"Food Fridays" and a Peach Pecan Oven Pancake

Ready to eat!

We are currently trying to move our family diet to more whole foods and fewer processed items.  I have done well with this for quite some time for our lunch and dinner meals, but cereal was a regular in our house.  We had it for breakfast almost every morning except Saturdays.  I am glad to say though that I have now made it just over a week without serving cereal for breakfast.

Why are we doing this?  Well, I realize that all boxed cereals are not created equal (some have much less sugar than others for instance), but by using whole ingredients and preparing the foods myself instead of using store-bought mixes and other packaged items, I am avoiding preservatives and adding other nutrients that are not found in processed foods in general.  This is especially the case with the type of sugar we use in our household, although I still try to use it sparingly. Click here to learn more about Rapadura sugar.

In light of our quest to have a home-cooked breakfast each morning, I would like to announce "Food Fridays" on my blog.  I will post recipes here for different breakfast options that we have enjoyed at our house and occasionally throw in a different sort of recipe.  I'm trying to have a good variety in our home-cooked breakfasts, so I'll be trying out different recipes in addition to our oatmeal or sausage and eggs that we'll be eating several times a week.  To kick-off "Food Fridays," I'd like to share the recipe for the item you see above:

Peach Pecan Oven Pancake

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar or rapadura sugar

1 tablespoons maple syrup (pure)

1 lb frozen peach slices, thawed, or fresh slices which are drained

2 to 3 tablespoons pecan pieces

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon rapadura sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

Makes 6 servings

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Place the 2 tablespoons of butter into a 9-inch pie pan and put this in the oven to melt as the oven heats.  
2. While butter is melting, mix together the flour, salt, 1 tablespoon of rapadura sugar and 2 teaspoons of baking powder.  
3. When butter is melted, remove pan from oven and swirl the butter around the edges and sides of the pan so it is all coated.  (This will keep your oven pancake from sticking while baking.)  Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of brown sugar or rapadura sugar (this is what we use) over the butter and pour on the tablespoon of maple syrup.  Put a single layer of peach slices on top of this mixture in a decorative circle.  Sprinkle these with the pecan pieces.
4. Whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture and stir till just combined.  Pour the batter over the peaches.  Bake this for 18-25 minutes till lightly browned and firm to the touch. (Bake-time will mostly depend on the state of your peaches prior to cooking.  I used frozen peaches and had to cook mine for about 25 minutes due to the extra moisture on the bottom.)
5. Remove from oven and let cool for 1 minute.  Run a knife around the outer edge and invert the pancake onto a serving plate.  Serve immediately with additional maple syrup, if desired.

 Additional notes: 

I found that after about 18 minutes, my pancake was already adequately browned on top as in the picture below, so I covered it with foil to prevent over-browning while it continued to cook.  The inside was not yet done at this point due to the moisture from the frozen peaches.

This recipe says it serves 6, but it only served 4 in our family (Mom, Dad and 2 littles - the baby didn't eat any).  This was all we ate for breakfast, so if you were serving it in combination with other items it would serve more people.  Enjoy!