Maple Butter & Lemon-Blueberry Pancakes

Breakfast was never a big deal in our house when I was growing up.  It rarely got more exciting than a bowl of cereal or a toasted bagel with the occasional scrambled egg tossed into the mix.  The only times we had pancakes were on the rare occasions when we ate breakfast for dinner, and back then pancakes came from a big yellow box and blueberries came from a tin can.  I probably ate more pancakes and waffles at Marriott continental breakfasts than I did at our house.  One of my most vivid breakfast-related memories was when our exchange student, Muriel, introduced us to Nutella, which she liberally spread on frozen waffles.  That set off a phase in my life where my morning routine included the meticulous placement of a single chocolate chip in each indentation of my Schwan's waffle before it went into the toaster oven.  

I'm happy to report that my breakfast horizons have broadened, and, as you might have guessed, my quality of life has vastly improved because of it.  The best weekends are those involving a good brunch, and it's not just because I love bacon so much.  Fluffy pancakes can make life worth living.  I love having my parents visit because I know the weekend will include a big breakfast where my dad will undoubtedly order a side of pecan pancakes and share a few bites with me.  For all you naysayers, go eat some quality pancakes and you will believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. 

To top off a batch of light, airy pancakes, I recommend maple butter.  You can even do pancakes with maple butter and maple syrup.  And why not?  Chances are if you're eating a big plate of pancakes for breakfast you're not going to eat lunch, too, so just consider the butter and syrup the calories you would otherwise expend on lunch.  That's just plain logic.  Plus, according to my mom's favorite line from Elf, syrup is one of the four food groups (along with candy, candy canes, and candy corn), so you're really helping yourself out.  

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1-2 tbsp maple syrup

pinch of salt

Add about a tablespoon of syrup and a pinch of salt to a bowl with the softened butter.  Mix until combined.  Continue adding more syrup to taste.  Once you strike your desired mapley butteriness spoon the mixture onto a piece of wax paper and wrap it up like a piece of candy.  

I got a little impatient (and hungry for breakfast) and used the radar range, as my grandma calls it, to soften the butter.  This made the mixture a little too runny for wrapping, so I just stuck the bowl in the fridge for about 15 minutes to solidify. 

The canvas I used for the maple butter was Bobby Flay's Lemon Blueberry Pancakes.  They were beyond delicious.  I want to start adding lemon zest (or "lemon skin" as Matt calls it - appetizing, isn't it?) to everything.  I can usually only handle one or two pancakes because they're so sweet once you dump on the syrup, but I polished off three of these and could have kept on going.  They're really light and fresh and hardly need any syrup - I actually just topped them off with a little pat of maple butter and nothing else.  I highly recommend them.

Could there be a more perfect breakfast?

Judging by my plate, no.  

If you really want to indulge, you can eat your pancakes in a pool of warm maple syrup and topped off with creamy peanut butter.  

One last thing far more important than maple butter and blueberry pancakes: Congratulations to my brother, Kyle, who today becomes the newest PhD-wielding scientist in the state of North Carolina, thus proving that there is still hope for little boys who pick their noses and eat it.