Pancakes with a Mandarin Orange Reduction Sauce

I woke up this morning with Mandarin oranges on my mind (yes I'm strange). Becky had called out to everyone that pancakes were cooking and to get up or eat them cold. She had told me last night that she was going to fix pancakes for breakfast, and is often the case, they were the 'normal' variety that you put sugar or syrup on.

Not being normal, I guess, is what caused my creative side to emerge from the cobwebs of sleep and inspired this morning's breakfast variation. Mandarin oranges are a staple in our house, and many time the kids will open up a can and eat them one by one. Oranges in general are also high in vitamin C and with several kids down with colds this seemed like a fun way to incorporate today's secret ingredient (I guess I watch too many cooking shows).

I have to thank a good friend, Lisa Luke with DoTerra Essential Oils, for giving me the Wild Orange Oil I used. If you don't have any, you can use an orange extract, orange zest or just omit, but for the health benefits and fullness of flavor, I do recommend finding some food grade essential oil.

Pancakes with a Mandarin Orange Reduction and a Wild Orange Cream

Make your favorite pancake mix or waffles according to package directions.

Mandarin Orange Reduction Sauce:

2 (11 oz) cans of Mandarin Oranges (including juice)

1 (11 oz) can of Mandarin Oranges, drained and set aside

5 drops DoTerra Wild Orange Essential Oil

1/8 tsp Nutmeg

1/8 tsp All Spice

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

2 Tbsp Agave Nectar (you can substitute honey or sugar)

Combine all ingredients (except 1 can of oranges) in medium sauce pan and boil on med-high heat until reduced to a syrup (about 7-10 minutes). Add remaining can of oranges. Chill and reserve.

Wild Orange Cream:

2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream

8 drops DoTerra Wild Orange Essential Oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp Splenda (or Powdered Sugar for non diabetics)

Whip until peaks form.

Ladle Mandarin Orange Sauce over Pancakes and top with Wild Orange Cream for a delicious morning breakfast. Enjoy.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Happy Memorial Day. Being home from work today and not having church to get ready for, I have time to make a fun breakfast. Not that I don't make breakfast that often, on the contrary, I get to make breakfast once or twice per week, most weeks. But this is the first time I have been able to both make breakfast and blog about it.

Last night I ask one of my lovely daughters what she wanted for breakfast this morning and she replied, "chocolate chip pancakes." I love chocolate in all its splendid glory and varieties (I've even used chocolate in a wonderful chicken recipe - Caribbean Chicken (see previous post), however, I've never really cared for them in pancakes. The gooey chocolate oozing out of the pancakes is wonderful for the first bite or two, but for me who is diabetic, more than a few bites is just too sweet.

Well, I was rummaging through my pantry last night and I came across some pumpkin pie filling, so I had an idea. If I'm going to please my girls, why not go all out. Instead of normal chocolate chip pancakes, why not pumpkin pie chocolate chip pancakes. So that is the recipe I start my morning with. Here goes:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

adopted from a recipe from the Woolverton Inn, Stockton, NJ

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups flour

Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves to taste

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

8 eggs (separated)

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 cups pumpkin (1 15oz can)

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 stick of melted butter, slightly cooled

A aandful or two of Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

With a hand mixer, whip egg whites until stiff but not dry.

Mix together buttermilk, pumpkin, sugar, vanilla and butter. Make a well in the dry ingredients and fold in buttermilk-pumpkin mixture; do not over mix.

Gently fold egg whites into batter.

Cook on a hot grill until bubbles form at the edges. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips onto the raw batter on the grill. Flip and cook 2 – 3 minutes more.

Cinnamon Sugar Compound Butter

1 lb unsalted butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar or Splenda

5 drops Wild Orange Essential oil or orange extract

Whip Butter with Cinnamon, Sugar and a few drops Orange Oil.

Enjoy!