The Best Ever American Pancakes

I have had my fair share of pancakes, and why not? Pancakes are probably the best breakfast food ever invented right? Personally, I think the best type of pancakes are American pancakes. For what seems like forever I have been trying to find a recipe that I really like, my go-to recipe if you wish. And now finally I have found it.

You can make these pancakes plain, add blueberries, chocolate chips or even bananas. I prefer them plain, served with a thick summer fruit sauce and maple syrup.

P.S. It might seem like there is a lot of elements to this and a fair few number of ingredients but I promise it is worth the effort.

American Pancakes
Ingredients:

> 230g plain flour
> 40g cornflour
> 1tsp salt
> 4tbsp Caster Sugar
> 1tsp Vanilla essence
> 1tsp baking powder
> 1tsp baking soda
> 2 large eggs
> 4tbsp melted butter
> 160ml milk
> 100ml, 150g plain yougurt
> 2tsp vinegar

Method:
1. Sift the plain flour, cornflour, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl. Add the sugar, vanilla essence and melted butter. Stir slightly.

2. Mix together the milk, plain yogurt and vinegar in a jug and leave to stand for a minute or two, this will make buttermilk.

3. Separate the eggs and add the yolk to the flour mixture. Whisk the whites and place aside.

4. Whisk the buttermilk into the flour mixture. Whisk until smooth.

5. Take one tablespoon of the egg whites and whisk it into the mixture. Fold the rest of the egg whites into the mixture.

6. You can make the pancakes straight away or leave the mixture in the fridges for up to two days.

7. When you want some pancakes, heat a frying pan and melt a knob of butter on a medium low heat. To make the perfect size pancakes add 1/3 of a cup of the mixture. If you are adding additional ingredients, now would be the time to do it before flipping the pancake. Flip the pancake when bubbles have started to form and the underside is golden.

8. Serve the pancakes in stacks of 3 with your choice of toppings.

9. Happy Pancake Eating!

Cheats Chocolate Croissants

It's always nice to impress people with your creations but sometimes its just nice to whip up something quickly that still tastes great and is almost the same  as if you did the real thing. That is exactly what this is, a cheats recipe. With only 3 ingredients, and 10 minutes prep time I really don't think this recipe could get any better.

Cheats Chocolate Croissants

Ingredients:

> 1 pack puff pastry

> Nutella

> Egg yolk

Method:

1. Roll out the puff pastry and then cut the puff pastry into triangles. The base of the triangle will determine the size of your croissant. Make sure the sides are longer than the base. This is hard to explain in words but I found the best way to do this was to cut the pastry first into rectangles and then into triangles. If you look at the pictures then you should understand, I hope....

2. Place somewhere between, a half and a whole teaspoon of nutella at the base of the pastry. The size of your croissant will determine the amount of nutella needed.

3. Starting at the base of your triangle, roll up the triangle and bend the edges slightly so that you get more of a 'croissant' shape.

4. Place the croissants on a baking tray and brush the tops of the croissant with the egg yolk. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 180C, until the croissants are golden and the bottom is cooked. Cool slightly and serve warm.

5. Voila!

Cinnamon Breakfast Loaf

Bread hates me. It's just a fact of life that I have to deal with because every single time that I have made bread it turns out rubbish and then someone else will do the exact same recipe and it will turn out perfect. Enriched dough's, however, seem to work in my favour. I found this recipe really easy to follow and the loaf turned out great. I would advise making this the night before and serving it lightly toasted with lashings of butter and a glass of milk for breakfast the next day.

Recipe taken from The Great British Bakeoff: How to turn everyday bakes into showstoppers.

Best served toasted and with butter

Cinnamon Breakfast Loaf

Ingredients:

For the loaf:
> 500g strong white bread flour
> 1tsp sea salt flakes crushed
> 2tbsp caster sugar
> 7g dried yeast
> 125ml milk
> 50g unsalted butter
> 1 large egg, at room temperature

For the filling:
> 50g caster sugar
> 1tsp plain flour
> 1tbsp ground cinnamon
> Milk for brushing

To finish:
> Milk, for brushing
> small knob of butter

Method:

1. Mix together the flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the dried yeast.

2. Gently warm the milk with 125ml water and the butter until lukewarm and the butter has melted. Remove from the heat. Add the egg and beat with a fork until combined. Add this to the flour mixture and slowly stir to make a soft but not sticky dough. If the dough seems too dry then add more milk, one tablespoon at a time. If the dough is too sticky then add more strong flour, one tablespoon at a time.

3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured worktop and knead thoroughly for about 10 minutes by hand. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour until doubled in size.

4. Meanwhile grease and line a 900g loaf tin.

5. In a small bowl mix the sugar, flour and cinnamon together.

6. Punch down the risen dough to deflate and turn out onto a lightly floured worktop and pat out into a rough rectangle. Cover lightly with a sheet of clingfilm and leave to relax for about 5 minutes- this will make it easier to roll out the dough.

7. Lightly flour the rolling pin and roll out the dough to a rectangle as wide as the length of the tin and 48cm long, keeping the sides straight and neat. Brush the dough liberally with milk, then sprinkle over the sugar mixture in an even layer, leaving a 1cm border clear at one short end. Roll up the dough, neatly and tightly, from the other short end and pinch the seam together to seal it firmly.

8. Lift the rolled dough into the tin, gently tucking the ends under to make a neat shape. Slip the tin into a large plastic bag and slightly inflate it so the plastic doesn't stick to the dough, then tie the ends. Leave to rise as before until just doubled in size, (don't let the loaf become too big or it will lose its shape). Towards the end of the rising time preheat the oven to 180C.

9. Uncover the dough and brush lightly with milk. Bake for about 35minutes until a good golden brown and the turned-out loaf sounds hollow when it is tapped on the underside.

10. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and rub the butter over the top to give a glossy finish. Leave until completely cold before slicing. Eat with 5 days or freeze.