Pancake Love

Many people say it's just flour, baking powder and some oil mixed together but it's so much more than that for me. A great pancake can start my day off right. A gorgeously decorated plate of pancakes with toppings such as bananas and walnuts drizzled with maple butter will put a big smile on my face. Trying to create the perfect recipe for good pancakes has been a quest of mine for these past few years.

*Photos taken by myself unless otherwise noted.

Searching for pancakes on the internet will show you how creative people can get with them. From rainbow pancakes to mint chocolate chip pancakes, it's amazing what some people come up with.

It's no secret to my friends that I love food. If I had to choose one type of food that I could eat almost everyday, it would be the humble pancake. It may seem plain and boring to some and for others, it's just a mix of flour, baking soda, eggs and water. However for me, it's much more than that. It brings back fond memories of childhood when I used to live in America.

Just so you know, my mother never cooked much because she had to work to raise two kids on her own. She did cook once in awhile, but it was usually Japanese food. Sometimes my mother would understandably be too tired to cook and she would suggest that we go to eat at the neighborhood diner.

My sister and I was always ecstatic when she suggested this because it meant that we would be eating food that's not Japanese.

My mother would usually have some kind of soup or meat dish while I don't remember what my sister had. Half of the time when my mother allowed me to, I would eat pancakes. In fact, when I go back home to visit my family, I still order pancakes for even for dinner!

Ok, it's not like I always eat pancakes for dinner because they're not exactly full of nutrition. I just cannot help it. I love pancakes and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I usually compensate with eating salads and fresh fruit the next day and if I feel especially guilty, I'll even add in a workout. Even on vacation!

Pancakes have a bit of interesting history as well. I'll also share my favorite buttermilk recipe that I perfected. If you like pancakes like me, keep reading!

Btw, the picture you see is a plate of low-carb pancakes I made myself. If you are a low-carber check out my recipe on how to make delicious almond flour pancakes!

I am no expert on pancakes, but I do know a little bit about them. The first pancakes in history seem to date back to Ancient Greece when they were called taginites. They were usually made of wheat flour, olive oil, honey and curdled milk and were eaten for breakfast.

Of course the French have their version of pancakes called crepes. In France they are usually eaten for lunch, dinner or as a light snack. I remember eating a simple crepe on one of my trips to France and it was simply unforgettable.

It was one of the simplest things I've ever eaten in my life.....a crepe that was perfectly cooked slathered with butter and a sprinkling of sugar. Best crepe in my life! Crepes can be made more elaborate with savory ingredients such as ham and eggs but I like to keep mine simple.

I also recently learned about a pancake dish called Kaiserschmarrn on a tv show here in Japan. This pancake dish originated in Austria and the first kaiserscharmarrn was created to serve the Austrian emperor Francis Joseph for dessert.

Here is a pancake I made at home that was inspired by Japanese sweets. Traditional Japanese sweets usually include one or a combination of azuki, matcha and sometimes kuromitsu.

For this recipe I simply used a pancake mix to save some time. I added a scoop of ready-made sweetened azuki, some whipped cream, sprinkled some matcha powder and drizzled kuromitsu over everything.

These Japanese pancakes tasted more like dessert than breakfast so I would recommend this one for tea time and perhaps in a half portion than the one in the picture. Unsweetened green tea would be a great accompaniment to this Japanese concoction.

This is a recipe I tinkered with for weeks and I think I finally got it tasting as good as it can get. I love banana pancakes but the crunchy walnuts really add a great texture giving it another dimension to it.

The maple butter syrup tastes great and eliminates the need to try and spread cold butter onto the pancakes. I usually don't have time to whip the butter myself and this just makes it easier.

If you love pancakes like I do, you'll definitely want to check out my other pancake recipes online.

Matcha Pancakes with White Chocolate

The Best Paleo Pancakes

The Ultimate Banana Pancakes with Maple Butter