I honestly didn’t thoroughly read the above announcement when it appeared on the IHCC page. I just immediately jumped into looking through my old Gourmet magazines. I just assumed this cranberry challenge had to be from Ruth Reichl (or her old magazine). Boy, am I glad I stayed with our current IHCC chef. And, I’m glad I found this delicious recipe in an October 2000 Gourmet.
photo from Gourmet, October 2000
My version.
Cornmeal Cream Cheese Pancakes with Dried Cranberries and Apricots in Maple Syrup
“We got the idea for these pancakes from The Compound Restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where hot polenta-mascarpone pancakes were the perfect finale to a delicious dinner. They also make a terrific breakfast.”
Ingredients
For syrup
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
For pancakes
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup regular cream cheese spread (in tub; not whipped or block cream cheese)*
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup milk**
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Make syrup:
- Simmer maple syrup and dried fruits in a saucepan, uncovered, until fruits are plumped, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in juice.
Make pancakes:
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and soda, sugar, and salt.
- Whisk together cream cheese and eggs in a large bowl and gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined.
- Heat a large griddle over moderate heat until hot enough to make drops of water scatter over its surface, then brush with some butter.
- Spoon tablespoons of batter onto griddle, without crowding, to form 2 1/2-inch cakes. Cook pancakes 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until golden and puffed. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Make more pancakes in same manner, brushing griddle with butter for each batch.***
- Serve pancakes in stacks with syrup.
Yield: Makes 4 (breakfast) or 6 (dessert) servings
Prep Time/Cook Time: 20 mins.
*I forgot to buy cream cheese in a tub so I just used the block kind.
**I used almond milk.
***I made bigger, regular breakfast-sized pancakes.
These are delicious. I will not buy the tub cream cheese to make these in the future. Softened regular cream cheese seemed to work just fine. I will certainly serve these to my upcoming Thanksgiving guests!
I know this is the October edition, but I just had to share the cover. It looks very bountiful and reminds me of Thanksgiving. (I hate to think that the year 2000 is retro, but you be the judge.)
Isn’t this beautiful and bountiful?
For all my cranberry posts, click here. You might, however, be most interested in these seasonal recipes for the upcoming Thanksgiving feast:
Cranberry-Orange Relish with Jalapeno
Cranberry-Apple Relish with Honey
Kale Salad with Pear, Shallots and Cranberries
Happy Thanksgiving Week!
Next week’s I Heart Cooking Club theme is bread.
Glad I am coming to your house for Thanksgiving!!
Love,
Mom
Come on down!
These pancakes sound divine. We love pancakes in our house so I will have to try these. I am going to look into your cranberry muffin recipe too. I made a Gourmet one but I was not happy with it. Happy Thanksgiving.
You must try these!!!! Let me know about the muffins!
I love that you tapped into a Gourmet magazine! I have been wanting to buy some of the magazines from ebay just to have some in my collection. No way can we call 2000 retro or vintage. It was just the other day, right?
I love these pancakes! I’ve never experimented with adding cream cheese to the batter but that sounds incredible. This is a must make!
I wish I would have saved more!
I love looking through old magazines for recipes. What could be bad about these pancakes! yum..
Not a thing!
Looks absolutely delicious and that fruity maple syrup sounds just as amazing.
I think I would add some orange zest the next time I make the syrup.
Now I know what to do with the bag of cranberries I just bought. This is such a seasonal and festive dish I have to make during the Thanksgiving break. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanksgiving or Christmas or Valentine’s Day or Easter…. 🙂 Enjoy!
[…] k.fillText(f(55356,56826,55356,56819),0,0),!(j.toDataURL().length Cornmeal Cream Cheese Pancakes with Cranberry and Apricot Maple Syrup […]
These were great when you treated your relatives to this for breakfast.
Oh how I love cornmeal pancakes and these with the cream cheese spread sounds extra special. Just happen to have some of that spread in the fridge waiting for a purpose. Thanks for sharing these great pancakes!