People say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I rarely eat breakfast, and settle for a mug (or 2) of coffee – which is bad. But the weekends are the days that I usually make an extra effort. The recent weekend was one of these productive days.

We had a few pears in the fridge and not keen on letting them go to waste I decided to make a fast and autumn-themed breakfast. This is a simple basic American-style pancake recipe, no fuss and frills.

You can even have these as a dessert, because pancakes are not only for breakfast!

Ingredients: (serves 2-3 people)

Pancakes
130g of all-purpose flour
2 tbsp of sugar
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
250ml of milk
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 large egg

1 pear, quartered, cored and sliced.
3-5 tbsp of dark brown sugar
1 tsp of unsalted butter
A handful of walnuts
1-2 tbsp of vegetable oil (for the skillet)

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, vegetable oil and egg. Gently fold in the flour mix, until moistened, but be sure not to overmix; a few lumps are fine.
3. Heat a large skillet or frying pan on medium heat. Rub the pan with an oiled paper towel.
4. For each pancake, spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter onto the hot pan/skillet, using the back of spoon to spread the batter into a circle.
5. Cook until you see a few bubbles on the surface of the pancake. Flip it over, and cook until it has browned on the underside.
6. Transfer the pancake onto a plate. Keep covered so the pancakes don’t get cold.
7. Repeat – start with rubbing the pan with an oiled paper towel. This batter should make approximately 10 – 12 pieces of pancakes – all depends on how big and thick you cook your pancakes.

8. Once ready to serve, add the pancakes on a plate and garnish with the caramel pears and walnuts.
9. Serve it with more syrup if you like, and it even goes well with ice cream!