When fresh cranberries hit the grocery store shelves, I stock up. I love that tart pop of flavor, the perfect counterpoint to the sweet in baked goods. I often add cranberries to banana muffins and pancakes. Here is a delicious recipe that combines health promoting cranberries with real, maple syrup. The cranberries do a good job of thickening up the maple syrup and toning down the syrup’s naturally assertive sweetness.

Orange Pancakes with Maple-Cranberry Syrup

Ingredients

Dry

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour2 Tbs. coconut sugar
1 tsp. orange zest
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Wet

1-1/2 cups buttermilk (sub juice of 1 large lemon + plant milk to equal 1-1/2 cups)
1 large egg
2 Tbs. melted coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup fresh cranberries (or frozen, thawed)

Maple-Cranberry Syrup

Ingredients

1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 Tbs. butter (preferably organic, grass fed)

Preparation

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry, and stir until blended. Stir in the cranberries.

Pour 1/3 – 1/2 cup of batter for each pancake onto a hot oiled griddle. Cook 3-4 minutes until tops are covered in bubbles and edges look dry and cooked. Flip and cook a minute or two more until golden brown. Keep warm.

While you are making the pancakes on the griddle, bring the maple syrup and 3/4 cup of cranberries to boil in a small pot. Reduce heat to low and cook for 3 minutes or until cranberries pop. Carefully mash some of the cranberries with a spatula. Add remaining cranberries and cook for a couple of minutes more until they pop. Turn off heat and add the butter, stir until melted.

Serve pancakes with maple-cranberry syrup.