On Saturday, my family had a hankering for pancakes. I had been holding onto a rare treat for just such an occasion–a small jar of hazelnut chocolate spread purchased in a moment of product lust while trawling the aisles of the new NYC Italian-food emporium Eataly. Crema nocciole is what Nutella wishes it tasted like: a smooth, rich, spread made from chocolate and delicious hazelnuts presumably plucked from the floor of a Tuscan forest.
Although Conor’s preferred method would be to eat the stuff straight from the jar, I opted to use it as a filling for sour cream pancakes, or silver dollar hots (see recipe below), as they’re also called. To Belle and Conor they’re just “pancake surprise”.You can make these with any pancake recipe, but I highly recommend trying it with the sour cream batter because it coddles the hazelnut so beautifully. On the griddle I pour a small round of the batter (about hockey puck sized) and then let it set for about a minute. I then swirl some of the hazelnut spread right in the middle and pour a bit more batter on top to cover it.
When the top of the pancake begins to form bubbles that pop it’s time to flip. Both sides should have a golden, slightly crunchy exterior (using peanut oil to grease the griddle helps with this), but will still be light and airy on the inside.
Needless to say, the kids go gaga for them
When the top of the pancake begins to form bubbles that pop it’s time to flip. Both sides should have a golden, slightly crunchy exterior (using peanut oil to grease the griddle helps with this), but will still be light and airy on the inside.
Needless to say, the kids go gaga for them
