Greek Yogurt Pancakes with Chocolate-Cashew Spread

It has been a loooong while since we had our regular weekend pancake or waffle day. So we were eager to get back to that tradition this weekend. On the menu was a yummy batch of our oatmeal pancakes....wrong! Last night I asked The Monster to mix the buttermilk with the oats and set them to soak overnight in the fridge while I went to brush my teeth before bed. This is what I hear from the kitchen while brushing...."Honey? Is the buttermilk supposed to be chunky?" The answer to that my friends, is a resounding no. ;-) The whole previously unopened container was one big solidified chunk. We assessed at that point that it probably wasn't a good idea to proceed with the oatmeal pancakes for Sunday breakfast plan. Off to Bob's Baking Book I went! I found that we had all the ingredients for these lovely pancakes/crepes. Maybe not quite as nutritious, but an enjoyable change nonetheless. And if you make them with a good yogurt, infinitely better for you than with sour cream. I'm thinking that they could probably be made using all whole wheat pastry flour, but I thought I'd make them as written for the first go. If you're worried about cholesterol you could probably use an egg substitute for the 4 eggs.
We had pancake blowout from the first batch that hit the griddle (impossible to flip them without making a huge torn mess), so I thickened the batter slightly with 2 more Tbs of whole wheat pastry flour. Watch that your griddle isn't too hot. It's a delicate batter that needs some care.

Delicately Delicious Sour Cream Pancakes:
(Bob's Red Mill Baking Book)

Makes about 24 pancakes

4 eggs
2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt (I used 2% Greek yogurt mixed with a little non-fat Bulgarian yogurt)
1/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup + 2 Tbs whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs sugar (sucanat, or agave nectar which I used)
1/4+ tsp fine sea salt

Heat your oven to 200 with an oven safe dish and a piece of foil placed inside.
Lightly oil and heat a griddle over medium heat.
Place all ingredients in a blender and puree, stopping every few pulses to wipe down the sides with a rubber spatula.
Ladle about 1/4-1/3 cup batter onto the griddle and cook over medium heat until bubbles appear, about 2-3 minutes.
Turn and cook until golden brown on underside.
We keep the pancakes in the oven under foil until the last one comes off the griddle.
Serve with pure maple syrup, or a fruit sauce (or chocolate-cashew spread!!! impromptu recipe follows)

Chocolate-Cashew Spread:

When we were in Paris last year, we ate our fill of Nutella filled crepes from street vendors. This morning (after I'd made blueberry sauce for the pancakes!), when we realized these pancakes were more like mini crepes, The Monster said, "Too bad we don't have any Nutella!"
No, says I...but we have cashew butter and chocolate chips and a gal that's more than willing to experiment! So I set to work while he was flippin' cakes.


Equal parts roasted cashew butter and melted dark chocolate chips (just melt the chips in the microwave, taking care not to burn the chocolate)
fine sea salt to taste
agave nectar to taste
a couple splashes unsweetened soymilk or other type of milk

Mix the cashew butter and chocolate together.
Add salt and agave nectar to taste.
Thin with milk until it reaches a consistency you're happy with.
That's it! Spread the delicious goo on hot (or cold I just realized quite pleasantly 10 minutes ago!) crepes, roll and eat.

I dusted our breakfast crepes with some powdered evaporated cane juice sugar. Keep any leftover spread covered in the fridge.