Oven Berry Pancakes

I finally got my hands on Ina Garten's new book: Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics. So far I am loving it. We haven't had time to try a lot of the recipes, but I can just tell this one is a winner! I have already made a list of recipes to try and it is almost the entire book:)

We did make her Oven Berry Pancakes and they were fantastic! I love that these are individual pancakes. You make them in four, 6 to 7 inch, gratin dishes. We had all of the ingredients on hand, which I also loved. You can make these whenever you are in the mood for something special in the morning.

Ina uses orange zest in the pancakes, but we opted for lemon. I am sure both are tasty. The pancakes puff in the oven, which is my favorite part. They are so fun! We filled the pancakes with berries, but you could use any fruit or do the traditional syrup thing.

This is the perfect breakfast for company. You don't have to stand over the griddle flipping hot cakes, you just put them in the oven and relax! They only take about 15 minutes to bake. Plus, everyone gets their own! I am sure your guests would feel extra special if they woke up to these pancakes!

Berry Oven Pancakes

Adapted from Ina Garten

1 cup of EACH raspberries, blueberries, blackberries (you can use strawberries too)
1 T sugar
2 T melted butter, plus 4 teaspoons for the dishes
3 eggs
½ cup milk (we used skim)
½ cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (Ina uses orange)
¼ teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar for garnish (and syrup if you wish)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine berries and sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Place 4 (6 to 7 inch) individual gratin dishes on a baking sheet. Place 1 tsp. of butter in each gratin dish and set aside.

Place the eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whish attachment and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the milk and mix. Slowly add the flour, vanilla, lemon zest, 2 T of melted butter, and the salt and mix just until smooth. Whisk by hand if the batter is still lumpy.

Place the gratin dishes in the oven for three minutes, until the butter is hot and bubbly. Make sure the butter covers the bottom of each dish. Divide the batter equally among the four dishes and bake 12-14 minutes, until puffed and lightly browned. Divide the berries among the dishes and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Add syrup if you wish. Serve hot!