Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes + Fruit Syrup

I've never made poppy seed anything before so this was a trial and error attempt in itself. I was planning on making lemon poppy seed donuts, or a lemon poppy seed yogurt tart, but I said 'You know what?' What if I put these into pancakes?! I talked it over with my husband, who tends to never object to anything I have the urge to make. So that, was that, it was game on once morning arrived.

These came out fluffy, not too sweet and definitely not tangy either. It was delicious and I have left over batter to make these again tomorrow morning along with some cheddar, bacon scones. If you don't have a zester, you can use a cheese grater. Not exactly the same but you got to use what you got.

*I tend to make everything from scratch, feel free to use pancake mix if you'd like. You'd have to adjust the recipe of course. It should still turn out the same.

Ingredients - Fruit syrup recipe below:

• 2 cups All Purpose Flour   
• 4 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 2 teaspoons Sugar
• Lemon Zest
• 1 & 1/2 cup Milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Exstract
• 3 tablespoons Melted Butter
• 1 & 1/2 tablespoons Poppy Seeds

Fruit Syrup:

• Blackberries or blueberries
• Pinch of Cardamom Spice
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Water

In a bowl, combine the all purpose flour, baking powder and salt together. Now, zest the lemon making sure you do not zest the white of the lemon, just the yellow or it will be bitter. Once you have your desired amount of lemon zest, as there is no wrong and no right (I used two whole lemons), add the sugar to it. Mixing well, it will almost make a paste. Add lemon zest/sugar mixture to the dry mix and set aside.

If you do not have buttermilk, you can make it yourself. I always do, there truly isn't much of a difference. Take the milk, add it into a bowl, add the lemon juice and let sit for 5 minutes, stirring as you go, slowly add the vanilla. Sometimes it will curdle, this is time. Add to dry mixture, it will be a little thick, do not worry. Add the melted butter you set to the side, and finally add the poppy seeds. Make sure it is all well mixed together. Place on a hot skillet or griddle pan and cook until bubbles form, then flip. I like my pancakes a lighter color so I flip them early, but cook as desired. 

I added a pinch of fresh lemon juice to my pancakes after buttering them, and then added fresh black berries on top with a hint of honey. It was so delicious, my husband finished all 4 pancakes and wanted more! Serve with your favorite fruit OR make a fruit syrup. For the fruit syrup, put berries, water, and sugar into a pan on medium high heat until the sugar dissolves. Once it dissolves, bring the heat down a bit and let cook for 20-30 mins or until fruit is soft, add the pinch of cardamom -- at this point you can either strain the big pieces out of the syrup or you can leave it together and drizzle over your pancakes. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

Upcoming:

Cheddar Bacon Scones

S'mores, Blackberry White Chocolate, and Caramel Apple Creme Brûlée 

S'mores Cupcakes

Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Apple Trifle

Spiced Pumpkin Trifle

Chicken in a Bacon Apple Cider sauce

Bourbon Bacon Grilled Cheese

Poppy Seed, Lemon & Parmesan Crusted Salmon with Pumpkin Puree

Peppermint Creme Brûlée 

Honey Orange Chicken Wings

Sweet Potato Hash, with Sausage, Egg and Onions

Firecracker Shrimp

more to come, but here is a list for now. As you can see, I'm obsessing over Fall, as I always do. It's my favorite time of the year. Almost all of these will be coming back to back, so keep your eye on the blog, or subscribe! Have a great day everyone.