Ricotta Blueberry Pancakes

I'm a foodie. I watch the Food Network regularly. One of my newest favorite shows is The Best Thing I Ever Ate. There's just something so justifying about a Food Network chef declaring something as the best thing they ever ate. It's like, if you were to go eat the same thing, there's no way in the world you would be disappointed by it.

I happened to catch the breakfast episode where Aida Mollenkamp pronounced her love of some ricotta blueberry pancakes from BLD restaurant in Los Angeles. And just the week before my best friend mentioned that her husband was making her some ricotta pancakes. I was captivated.



I scoured the internet for a recipe that seemed like it was closest to BLD's as portrayed on the show and I chose this one. I was not disappointed in the least! And I've made some pretty $h!tty pancakes over the years! I'm pretty sure that whenever I'm going to make homemade pancakes again, I'm going to be choosing this recipe. They were light and fluffy (which is usually where I fail), and melt in your mouth. Basically, perfect. And considering I nailed these guys on the first try - how could I not revert to this recipe from now on??

So if you're looking for a simple yet decadent morning treat, why not try one of the best things you could ever eat?!



Since I made this recipe exactly as I found it, please click here for the recipe!

My only note will be that for my first pancake I must not have had the griddle hot enough. I had great results over medium heat, as you can see! I was able to cook 4 pancakes at once on my square griddle pan.

Ps. This recipe makes a ton of batter. If you're only cooking for 2, I recommend cutting the recipe in half.

Peanut Butter Tandy Cakes

Do you have Tastykake near you? If you don't, you're missing out. They're a bakery business based out of Philadelphia. I think they pretty much only distribute to the Tri-State area. One of my favorite Tastykake treats are the Peanut Butter Tandy Cakes. A couple of years ago I was introduced to the homemade variety. HOLY COW were these things good. I was addicted. They're so FRESH. Way better than the mass produced variety. But I think that's true with almost anything homemade.



I made my best friend get the recipe from her mom's best friend. I went and bought a jelly roll pan because I have to follow the rules. And I've made more than a dozen batches of these things for various occassions over the last year. This Christmas was the first time I brought them to my family's annual Christmas Eve party. And people were basically fighting over who was taking how many home (admittedly, I was one of those people).



So if you ever need a cake fix, chocolate fix, peanut butter fix, or all 3, then you need to try this recipe! You can find varying recipes on the internet with basically the same ingredients. I've had success with these ingredients and steps:



4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp oil (canola or vegetable)
1 cup milk
2 cups flour
scant 1 tsp baking powder
1 to 1- 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 bag milk chocolate chips



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil. Stir in the milk until incorporated.
4. Stir the flour mixture into the batter until blended in.
5. Grease and flour a 10 x 15 jelly roll pan. Pour batter into pan and transfer to preheated oven.
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on your oven (Mine have taken 23 minutes, other times 28 minutes), until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. While the cake is hot, plop on spoonfuls of the peanut butter and spread gently. This can be assisted by placing the cake with peanut butter on it into the turned off oven for a short minute. Spread the peanut butter all the way to the edges. Transfer to fridge to set.
8. When the peanut butter is set, melt your chocolate chips on the microwave for 2 minutes at high power, stirring at 30 second intervals. Pour melted chocolate over the cake and spread to the edges. Transfer to fridge to set.
TIP: When the chocolate has set up some, it is a good idea to score the chocolate where you will be making the slices so that the chocolate doesn't crack.

Just be sure that when you cut these up to serve that you set some aside for yourself to enjoy later!