Vermont Praline Pancakes or Faux Cinnamon Rolls with an Orange Liqueur Glaze

We had company over the weekend; a great excuse to overindulge.  And these moist, nutty, gooey gems are about as indulgent as they get.

OK, here's that fair use and warning the good folks of the US Gov't have asked (ordered) bloggers to do.  I got the nuts FREE!!!  BWAHAHAHA FREE I SAY!  Yeap, the truly very good folks at the OH NUTS company contacted me and offered a few pounds of their nuts.  And Oh Boy, did OH NUTS ever come through for me.  I spent a few minutes navigating around their mail order site.  It was very easy to follow and amazing in the amount of products they carry.  Not just nuts (including the very rare unsalted cashews that didn't last long enough in my pantry to make it to any recipes.  Talk about good eats!), anyway, not just nuts, but dried fruits, chocolates, granola, candy and even specialty ice cream.  Take a minute and look over their site.  Very reasonable prices, easy to navigate site and a tremendous selection of bulk and gift items.


But, it was the quality of the nuts I was really impressed with.  Big, whole nuts, and big whole inspiration to create something amazing!

This recipe was borrowed heavily from one posted on the Novice Chef Blog.  Of course I made a few additions and alterations to my tastes, but take a second to see how beautiful her presentation was.


But me, I love pecan pralines.  Those little bits of Cajun heaven are a must make three or four time a year.  But I am also always hunting ways to get that taste into food.  A quick easy way is to use what I call Vermont Pralines.... Pecans coated in maple syrup.  Certainly not "real" Cajun Pralines, but certainly does have that hint of praline taste that is easily added to a recipe to get the taste.


OK, Here's what I did...


First the pancakes...


1 large Egg
1cup plus 2 TBS Buttermilk 
1 tsp Vanilla
3 TBS Brown Sugar
1 cup Flour
1tsp Cinnamon
1.25 tsp Baking Powder
2 TBS Butter, melted


For the filling...


1 cup Pecans
1/2 cup top quality Maple Syrup


For the Icing...


1/2 cup Confectioner's Sugar
1 TBS Vanilla
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 TBS Cointreau orange flavored liqueur  


I used my Kitchenaid mixer with the paddle attachment and started adding the ingredients to make the pancake batter,  It needs to be a little on the thin side.  You want thin pancakes, not thick cake like ones.  Eventually, you will be rolling these up.  When you pour the batter into the pan to make these, take the flat side of a spoon and spread the batter around to get an even thinner pancake.  Enough hints, time to make the pancakes in the usual way (preheated griddle, just a little oil, watch till there are bubbles on the top, flip and cook till the right color.


Meanwhile, in a mini chopper, combine the nuts and syrup and chop and blend.


The recipe made 4 pancakes.  While the photo shows two, they are very filling.  one per person was plenty.


Finally, whisk together all the ingredients for the icing and you are ready to assemble.


Put a pancake, good looking side down, spread 1/4 of the nut and syrup goo over the entire pancake.  Roll it up and repeat with the other 3.


Drizzle the icing over the pancake to taste.


You can serve them as I did, all rolled up.  OR, cut them in slices to get the faux cinnamon roll look before drizzling.


But, serve them any way you like, these are delicious.  A hint of Praline taste, while at the same time, very fast to make, easy and you get a terrific WOW factor from your guests.


but mostly... Really really good!


Here are some photos to give you a better idea of how to do this...

Just as good as they look!


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