Blueberry Beer Pancakes

We've all had those weekends when you look in your fridge and realize that you're out of milk, which removes all sorts of breakfast possibilities such as cereal, french toast and pancakes.  This happened to us last weekend but luckily for Andrew (who had requested panackes for breakfast) a recipe for beer pancakes had caught my eye while browsing through all recipes.

That's right, I said beer.  And for the beer I used, I went with a Sam Adams Blackberry witbier since I thought the fruity flavor would compliment the blueberries in the pancake batter:

Pouring the beer in, it immediately reacted with the baking powder and starting foaming up nicely:

The true test was on the stove, and yes, the pancakes bubbled up well while they were cooking. I also added more fresh blueberries on top of the pancake after this picture was taken, but wanted to give you the full effect of the bubbles.  The best part was the smell of the pancakes as they were cooking - they gave off a wonderful yeasty smell that reminded me of baking bread:

The end result? Delightfully light pancakes. There was just a hint of beer flavor but it worked well with the overall taste of the blueberry pancakes. So good that I would make these again even if I had milk available in the fridge!

However, I'm not sure if this same concept would work quite so well with French Toast, so no fiddling with that recipe for the time being!

Beer Pancakes (from Allrecipes)

Ingredients
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup beer (I recommend a fruity beer like the Sam Adams Blackberry Witbier I used)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
In addition, I always add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and a couple of shakes of cinnamon to pancakes because I figure it can't hurt!

Directions
1.In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour in the egg, beer and melted butter; stir with a whisk just until blended - a few lumps are okay.
2.Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Coat with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter onto the hot surface for each pancake. When bubbles appear on top of the pancakes, flip, and cook until browned on the other side.
 
Serve with butter and tons of maple syrup!