Cinnamon, Raisin, and Walnut Pancakes

Every year for two Saturdays in a row, many of the embassies in Washington DC open their doors for people to come and learn about their countries.  The embassies have music, dancing, informational brochures, and food samples.

The European Union countries open on one Saturday.  All the other countries open on the otherSaturday.  Today a group of my friends and I went to the open embassy day for the countries outside of the European Union.

We went to the embassies of Indonesia, Libya, Uganda, Panama, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, South Africa, South Korea, Kosovo, and Bolivia.  It was a long day!  We started at 10 am and finished at 4pm.  I'm going to sleep very well tonight.

I got a henna tattoo at the Saudi Arabia embassy.  We saw dancing at the South African, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, and Bolivian Embassies.  I bought some rich dark chocolate at the Bolivian Embassy.

The Libyan embassy had some delicious honey and nut pastries.  They tasted similar to baklava, but they weren't made with filo dough, and their appearance was more elaborate.

At the South African embassy we received bottles of Nando's Peri Peri sauce.  I did not know that Nando's Peri Peri was a South African restaurant chain.  We also spoke to an embassy worker for a while about South African history, and I learned quite a bit.  

People wrote our names in Arabic at the Saudi Arabian embassy and in Korean at the South Korean embassy.  It was a fun and exhausting day.

I'm posting another pancake recipe today.  I'm a big fan of pancakes.  The base pancake recipe came from food.com.  The original recipe makes regular, plain pancakes.  I added cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts.  I also used molasses instead of sugar and coconut butter instead of regular butter.  I don't think using coconut butter added much to the final product.

The ingredients for these pancakes are 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1/2 cup finely chopped raisins, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 3 tablespoons molasses, 1 egg, 3/4 cup milk, 2 tablespoon coconut butter, 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  I ended up adding a little more flour at the end to thicken the batter.

I combined the melted butter, milk, egg, and molasses.  I whisked the wet ingredients together.

In another bowl, I added the cinnamon, flour, baking powder, and salt.  I whisked the dry ingredients together.

I poured the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture and whisked well.

I added the chopped walnuts and raisins.

I stirred until combined.

I added a third of a cup of batter onto a greased and hot skillet for each pancake.  I flipped the pancakes when bubbles started forming in the center of the cakes.  I cooked the other side for a few minutes.

I layered these pancakes with vanilla greek yogurt.  I should have added honey and cinnamon to the yogurt.  These would have been delicious smothered with honey and extra nuts too.  Maybe I have baklava on the brain.

These were delicious pancakes.  The texture was tender and fluffy.

They tasted wonderful too.  Cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts are a phenomenal combination.  The molasses added a distinct and warm flavor too.

The flavors were warm, aromatic, and comforting.

The raisins were chewy and sweet.  The nuts gave the pancakes some texture and crunch.

These were delectable and toothsome pancakes.  They had the flavors of an oatmeal cookie.

Another pancake success!