Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas!

Every December I tell myself, "I am not going to bake up a storm this year!" And every year I bake up a storm. It's part of how I celebrate the holiday season and I'm lucky I have many friends and co-workers who don't seem to mind the resulting plates of cookies and breads. This year I have kept my new Kitchen Aid mixer pretty darn busy mixing up batters and doughs. 

I will be sharing two recipes for the holidays this week, both using my hot new stand mixer and both using allspice. The sweet recipe follows and I'll share the savory recipe in a day or two.

I have always used allspice in baking, and assumed it was a mixture of the usual suspects, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, therefore the name, "allspice". Not so! Allspice is the dried berry of an evergreen tree that smells like the combination of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, and that is were it got its name. The dried berry from the tree, indigenous to North and South America, is common in many cuisines around the world courtesy Spanish explorers to the new world who transported the dried berries and the trees to many destinations. Ancient South American cultures used allspice in their embalming, but no danger of that effect taking in place as a result of the small amount used for cooking. 

I started with a basic pumpkin pancake recipe that I borrowed from Martha Stewart, and added pieces of cooked smoked sausage to the batter after it is poured on the pan. Then I added maple applesauce with allspice, which makes this dish. The combination of sweet and savory is one of the best things about a cooked breakfast.  This will serve 2-3 people, so double as needed for 4-6 people. If you don't want to add the sausage the pancakes with applesauce are delicious too.

Sausage Studded Pumpkin Pancakes with Allspice Maple Applesauce
1/2 lb. smoked sausage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, browned and drained on paper towel.
Pancake batter:
1-1/4 cups flour
2  tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Mix dry ingredients in medium sized bowl.
Then mix the wet ingredients in small bowl and add to dry mixture. Don't over mix the wet and dry ingredients or the pancakes will be tough.
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
7 T. canned pumpkin
1 T. canola oil or melted butter

For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot nonstick pan over medium heat. Add a few pieces of the cooked sausage to each pancake while it is raw, and cook about 3 minutes or until bubbles form and pop on the top of the pancake. Flip over and cook another 2 or so minutes until lightly browned.

Applesauce, Maple and Allspice Pancake Topping
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 T. pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
Heat over low heat just until hot, no need to bring to boil. Serve warm over warm pancakes.