Every other day, it was cereal for breakfast, but Sundays were “Special Breakfast” days in our family.

The vast majority of the time it would start with the ever-present box of Bisquick – as kids, we would stand on the wooden stepstool my dad built, and crank the eggbeater to help dad mix the batter for pancakes or waffles. Sometimes we’d have French toast instead, or blueberry muffins, and once in a blue moon mom would buy the pillsbury can of biscuits, cut out the centers, and fry them up as cinnamon-sugar doughnuts.

There’d be sausage or bacon on the side, and eggs – always scrambled. Orange juice to drink, and don’t forget to eat your chewable Flintstone vitamin – pink was the best, although let’s be honest they were all terrible.

Sundays were also cleaning days. Dad would blast classical music throughout our little house, grab his caddy full of cleaning supplies, and take care of any housework or yardwork that needed doing that week.

I never realized until now how much I miss those Sunday traditions. Who wants to join me for some pancakes and classical cleaning?

I first tried this pancake recipe on my old Twitch stream back in 2017, and I was instantly obsessed – so much that I made them for Christmas that year, and then again for our socially-distanced Christmas of just the two of us this year.

It’s super decadent, absolutely a treat sort of breakfast (pun totally not intended, given that we ate this with the treet and eggs I posted a few days ago).

The pancakes are delicious all by themselves, cozy and full of warm spices. And the toffee sauce puts it over the top, into exactly the sort of overindulgent breakfast you want on a Christmas morning!

Sticky Toffee Pancakes

from Lady and Pups

Ingredients

Toffee Sauce

• 1/2 cup (93g) dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (169g) honey
• 1/4 cup (56g) heavy cream
• 3 tbsp (42g) unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp brandy
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Pancake Batter

• 1 large egg white + 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 cup (230g) whole milk
• 2 tbsp (42g) molasses
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp grated ginger
• 2 tbsp (27g) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cup (168g) preferably cake flour, but all-purpose flour is fine
• 1 tbsp (12g) light brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• canola oil and unsalted butter for cooking

Cooking Directions

1. TO MAKE THE TOFFEE SAUCE: Combine everything but the vanilla extract in a small pot and set over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 3-4 min, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla. Set aside.
2. TO MAKE THE PANCAKES: In a clean bowl with hand-held mixer, whisk together the egg white and cream of tartar on high speed until stiff peaks form. It should look like at least tripled in volume. Set aside.
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, molasses, egg yolk and grated ginger until even. Sift flour, light brown sugar, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and allspice directly into the wet ingredient. Then add the melted butter and stir everything together with a fork just until it comes together into a thick batter. Fold the beaten egg white into the batter with a spatula in 3 additions, just until even. Try not to overwork the batter too much.
4. Using a flat non-stick skillet with lid, heat 1 tbsp of canola oil and 1 tbsp of unsalted butter over medium heat. Once the butter starts to bubble, spoon the batter onto the skillet. Cover and turn the heat down to medium-low, and cook for 2+ min, until the first side of the pancake is golden-brown. The steam inside the skillet will help cook the pancakes faster, and I find that it better retains the height of the pancakes as well. Now remove the lid and flip the pancake over. Turn the heat back to medium and cook, uncovered, until the second side is golden-brown as well. Repeat until all the batter is used, and add more canola oil and unsalted butter as needed.
5. Reheat the toffee sauce to loosen the consistency if needed, and serve immediately with pancakes.

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