For me, Sundays in Seattle are one of my many simple pleasures. Sleeping in, almost always a luxury the rest of the week, is performed almost as a ritual. After waking up, the only decision that has to be made is "Do we eat in, or do we brunch?"

I typically fall on the side of the "brunch" answer in this debate. But this being Seattle -- and more specifically downtown Seattle, the places that serve moderate to great brunches are often quite crowded. Especially on Sundays that fall after celebrations of one sort or another. Last night being semi-officially "Halloween" amongst the adult crowd, meant that these places would be packed with people either wanting to continue last nights festvities, or too hungover to feasibly cook for themselves.

So today, we ate in.

In a bit of inspiration, we decided to spruce up the fairly straightforward pancake recipe, and make it a little more exotic. Using amaretto and an organic Valencia orange, breakfast turned out quite well.

And yes, there are two tablespoons of butter in the picture. I didn't say we ate healthy, just that we ate well.

• 2 cups AP Flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup amaretto
• Juice of one orange
• 1 Tbsp. grated Orange rind
• 8 Tbsp. butter, melted

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a seperate medium to large mixing bowls, beat the eggs until almost frothy. Add the milk, amaretto and the orange juice. Mix well. Add the liquids into the flour mixture and whisk together until you get batter consistency. Add the 4 tbsp. of melted butter and the grated orange rind and mix in well.

Take a skillet and place it over medium heat. Grease the skillet with the remaining melted butter. Once up to temperature, ladle 1/3rd cup of the batter into the skillet. Fit as many pancakes as you can into your skillet, ensuring that there is at least 1/2" between the pancakes as well as the side of the skillet. Cok until the bottoms are golden and the top start to bubble (about 2-3 minutes). Flip and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, ensuring the bottoms are golden and centers are cooked through. Repeat process as necessary, until the batter has been used in its entirity. Feel free to use more butter in the skillet if needed.

Make 12-14 pancakes, serves 4

Technorati Tags: food, recipes, pancakes