Lavender Buttermilk Pancakes

I've been a little hesitant to sign up for a CSA box.  It sounds like a fantastic idea, but I just... I don't know.  I'm worried about what would happen if the entire box was full of things that one of us didn't like.  What would we do with all that food?  Maybe when we have a family to feed it won't seem so intimidating. 

For now, though, I've discovered this great service to supplement my farmers' market visits: Door to Door Organics.  They deliver boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables, and if you choose, they can all be from local farms!  They just recently started serving the Chicago area, and while I still prefer to choose my own produce at the market, this was a good experiment.  I left a cooler on my front porch yesterday morning when I left for work, and when I got home, it was filled with tons and tons of veggies:

Clockwise from top left: arugula, collard greens, dandelion greens, zucchini,
cucumber, green leaf lettuce, yellow squash, and red leaf lettuce.

I got them out, sorted through them, and then made pancakes and bacon for dinner.  That's just who I am.  Over the next few days, I will be munching my way through most of this solo, since nobody else who lives in my apartment eats leafy greens (unless they are extremely well hidden).  So I deserved pancakes... in advance of my healthy future decisions.  Right?



I always use the last bit of batter to make a bunny. 

 Just like my mom always did.



Lavender pancakes

Lavender Buttermilk Pancakes
adapted from smittenkitchen

The original recipe called for 3 cups of buttermilk.  I only had 2 cups of buttermilk, so I combined what remained of basically every sour-milk product in my refrigerator: buttermilk, yogurt, and kefir.  It was delicious.  If you have 3 cups of buttermilk, go ahead and use it, but if you only have kefir or yogurt, or you need to combine, have confidence that it will taste amazing.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk (or a combination of buttermilk, yogurt, and kefir)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
a few tablespoons dried lavender flowers

Preheat an electric griddle to 350, or a skillet over medium-high heat.  Whisk together the dry ingredients.  Add eggs, buttermik, and butter, and whisk until just barely combined.  You like the lumps.  Leave them in there.  Brush the griddle with canola or safflower oil, and use a 1/3-cup measuring cup to ladle batter onto it.  Sprinkle each pancake sparingly with lavender flowers; the flavor is very strong, so be careful not to use too much.  When bubbles form and start to burst on the surface of the pancakes, and the edges are dry, flip them over and cook until golden on both sides.  Serve with warm maple syrup.

Makes about 18 4-inch pancakes, plus one bunny.