Recently when I had some special guests at my home, I made the mistake of asking what they wanted for breakfast and one of them said, "Potato pancakes!" Oops. The only potato pancakes I'd ever made involved an intense process of grating peeled potatoes with onion ... and that was well before they even got involved with the rest of the batter or a griddle. Needless to say, that was not a process I was looking forward to undertaking and my gracious guest quickly warmed to the idea of French toast with strawberry sauce instead.
But the encounter did leave me wondering about a shortcut for potato pancakes. So, a few weeks later I took it upon myself to play around with some ideas and this month's recipe is the result of those experiments. And, I can happily report that I was able to produce a batch of tasty potato pancakes for that gracious guest when I happened to be a guest at her home over the holidays!
While sour cream and applesauce are traditional accompaniments to these pancakes -- and I highly recommend them -- another treat that my husband fancies with them is a generous sprinkling of fresh goat cheese and some snipped chives. Myself, I am a fan of a generous scoop of fresh, homemade applesauce made with McIntosh apples and little, if anything, else! Yum!!!
As always, I encourage you to share your recipe ideas and comments. You can always post comments in the discussion board using the forms provided in the articles or email me directly at .
Easy Potato Pancakes
- 1 c. flour
- 1 c. milk
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 2 T. butter
- 2 T. sugar
- 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. dried parsley
- 2 T. finely minced onion
- 2 1/2 c. frozen hash browns, defrosted
Combine all of the ingredients except the potatoes. Beat by hand until smooth. Add the potatoes to the mixture and mix by hand until they are incorporated into the batter.
Let the batter rest and preheat a skillet or griddle to medium heat. Lightly spray the pan with some cooking spray and ladle the batter out in 1/4 cup dollops. Cook each pancake for about 2 minutes per side or until they are browned. Serve with applesauce and sour cream, if desired.
- Yields: 4-5 servings
- Preparation Time: 30 minutes