Strawberry Cornmeal Griddle Cakes

These pancakes look like Cookie Monster.

Once you see it, you can’t un-see it….

Last weekend after my insane 4th of July (which involved accidentally hiking over 15 miles and burning a billion calories), I woke up the next morning feeling like an 80-year-old, kind of fell/rolled out of bed, and got my coffee made like usual. But as I sat on the couch my stomach demanded something more. After poking through Pinterest for a hot second, I had talked myself into this glorious breakfast.

By all rights, I shouldn’t like these pancakes, because I have this weird hangup about hot and fruit. Fruit shouldn’t be hot. I take fruit crisp out of the oven and put it right in the freezer. Hot fruit is weird. But these were amazing. Fresh, summery strawberries in a golden crispy pancake, drenched in maple syrup. Practically perfect in every way.

I’ve also made a small-batch mixed-berry adaptation of these that is to die for.

Stir the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Melt the butter, then whisk it together with the buttermilk, followed by the eggs. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together, and gently stir the diced strawberries in until just combined.

That looks so good!

Heat a large skillet (I recommend cast-iron) and melt butter or oil over medium to medium-low heat.  My burner is super intense, so medium-low worked for me. Spoon about a quarter cup of batter into the skillet for each pancake. Cook until the bottoms are golden and bubbles appear all over top, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Flip and cook until the second side is golden, another minute or so.

You can keep them warm by spreading them out on a baking sheet in a 200-degree oven, but they’re so good fresh and drenched in butter and maple syrup that I can’t recommend them any other way.

Seriously, Cookie Monster.

Strawberry Cornmeal Griddle Cakes

• 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup of yellow cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea or table salt
• 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, plus more for buttering skillet
• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup of roughly chopped strawberries

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a whisk. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in the bottom of a medium bowl, then whisk in the buttermilk, followed by the eggs, one at a time. Gently stir in the strawberries and pour the strawberry-buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.

Heat a large skillet (cast-iron is my favorite for pancakes) and melt butter or oil over medium to medium-low heat (my burner is intense, so medium-low for me). Spoon or pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet for each pancake. Cook until bottoms are golden and bubbles appear all over top, about 1 to 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until the second side is golden, another minute. If you’re not going to eat them right away, you can spread them on a baking sheet and keep them warm until needed in a 200-degree oven, but I highly recommend drenching them in butter and maple syrup and devouring.

Original recipe from Smitten Kitchen