Breakfast - Orange Pecan Pancakes

We returned from our recent visit to Florida with a nice 5 pound bag of fresh, in-shell pecans and nearly half a bushel of fresh oranges! Naturally, I immediately wanted to make something delicious with these. I decided to use a recipe I found through Betty Crocker for Oatmeal-Brown Sugar Pancakes with Banana-Walnut Syrup and alter it slightly to fit the nuts and produce I had on hand.

Let me first talk about the pancakes. I have never made oatmeal pancakes before, and these turned out very light and fluffy! They were delicious but definitely soaked up the syrup more than I am used to with pancakes.

As for the syrup, I used the basic recipe above, but substituted an orange for the 2 bananas, and pecans for the walnuts called for. The resulting syrup was delicious! Delicately flavored with a slight tinge of orange, and the pecans added a nice bit of texture to the tender pancakes.

This recipe is a great, simple way to have a nice hearty breakfast. It is fairly quick to make and uses ingredients found in most pantries. I'd even recommend trying your own variation, for example, cherries and almonds!

Oatmeal-Brown Sugar Pancakes with Orange-Pecan Syrup

Ingredients:

For syrup:
-2 tablespoons butter or margarine
-1/4 cup chopped pecans
-1 orange, sliced, sectioned and chopped
-1 cup maple-flavored syrup

For pancakes:
-2 cups Bisquick mix (we used the heart healthy variety and it worked fine!)
-1/2 cup old fashioned or quick-cooking oats
-2 tablespoons brown sugar
-1-1/4 cup milk
-2 eggs

In small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add pecans and stir until butter begins to brown. Add oranges and stir to mix. Mix in the syrup and reduce heat to low. Cook until warm and keep warm while you make the pancakes.

Heat your favorite pancake griddle/pan until it is ready for cooking pancakes. A good rule of thumb my dad (the pancake master) taught me, is to throw a couple drops of water on the pan. When the drops of water sizzle and jump around on the pan, you know it is the perfect temperature! Be aware that you may need to grease your pan if it is not non-stick! Obviously do this before you heat it!

Mix together pancake ingredients above in a medium sized bowl. When the batter is well blended, spoon a trio of pancakes at a time onto the pan/griddle and cook each side until golden brown. Repeat until batter is gone.

Move pancakes to serving plates and top with a bit of the orange-pecan syrup mixture. Enjoy!