An Untraditional Pancake for a Christmas Morning Tradition

Christmastime is finally here, and I am among the many that are thrilled by this fact. I love so much about this time of year. I really enjoy all the traditions that come along with the holidays – stockings to fill, baking treats for the neighbors, playing board games with the family as we nurse our Christmas dinner food comas. Most of my loved ones live in a different state, so it is really special when my husband and I are able to travel back to our home state for the holidays and spend some quality time with some of our favorite people.

In typical motherly fashion, my mom is always thinking of us kids before thinking of herself. She also loves when we’re all together as a family and makes every effort for our short time together to be really special. Every year my mom asks us kids if we have any special requests for what we’d like to eat while staying with her. I have a handful of favorites from my mother’s repertoire of cooking that I request without hesitation when posed with the question. One that always rolls off my tongue is a desire for a breakfast of fritters.

Christmas morning breakfast is meant to be special, it isn’t one of those days from childhood where you would grab a morning bowl of cereal and sit far too close to the television set soaking in cartoons until your mother tells you to back up further from the TV. Christmas morning breakfast is a time to turn off the tube, sit at the table and enjoy the company of your loved ones.

Fritters mean different things to a lot of people. To me, fritters are made with what is essentially a pancake batter. They have a crispy, crunchy outside and a soft, fluffy interior. In a world where you go to the fair and happen upon such delicacies as fried Twinkies and fried candy bars, it should come as no surprise that this recipe can be likened to a deep fried pancake.

In my opinion, the best part of fritters are the little crunchies that come as a result of some rogue droplets of batter escaping into the fry oil and getting extra crispy while the larger pieces cook away.

In my household growing up, there was a very particular way that fritters were served. It was often served as a special breakfast on special days that were going to be busy otherwise. In an effort to keep the kitchen from crowding even further with dishes on these special occasions, we always had our fritters on paper plates that were set within wicker paper plate holders. To go with the fritters is some maple syrup for dipping, which is the one and only appropriate accompaniment for fritters. We still tend to stick to our paper plate tradition on Christmas morning, saving time on extra clean-up, so you can instead laze about as you watch the youthful energy of the niece and nephew unfold in giggly laps around the living room.

When brainstorming what to write for my December blog post, I knew I wanted to share this Christmas tradition with all of you, so for the first time, I made my mother’s fritters. Admiring the beautiful curvy hand-writing of my mother’s left-handed scrawl on the recipe card she gave me many years ago, I set out to make one of my favorites. As I was cooking away, my husband asked about the origin of the fritters recipe, which then warranted a call to my mom. As it turns out, it was something my grandmother made for my mom when she was a kid, which just adds to the warm fuzzies you get from such a long-standing traditional.

 Christmas Fritters

2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 ¼ tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

¾ cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup milk

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs well. Mix the milk into the eggs. Incorporate the egg and milk mixture into the dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix.

Use ¼ cup-sized measuring cup to portion batter and drop into canola oil heated to 375 degrees.

Fry the fritters until they are a deep golden brown, turning halfway through.

Remove the fritters from the oil and place on a rack set within a sheet tray to drain off excess oil.

Serve with maple syrup for dipping.

Looking for additional breakfast ideas? Join us for The Chopping Block's Bloody Mary Brunch cooking class in January!