Sultana, Orange & Cinnamon Pancakes

Sultana, Orange & Cinnamon Pancakes are light, fluffy and so easy. Plumped dried fruit, along with plenty of zest and spice in a simple, lightly sweetened batter make a delicious snack, dessert or scrumptious weekend brunch. Try them drizzled with maple syrup or honey, extra orange zest and cinnamon, plus butter.

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While I love delicate, crepe-like Traditional English Pancakes with their simple sprinkle of sugar and squeeze of lemon, I can’t resist thicker, light and fluffy pancakes either. Although we tend to think of the latter as being American, Britain has its own tradition of fluffy pancakes in the form of Scotch (or Scottish) pancakes, Welsh crempogau and drop (or dropped) scones. Just like crepe-style pancakes, you’re not limited to sweet fillings either: see my recipe for light and fluffy Cheese & Chive Pancakes.

I guess the most common flavour for thick pancakes is blueberry and I do love fresh blueberry pancakes. But the pancake recipe I want to share today came about when I didn’t have a lot of fresh fruit in the house, just some oranges. So, I turned to my kitchen cupboards where I always keep a store of dried fruit and lots of spices.

The resulting Sultana, Orange & Cinnamon Pancakes were even better than I’d hoped. Fluffy, fruity and spicy pancakes that were perfect with a drizzle of maple syrup, a knob of butter, plus a sprinkle of extra orange zest and cinnamon. Since then, I’ve been making them regularly, including those in this post when I had some fantastic organic blood oranges.

If you’re ready to start making them Jump to Recipe or read on for tips and step-by-step images first.

EASY, LIGHT & FLUFFY SULTANA, ORANGE & CINNAMON PANCAKES

Pretty much all pancake batters are made in the same way. The dry ingredients are first stirred together, then the wet ingredients whisked in. For this recipe, the dry ingredients you’ll need are:

• Self-raising flour. Make sure it’s well within its Best Before date and, if opened, kept in a sealed container. If you only have plain flour, you can turn it into self-raising by adding 1 level teaspoon of baking powder per 100 grams of plain flour.
• Bicarbonate of Soda. This gives an extra boost to the raising agent in the flour.
• Salt. Just a pinch for flavour.

• Ground cinnamon. I like a strong, spicy flavour so add 2 rounded teaspoonfuls.
• Sugar. Because I’m going to drizzle over maple syrup, I don’t want too much sugar in the pancakes themselves. About a tablespoon and a half or 40 grams is plenty for the whole batch.
• Orange zest. For the best, citrussy flavour add the finely grated zest of two large oranges. I like to keep a little back to sprinkle over when serving too.
• Sultanas. To make the dried fruit even plumper and juicier, I soak it in boiling water for a few minutes.

The wet ingredients are just 250 ml of milk and an egg.

Fairly soon after whisking these into the other ingredients, you should see little bubbles forming in the batter. That shows that the raising agents in the flour and the bicarbonate of soda are doing their job.

COOKING THE PANCAKES

You can cook the pancakes in a non-stick frying pan or on a griddle. I love my electric griddle which allows me to cook six at a time. Heat it up to medium, then brush over a mix of oil and melted butter. The butter adds flavour, and the oil stops it burning. If the pan or griddle is hot enough, the fat should sizzle immediately.

For smallish pancakes like mine, add a tablespoon of batter per pancake. The batter will spread a little, then bubbles should start appearing and popping. After about 2 minutes, have a peek underneath to check that the underside is golden brown. If they’re not quite there, leave another thirty seconds. If they’re still not ready, consider upping the heat a smidgen.

Now turn the pancakes over and cook the other side for roughly 1½ minutes until they’re puffy and cooked through.

As each batch is cooked, you can transfer them to a clean tea towel to keep warm. However, the pancakes do reheat very well so that isn’t entirely necessary. Keep making pancakes until all the batter is used up, giving it a stir each time to evenly distribute the fruit. Using a tablespoon per pancake, you should get 20 – 24 in total which is plenty for 4 people at least.

The easiest way to reheat these pancakes, even if you’ve let them get completely cold, stored them in the fridge, or frozen then defrosted them, is in a microwave. This brings back their lovely fluffy texture. You can either heat in a single layer or as a stack.

SERVING SULTANA, ORANGE & CINNAMON PANCAKES

I think there’s something particularly indulgent looking about a stack of pancakes. Even with simple ingredients like these Sultana, Orange & Cinnamon Pancakes. Pile them up, add a little more orange zest, a sprinkle of cinnamon and maybe a few more plumped up sultanas.

Add a knob of butter, a drizzle of maple syrup or honey, and I think you’ll be amazed at how quick and easy it was to create such a great tasting treat.

Soft and fluffy, these pancakes remind me of a fruity and spicy sponge pudding but made in a fraction of the time. I reckon you could even serve them with whipped cream, custard or ice cream for a full-on, wonderful dessert.

HAVE YOU MADE THIS RECIPE? LEAVE A COMMENT & RATING TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT.

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Sultana, Orange & Cinnamon Pancakes

Light, fluffy, easy pancakes with plumped dried fruit, orange zest and spice make a delicious snack, dessert or scrumptious weekend brunch served with a knob of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup.

For the best results, make sure your self-raising flour and bicarbonate of soda are well within their Best Before date and, if opened, have been stored in an airtight container.

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine World

Keyword easy

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4 approx 20 - 24 small pancakes

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 100 g sultanas
• boiling water from a kettle
• 250 ml milk
• 1 egg
• 200 g self-raising flour or plain flour + 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 rounded tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 oranges zest only
• 40 g sugar

For cooking the pancakes

• 10g butter + 1 tsp oil

To serve

• butter
• maple syrup, honey or other liquid sweetener
• orange zest
• ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Put the sultanas in a heatproof container and cover with boiling water from a kettle. Set aside to plump up while you prepare the other ingredients.

2. Whisk the milk and egg together in a jug and set aside.

   Sift the flour, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the orange zest, sugar and the well-drained sultanas.

3. Gradually whisk the contents of the jug into the flour mixture to create a batter.

4. Put the butter and oil for cooking the pancakes in a small saucepan or microwaveable bowl and heat until the butter is melted. Take off the heat.

   Heat either a large frying pan or a griddle to medium hot.

5. Brush the pan or griddle with a light coating of the butter and oil: it will sizzle immediately when hot enough.

   Add 1 tablespoon of batter per pancake: as many as will fit without crowding.

   Tip: you may want to cook a test pancake first then adjust the temperature if necessary before cooking the rest.

   Cook until a few bubbles appear and pop on the surface of the pancakes and the underside is golden brown (approx. 2 minutes: cook another 30 seconds if necessary) then turn over and cook the other side (roughly 1½ min).

   Tip: if the pancake isn't ready to turn after 2½ minutes, you may need to increase the heat a little.

   Wrap the cooked pancakes in a clean tea towel to keep warm while you use up the rest of the batter, lightly greasing the pan or griddle each time.

6. Serve the pancakes 4 - 6 per person with a knob of butter, maple syrup, more orange zest and sprinkle of cinnamon.

   Cooked pancakes can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days or frozen. To reheat, ping in a microwave to retain the fluffy texture, either in a single layer or stacked.

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