Cranberry Pancakes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup halved cranberries
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1 egg

Directions:
Whisk together the egg and milk in a small bowl or measuring cup. Set aside. Pour the lemon juice and zest over the cranberries. In the medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, and baking powder. Slowly whisk in the egg/milk mixture. Add the cranberries and whisk to combine. There should be no pockets of unmixed flour or large lumps. Spray a frying pan or griddle with nonstick spray or melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Heat the pan so that it feels warm when you hover your hand over it. Add about 1/2 cup of the batter into the middle. Cook until bubbles begin to appear and pop. Flip. Cook for about 2 minutes. Both sides should be golden brown. If not, return it to the stove and continue to cook for 1 minute. Yields about 5-6 mid-sized pancakes.

My thoughts:

Cutting cranberries in half is tedious but necessary for this recipe. They are much denser than most berries and would remain hard after the short cooking time of pancakes. The trick is to cut them using a small knife and resisting the temptation to try and cut more than one at once. If you are too impatient for that, you could also pulse them once in the food processor to chop them up. This pancakes are worth the extra effort, not too tart, not sweet, just perfect. I like mine with butter and King's Syrup (developed right here in Baltimore) and Matt likes his with maple syrup and butter.