cake ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat together until smooth,  with the exception of the raisins and nuts. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Stir in the raisins and nuts. Scrape into the prepared baking dish. Smooth over the top.
3. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown, risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. The cake will have begun to pull away from the sides of the pan slightly. Cook completely before making the icing.
4. To make the icing heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, cooking and stirring until the buttter just starts to turn golden. Stir constantly. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
5. To make the icing combine the browned butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Beat at medium speed,adding the milk gradually and scraping the bowl, until the frosting is smooth and spreadable. Spread onto the cooled cake and sprinkle the toasted nuts over top. Serve cut into squares.

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 When my children were growing up, I always tried to have some fresh cookies or a freshly baked snacking cake waiting for them when they got home from school.  Yes, they were rather spoiled.

My mom hardly ever baked.  She was a working mother from when I was 11 years old.  If we had baking in the house, other than the holidays, we had to bake it ourselves.

There were tons of home-baked treats at Christmas. The rest of the year, for the most part, our treats came from a box.  Yes, we ate and enjoyed boxed cookies.

Even they were counted and regulated. My mother had been overweight when she was growing up and so she was very careful about what we, as children, put into our mouths. Over-indulgences were not encouraged at all.

I will put my hand up and admit to having next-to-no willpower when it comes to baked goodies.  Or potato chips. That is why more and more I am small-batching things.

When I have less of these things in the house.  I am not tempted as much. There is far less for me to indulge in. I also only buy small serving bags of potato chips, etc.  Again. Portion controlled and an occasional treat.

You only have to look at me to recognise that I am not suceeding.  LOL  Yes, I am a real butterball of a woman. I think at the age of 65 I have given up the idea that I will ever be thin again.  

All I want to be now is happy and reasonably healthy.  Baking in smaller batches helps me to do just that!

 

  

 

Skillet, pie dish ramekins or dropped, these are one very delicious cookie. Every mouthful brings you a lush surprise and combination of flavours and textures.

I do so like surprises don't you? The potato chips and pretzels stay surprisingly crunchy as well.  I loved that.

 

 

 

 

 I also like to present things as close to natural as possible. I hate highly edited, colour enhanced food photographs. I want reality. I hope you do too.

In any case you need to bake these cookies!  They are excellent!!

Sweet & Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Yield: Makes 10

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 8 Mincook time: 12 Mintotal time: 20 Min

A moreish cookie with the right combination of salty and sweet. Crisp edged and stuffed with crunchy potato chips, broken pretzels, chewy coconut, wholesome oats and ooey chocolate chips. Betcha can't eat just one!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (60g) butter
• 1/4 cup (50g) soft light brown sugar, packed
• 1 large free range egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup (46g) all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (20g) old fashioned oats
• 1/8 tsp each baking soda and salt
• 2 TBS broken toasted pecans
• 2 TBS shredded sweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup (45g) semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup (30g) roughly broken pretzel twists
• 1/4 cup (25g) broken ruffled plain salted potato chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 165*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment.  Set aside.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy.  Stir in the egg yolk and vanilla. Combine well.
3. Sift together the flour and baking soda.  Add to the creamed mixture along with the oats and salt.
4. Stir in the pecans, coconut, chocolate chips, potato chips and pretzel bits. Mix well to distribute everything evenly throughout.
5. Using a cookie scoop or a TBS drop onto the baking sheet leaving some space in between.
6. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until set and the edges have not yet browned.
7. Let cool on the baking sheet for five minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
8. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

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This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again! 

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