Cooking with Beer Version 3.0: Beer Pancakes with Raspberry Lambic Sauce

So it's been two weeks since our last Cooking with Beer segment, and we wanted to switch it up a bit for our return. Beer's complexity is one of the best reasons to cook with it. Not only does it lend itself well to savory dishes -- our first two segments, for example -- but the rich notes of caramel, chocolate, coffee, dates, raisins, and even spicy cloves and nutmeg and sweet banana make beer a perfect match for any number of sweets.

Spice... banana... breakfast... hmm, pancakes?

These pancakes are quite dense but still spungy, with a hint of malty sweetness and a nuttiness lent from Ayinger Hefeweizen. Oh, and the sauce is as easy as turning on a burner.

Here's the recipe. The video will be up over the weekend.

Beer Pancakes with Raspberry Lambic Sauce
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
2 cups beer (I used Ayinger Hefe, but feel free to experiment)
2 tablespoons melted butter, plus more for cooking

For the sauce:
2 cups frozen raspberries
1/4 cup raspberry lambic
1 tablespoon honey

1. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, beer (add a bit at a time to avoid bubbling over), and cooled melted butter.

2. Combine raspberries, lambic and honey in a small saucepan. Set to medium-high heat and bring to a boil.

3. Add wet ingredients to dry, whisking it in 1/3 at a time. Be careful not to overwork batter; it should be a little lumpy. If too thick, add a few tablespoons more beer.


4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add about 1 teaspoon butter. Once butter melts, make the damn pancakes. Flip pancakes when bubbles appear across entire surface.

Serve with raspberry lambic sauce and (real) maple syrup. Enjoy.

Note: Tinkering with this recipe is a no-brainer. Chocolate stout and chunks of good bittersweet chocolate? Why not. Bananas added to the batter before flipping? Sounds delicious. Play around with it and let us hear the results.