Have you ever tried a food somewhere and even years later, you think about how good it was and wish you could have it again? Just me? When I was in college, I worked at a camp in Missouri one summer and almost every off day, the staff would go to Cracker Barrel. It was cheap, it was familiar, and most importantly it wasn’t “camp” food. That summer, they had these limited edition granola pancakes and I’m telling you, I’ve been thinking about them for the past 10 years. As a kid, the only pancakes I was interested in were ones with chocolate chips, because I didn’t like syrup (crazy, right?!). The exception to my pancake pickiness were the blackberry pancakes at Cracker Barrel that my mom would order every time we went. It wasn’t that often, since Cracker Barrel was deemed a “road trip restaurant,” but getting to sneak a bite of those grown-up pancakes was a highlight of every trip.
I’m not sure exactly when it changed, but sometime between childhood and college, pancakes made it to the top of my list of favorte breakfast foods. I grew out of chocolate-chips-only, although truthfully there are currently leftover chocolate chip pancakes in my refrigerator, and branched out to other varieties. So that get’s us to the summer in college where Cracker Barrel had these granola pancakes. I was totally obsessed and then, like so many other Cracker Barrel delights (ahem, I’m looking at you chocolate cobbler), they were gone. I’ve often thought about them. I’ve looked for dupe recipes. I’ve tried putting granola in my pancakes thinking it would work out great. It did not. If you are thinking this pancakes are going to be the same as those, they probably won’t be. But, like I said, I love good pancakes and these are GOOD pancakes. So the next Saturday morning you are tempted to put the frozen waffles in the toaster oven again, take a few minutes and whip these up instead. They are buttery, nutty, a little sweet, and filling, thanks to the oats and whole wheat flour. Top them with some maple syrup, or go crazy with a little fruit and whipped cream and be the breakfast hero you always wanted to be.
To be a breakfast hero and whip up these pancakes, here is what you will need…
Brown Butter Granola Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup quick oats
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp butter, unsalted
Instructions
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine both flours, oats, baking powder, brown sugar, pecans and salt.
- In the same bowl, add the milk, lightly beaten egg, and vanilla, stiring to combine.
- To make the brown butter, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add your butter and allow it to melt fully. Once it begins to foam, stir constantly 1-2 minutes until it just begins to darken to a deep golden color and becomes fragrant. Immediately remove from heat and pour the butter into the pancake batter, stiring to combine.
- Using the same skillet, return it to medium heat and spoon your batter into the desired pancake size.
- Cook each pancake until bubbles appear on the entire surface and the edges begin to set, approximately 4-5 minutes. Flip and cook an additional minute. Remove from heat.
- To serve, drizzle with maple syrup or top with your favorite fruit preserves.
Notes
- Reheating tip! The best way to reheat pancakes is to add a small amount of butter to a skillet over medium heat. Add your pancakes to the skillet and allow to reheat for approximately 2 minutes on each side. No more soggy microwave pancakes!