Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes with Roasted Balsamic Strawberries

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads, Daddys, Pas, Poppas and Grandads in New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea!!! You are all so so wonderful. Special shout out to George’s Daddy, Pa and Poppa – you’re the bomb and according to George, even cooler than trucks and Elmo (you can’t get any cooler than that)!

I probably should have posted these fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes with Roasted Strawberries blog post yesterday so you could plan to make it for a special fathers’ day breakfast-in-bed today, but I was disorganised, sorry. So instead, why don’t you make these next weekend and spoil Dad with another breakfast-in-bed? I know you will be rewarded for your trouble with plenty of Dad jokes and bear hugs.

Strawberries are in season!! Yay!! Summer is on its way my friends. I do have a confession which I feel a tad guilty about, these strawberries were imported from Australia. This is no slight on my Australian friends, its just I generally try to buy fruit and vegetables seasonally and locally but I was just so excited when I saw the first strawberries of the season in the supermarket I just couldn’t resist. If you haven’t tried roasting strawberries, you must try this. This brings out their juices and makes them slightly caramel tasting. I add a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper and a dash of balsamic vinegar which may sound strange but trust me on this – it works. It doesn’t taste at all savoury, salty or peppery, you won’t even know they’re there, instead these ingredients will give the strawberries a lovely depth of flavour. You also will not be disappointed with these vanilla and buttermilk pancakes, they are slightly crispy on the outside and oh so airy and fluffy on the inside – just like little pillows. The secret is the buttermilk and also leaving your pancake mixture to stand for a bit before using. Buttermilk is readily available in supermarkets but if you don’t have any at home, take a tip from my lovely mother-in-law Colleen, add 1 Tbsp of lemon juice or white vinegar to a 1 cup of milk and let it stand for 5 minutes. Voila! You have the perfect substitute! The other secret to fluffy pancakes is to let your mixture stand for a while before using. So make your pancake mixture first up so that you can let it stand while you’re making the strawberries. I’ve heard of people that go to the extent of leaving it overnight, whilst I haven’t tried this, I do know the pancakes are great if you leave the mixture anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours.

I hope you all had a wonderful day whether it was just relaxing in the weekend or spending the day with your special Dad on Father’s Day. Have a great week and make sure you grab some strawberries next weekend and enjoy (another) special brunch with these fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes with Roasted Strawberries.

Oh, and did I mention these are REFINED SUGAR-FREE! Yay!!

Enjoy, Kate xoxo

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Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes with Roasted Balsamic Strawberries

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 2

Author My Little Larder

Ingredients

Pancakes

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Roasted Strawberries

• 1 punnet 250g/9oz strawberries, quartered
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• pinch sea salt
• pinch freshly cracked black pepper
• a few drops balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp butter plus extra for cooking pancakes

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F).

For the pancake batter

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together the wet ingredients.
2. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. There will be some lumps but don't worry, your pancakes will not be lumpy. Set aside.

For the strawberries

1. Line a baking tray with baking (parchment) paper. Add the strawberries and coat with the maple syrup, sea salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar and toss to combine.
2. Divide up the butter and scatter small knobs of butter over the strawberries.
3. Place in the oven for 15 min or until soft and juicy, gently turning once halfway during cooking.
4. Remove from oven and set aside until ready to serve.

For cooking the pancakes

1. Warm a skillet, griddle pan or fry pan over medium heat. Add approximately 1 tsp butter (enough to grease the pan). Using a soup ladle, spoon in one ladle full of pancake mixture into the pan. Leave for approximately 5 minutes or until you start to see bubbles popping on the surface of the pancake. Turn over and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Depending on your pan size, you may be able to cook more than one pancake at a time.
2. Repeat for remaining mixture. Makes approximately 6 pancakes.