A while back, some friends gifted me with a bag of homegrown beets. I was thrilled! But then I made the mistake of adding too many beets to our berry smoothie one day and the kids were NOT thrilled. For a week, they asked every time I made a smoothie if I was going to add beets. I backed off for a while, and then made this cake, which won back my kids' affection for beets.
Recently I pulled out a few cooked, peeled beets from my freezer to try these pancakes. I was evasive an answering my kids' questions about how I made PINK pancakes!! Only after the meal did I tell them they were made with beets. No complaints from anyone! Another great beet recipe that went over well for my family.
about 3 small beets, cooked
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of cloves
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/4 cups flour (I used half all-purpose and half whole-wheat)
2 tsp baking powder
oil for the pan
Puree the beets in a food processor (or Vitamin!) until very smooth.
In a large bowl whisk together the beet puree, greek yogurt, and milk. Add the eggs and whisk until combined. Add the cinnamon, cloves, and sugar. Whisk well. Add the flour and baking powder and mix with a spatula until the flour disappears but the batter is still lumpy. Batter will be on the thinner side. If you feel that it’s too thin, add another 1/4 cup of flour.
Let stand for half an hour to an hour.
Heat a large skillet pan on medium high heat and brush oil on it.
Once the oil is hot, pour generous tablespoons of batter on the pan and fry the pancakes for about 3 minutes until bubbles start to appear on top. Since the batter is pretty thin, it’ll spread, so leave enough space between the pancakes and don’t over crowd the pan.
Once the bubbles appear and the top gets matt in colour, flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Top with plain yogurt, whipped cream, syrup, fresh berries, chocolate sauce, powdered sugar . . . you get the idea!
