Several weekends ago, I felt compelled to try Guinness pancakes at Alchemy in Park Slope. It was the first weekend after we returned from Dublin and when I saw them, it seemed like they were there just for me.
When the server brought them over, hey seemed nice and fluffy. They were perfectly cooked to a light golden brown and were topped with fresh fruit. When I took my first bite though, I found them to be dry. As for the flavor, the Guinness was barely detectable at all. If I’d not ordered them myself, I don’t think I would have caught that they were even flavored. (Side note – I hear Alchemy is great for dinner, so I’ll definitely be back for another visit.)
T and I started talking though and decided that the weekend after his birthday, I should give them a try. I found that the Internet loves to *talk* about Guinness pancakes, but only a select few actually share a useable recipe. I grabbed the one that seemed like it would work the best and was curious to compare the end result. The recipe makes around 12 4″ pancakes. Allow approximately 10 minutes prep time (can be prepared and left in the refrigerator overnight) and about 20 minutes cook time.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- ¾ cup milk (¾ cup buttermilk can be substituted to replace both the milk and the lemon juice)
- 1 cup flour (I tried just regular all purpose)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 egg
- ½ cup Greek yogurt (plain, vanilla, or honey – I used vanilla)
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ½ cup Guinness Draught
- 1 tsp. vanilla (I substituted 1 tsp. maple extract)
Stir the lemon juice into the milk. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and cinnamon. Add the egg, yogurt, and butter into the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk gently. Add Guinness, vanilla, and milk mixture to the batter. Whisk until blended.
Heat a griddle, or you can also use a frying pan. When it is at the right temperature, drops of water will sizzle when dripped onto the surface.
Use ¼ cup of batter per pancake. Let the batter sit for about 2 minutes before flipping. I’m not sure the location of the blogger I found the recipe from, but my “pancakes” came out more like crepes. Not bad at all, but was not what I was expecting. With a bit of care and skill, I was able to get them to flip without breaking. I also realized very quickly that the darkness of the pancake does not indicate it being burned. I panicked after a couple turned out on the dark side but was able to confirm with a quick taste test that everything was just fine. One very important note from the recipe is that due to the carbonation in the beer, the pancakes will bubble more than normal pancakes, so you won’t be able to use this to determine when to flip the pancakes.
Cook the pancake on the other side for about a minute. Remove from heat and repeat prior step with the next 1/4 cup of batter until all batter is used. I followed their tip of keeping the pancakes warm while cooking others, put them in a 200°F oven. Serve immediately.
These were actually quite tasty Guinness crepes. The recipe did state that if you like thicker pancakes, that substituting self-rising flour may make sense. They also recommended divide the egg, incorporating the yolk to the dry ingredients as usual. Then beat the white on high for thirty seconds until it is frothy. After the Guinness, milk, and vanilla have been added and the batter whisked, you would fold the egg white is folded into the batter. Worth a shot!
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