pancake

Homemade Butter Flavoured Pancake Syrup

By in Condiments, Homemade 5 Comments Tags: , , , ,

butter flavoured syrup

In a perfect world we would all have unlimited access to all-natural maple syrup at our fingertips (or if you’re Aimée you’d tap your trees and make your own. Brilliance I tell you!). But in reality, for most of us, it’s just so darned expensive, especially if you live outside of Canada or the US. It’s no secret that maple syrup is my favourite processed sugar alternative, but I know it’s not always possible to be as carefree with it as I tend to be (I’m Canadian, I practically bleed maple syrup). So today I’m sharing my go-to homemade syrup that replaces the butter flavoured stuff from the store. It’s not meant to be a maple syrup substitute so don’t go substituting it for maple syrup in recipes (that would kind of ruin the point ;)).

This syrup is just as delicious as Aunt Jemima’s but the ingredient list is a lot shorter. I always think it’s a good idea to make these kinds of things at home so you can see just how much sugar goes into it – it makes you more mindful when you get to pouring it over your pancakes. Syrup will never be healthy but you can make it just as flavourful and a lot more healthfully (i.e. less processed) at home. Plus it’s quick and simple, and pretty cheap to boot.

It’s the weekend. Go forth. Make pancakes. Make syrup. And, enjoy!

butter flavoured syrup

Butter Flavoured Pancake Syrup

  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 2 teaspoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon pure maple extract

Place sugar, water and honey in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Boil one minute. Remove from heat, stir in butter, vanilla and maple extract until butter is melted. Serve immediately or cool (syrup will thicken as it cools). Store, covered, in the fridge.

Makes: 3/4-1 cup

Homemade Baking Mix – Healthified

By in Breads, Homemade 24 Comments Tags: , , , , , ,

I love my regular homemade baking mix, it makes some of our favourite pancakes (and according to the comments I”ve received, many others favourite too). I like the quick and filling breakfast it makes during the week, but I”ve never felt like it had enough nutritional value for an everyday type of thing. If my kids are going to enjoy pancakes once or twice a week I want them to be healthier and have more fibre. I got asked quite often how to make it with whole wheat flour or how to make it the equivalent of the Bisquick Heart-Smart mix, so I thought it was about time to make the move.

I”ve taken the original recipe, subbed a portion or the white flour for whole wheat flour and wheat germ, and upped the baking powder a bit to make up for the heaviness of the whole wheat. My family loves whole wheat bread so I don”t really know why it took me so long to try this. So far I”ve used the mix for pancakes and biscuits – they were both delicious. Although I haven”t tried it in my other baking mix recipes, I”m fairly confident this will work, as the original, and be able to be substituted in any recipe that calls for bisquick or other baking mixes.

To get more tips on making it healthier and links to recipes, you should definitely scour the original post and comments. I love when readers chime in with their adaptations and recipes and there are plenty of good ideas to be found. I received an email from a reader, Elizabeth, who said “I am on a reduced salt diet and pancakes, waffles and biscuits are loaded with sodium. I changed your recipe just a little and got a great tasting alternative. I used unsalted butter, sodium free baking powder and half the salt. It is wonderful!” So, feel free to tweak these recipes to your liking and make them suitable for your family. Many people have also used the original recipe and subbed all of the white flour with white whole wheat flour and it sounds like it was a great success.

I”ve made the mixing process a bit easier by doing what has become the norm for me – grating in the cold butter rather than cutting it in with a pastry blender. This works great for me but feel free to go the normal route if you prefer.

For more recipes to use this mix in, head over to the original Homemade Baking Mix post.

Whole Wheat Baking Mix

  • 2.5 cups whole wheat flour

  • 2 cups white flour

  • 1/2 cup wheat germ (or additional whole wheat flour)

  • 6 tablespoons baking powder

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup butter (salted or unsalted), cold

Mix together flours, wheat germ, baking powder, sugar and salt. Quickly grate in butter (using a cheese grater), in a couple additions, tossing with flour to coat the butter so it doesn”t stick together. Store in the fridge (for as long as the butter stays good for), or in the freezer for longer storage.

Drop Biscuits

Mix together 1/3 cup of milk for every 1 cup of mix. Drop onto un-greased cookie sheets and bake @ 450ºF for 10-12 min.

*Add any additional ingredients you wish such as cheese or herbs before adding the milk.

* 1 cup of mix will yield about 6 biscuits.

Pancakes

Mix 2 cups of mix with 1 cup milk and 2 eggs. Cook on hot griddle.

*As with the biscuits you can add any flavouring or other ingredient you would like, such as chocolate chips or blueberries.