Sweet Potato Pancakes

Hello, web friends! It’s been a while. I’ve decided to stop apologizing for my long absences since they’re just my reality right now, but it’s always good to be back. Today’s post is a bittersweet one for me, because I’ve got a great new recipe to share, but it also marks the end of my participation in a special baking club.

I’ve been with the Secret Recipe Club for many months – at this point, it’s probably more like years – and it’s been a lot of fun. Due to everything going on in my non-blog life right now, I’ve decided to shift my focus elsewhere, but I will definitely be sad to leave the club. It’s kept me an honest cook and in the kitchen, crafting up special recipes at least once a month, and I’ll miss having that commitment. Guess I’m on the hook now to keep myself honest!

This month’s recipe is a good one to go out on, because it’s soul-satisfyingly delicious. It’s been a wicked winter here in New England, so I’ve been doing a lot of comfort-food cooking (and eating!) to try to make it through the frigid, snowy days. This month I was assigned Denise’s blog, Creative Kitchen, which features a lot of approachable, tasty recipes. I was particularly intrigued by her variety of breakfast recipes, and was looking for a weekend morning treat, so this seemed like a solid pick.

Usually it takes lots of recipe browsing and weighing cravings before I can settle on an SRC recipe, but with this one, I kind of knew it was what I’d make the second I saw it. I really love pancakes, but made the traditional way (white flour, butter, whole milk, sugar, eggs) they have very little nutritional value. Load on the maple syrup, and you’ve got a stack of sugar-soaked carbs. Sad, but true. That said, all good diets are about balance, so I’ll happily indulge in pancakes from time to time, but I rarely make them in my own kitchen. This recipe for Sweet Potato Pancakes really appealed because it’s got nutritionally-dense sweet potatoes and whole wheat flour, so the nutritional profile completely changes. Maybe still not classifiable as healthy, but these have enough good stuff in them to make this recipe totally justifiable for Sunday brunch.

I made these pancakes almost exactly as instructed by Denise, with a few small changes, and served them with plenty of pure maple syrup, bacon and over-easy eggs. It was quite the feast, and all very delicious. The pancakes have plenty of flavor themselves, but I imagine they’d be fantastic with chopped walnuts (or other nuts of choice), and perhaps some sliced banana or chocolate chips. They’re ultra moist and lightly spiced for really great flavor, but since sweet potato isn’t a particularly overpowering flavor, they’re very versatile too.

Thanks, Denise, for giving me one great last SRC recipe. It’s a high note to say goodbye on!