Farmhouse Pancakes

I love pancakes. Maybe too much. I make them at least once a week. Yet, at times when we’re snowed in, I make them more than I would like to admit. They are warm, they are soft, and they can be healthy. ‘Can be,’ being the operative words here. I’m a sucker for traditional buttermilk pancakes with lots and I means lots of Vermont maple syrup. I say Vermont these days |being Canadian|, as I live in the rural countryside of Vermont and our maple syrup comes from a maple syrup farm |Top Acres Farm| that’s located only two miles from our home from a sweet |so-to-speak| woman we call, Mary “Maple.” Very fitting. It doesn’t get more local than that!

Print Recipe for Farmhouse Pancakes

My husband and I prefer the dark, robust Grade B over the light, fancy Grade A. Darker syrup tends to have more depth and boldness, it’s not as sugary stick-to-your-teeth sweet as the fancy |yet it is all about preference|. If you have ever been to a sugar house in sugaring season |yes, it’s a season here in Vermont| and smelled the steam that runs off the cooked syrup, then been able to take a taste right then and there of the fresh boiled sugar, that boiled | cooked taste lingers in the darker amber syrups. In the lighter golden syrups, that richness gets lost as it turns into more a of simple syrup. Both are truly amazing – “liquid gold,” as it’s called here in Vermont and I’ll take any grade, any shade, as long as it’s a pure maple syrup. And these days – from Vermont!

Now that it’s February here in Vermont, that means we’ve bypassed what we call January thaw – when the temperatures rise above 35 |Fahrenheit| and the snow begins to melt. But then, just as all the snow turns into slush, the temperatures drop once again turning all that has slushed into a glazed over landscape fit for an Olympic ice skater; the landscape once again has turned into a midwinter’s dream. It snowed for 24 | hrs and this morning all the tree branches are coated with snow leaving the eyes thankful for winter’s beauty once more before it’s gone and we wind into Spring.

February is also a month I like to say is for lovers. And today, I am also going to say it’s for blogging; this is my first, long awaited, blog post.

Today my daughter and I are snowed in and cozied up in front of our fireplace trying to regain our strength after a long, drawn out cold. I am dreaming of regaining my energy so I can recreate this stack of Vermont Farmhouse Pancakes that I whipped up over the weekend. Maybe the next stack, I’ll steer away from my traditional buttermilk recipe and include something a bit more healthy and for lovers, maybe I’ll add some hearts.

For now, Anasa and I are going to continue to practice our patience in healing by practicing hygge || finding coziness and comfort with feelings of wellness and contentment in our state of lingering sickness and in our chilly Green Mountain State, or today – white mountains.

A list of nut safe brands | local ingredients used:
King Arthur All-Purpose Flour, Butterworks Farm Nonfat Buttermilk, and Top Acres Farm Maple Syrup.

I use only nut safe ingredients | products in all my recipes. Every time I go to the market, I check the ingredient list and allergy disclaimers posted beneath the ingredient list; even though I checked this information the week before. I check this list prior to each purchase as the company may have had a change in manufacturing facility | plant.

Better safe than sorry when it only takes a moment to glance through both the ingredients and allergy information posted below the list of ingredients. I.e. “allergy information: may contain…; made on shared equipment…; or processed in a facility…”

Soon you will be able to refer to a blog post on How to Navigate Food Allergens for a safe home.